August's Stuff You Need to Know Forum Contest

David Springer · August 2016

This month's Stuff You Need to Know resources are focused on Import. You may have seen our picks, but what are some of your favorite resources when working with Import?

The tip or resource that receives the most likes by the end of the month will receive a gift card! We'll be accepting submissions all month, but the sooner you post, the longer your suggestion will have to get likes.

So what do you think? What are some of YOUR favorite resources or tips that help you make the most of Import?

For more tips, be sure to check out our Import Live Chats on August 10th and 24th, where we'll be hosting a discussion on Import and answering user questions.

Jen Claudy · August 2016

You can Export from Import.

Open a new Import (of the appropriate Type) and choose [Create Import File] under the "What do you want to do?" section (first section on the General Tab). Include a Query that contains the records you need. Set the other options as desired. When you get to the Fields Tab, the Red Fields are required and selected for you. Select the other Fields you need and click [Create Now] at the bottom right. Open the file and you will have your data in the order you selected on the Fields Tab. Work with your data, save your Import File (don't change the filename), open the same Import in RE, change the first option from [Create Import File] to [Import New Records] or [Update Existing Records] and click [Import Now] or [Update Now] at the bottom right.

I also do this when I want to get a nice row of the correct Field Names to add to data I'm about to Import. To simply get the correct Field Names, create a Query that contains no records (i.e. Criteria of Constituent ID equals and then a number that does not exist in your db), then choose that Query in Import. It will say "Import Complete!" and all zeros for the record counts, but the file will have been created with the headers and no data.

I find this much faster than going thru and manually typing in the field names or mapping the fields in Import, and certainly easier than searching thru the Help Menu's field lists.

Karen Stuhlfeier · August 2016

Test everything with your own constituent record first. Make sure that everything imports the way that you want it to. You can delete everything from your record when you're done. We often use our own records to test how something will work.

Jen Claudy · August 2016

Karen Stuhlfeier:

Test everything with your own constituent record first. Make sure that everything imports the way that you want it to. You can delete everything from your record when you're done. We often use our own records to test how something will work.

Yes! Always! Or maintain a set of Dummy Records in your database that you don't have to worry about setting back to rights after testing.

Faith Murray · August 2016

My favorite tip is one I've stolen from David's blog back in February. When importing new constituents, you can check for duplicates already in your system by using the Validate Data Only and Use Duplicate Criteria for New Constituents buttons the first run through. I'd been sitting for months on an import file because, even after cleaning up in Excel and using an outside mailing firm to purge our lists, I still kept finding duplicates when manually browsing through it, and I was afraid to import the file without an additional filter. RE uses a more advanced duplicate search system that is hard to replicate in Excel.

If you like my tip, be sure to "Like" David's post above, instead, since he was the one who originally wrote it.

Even a BlackBaud rep deserves acclaim now and then, right?

Daniel Bayer · August 2016

I love using Import to create queries.

For example, we were recently putting together a mailing list of over 12,000 people. The similar one we did last year was finessed by someone who is no longer with us. We couldn't figure out what exactly she did to the list to get the number she did - who she took out, who she added, etc. Thankfully, she left the column with everyone's RE ID in the spreadsheet. So I just copied that column to a text file and created a new import set to "Update existing records", checked the box to "Create an output query of the records updated", ran the import... et voila! A query that contains everyone we want to mail to so I can add an Appeal or Action, or add another query of new people to, etc. etc.

This is SO much easier than doing a vLookup & edit process in Excel or creating a query list in RE (I try to get people to use query lists when they're editing mailing lists but they love Excel too much), and has come in handy so many times that I don't know how I lived before knowing how to do this!

Angel Lawrence · August 2016

CHAT, CHAT, CHAT!!!

When I encounter any difficulties, import being one of them, I have always been able to log on to Blackbaud Chat Support and receive help.

They are able to walk me through difficulties, send me the needed headers for importing info I had not previously imported, or send me links to other references or tool guides.

Big shour out to the chat support team!!!

Sunshine Reinken Watson · August 2016

David Springer:

This month's Stuff You Need to Know resources are focused on Import. You may have seen our picks, but what are some of your favorite resources when working with Import?

The tip or resource that receives the most likes by the end of the month will receive a gift card! We'll be accepting submissions all month, but the sooner you post, the longer your suggestion will have to get likes.

So what do you think? What are some of YOUR favorite resources or tips that help you make the most of Import?

For more tips, be sure to check out our Import Live Chats on August 10th and 24th, where we'll be hosting a discussion on Import and answering user questions.

Whenever we have a mailing list that has been manually changed by staff, I use import to create a query of the records of the final mailing list so we can record actions, etc.

Matt Page · August 2016

David Springer:

So what do you think? What are some of YOUR favorite resources or tips that help you make the most of Import?

I suspect this won't win the prize but mine is to have a spreadsheet which groups lists of all the import fields you use the most. I've then pinned this to the top of my Excel recent items list so whenever I'm preparing afile to import it's easy to click on it cut and paste the actual import headings and put them in on top of the data. It's so much quicker doing this than just using your own names and then manually searching through to manually map them on.

Here's a screen grab of my sheet:

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Josh Smith · August 2016

Matthew Page:

David Springer:

So what do you think? What are some of YOUR favorite resources or tips that help you make the most of Import?

I suspect this won't win the prize but mine is to have a spreadsheet which groups lists of all the import fields you use the most. I've then pinned this to the top of my Excel recent items list so whenever I'm preparing afile to import it's easy to click on it cut and paste the actual import headings and put them in on top of the data. It's so much quicker doing this than just using your own names and then manually searching through to manually map them on.

Here's a screen grab of my sheet:

A brilliant idea, Matthew. I'll definitely be "borrowing" this one.

Dawn Lee · August 2016

David Springer:

This month's Stuff You Need to Know resources are focused on Import. You may have seen our picks, but what are some of your favorite resources when working with Import?

The tip or resource that receives the most likes by the end of the month will receive a gift card! We'll be accepting submissions all month, but the sooner you post, the longer your suggestion will have to get likes.

So what do you think? What are some of YOUR favorite resources or tips that help you make the most of Import?

For more tips, be sure to check out our Import Live Chats on August 10th and 24th, where we'll be hosting a discussion on Import and answering user questions.

We have a large number of invoices that are printed at the end of every month, but they aren't necessarily always the same vendors/funds/transactions. I set up an Excel workbook where the first tab is ALL of the possibilites, with their debit account number, what the invoice # should be, the description, etc. The second tab is where I put each month's activity, with VLOOKUP functions referencing the first tab to fill all the details for whatever transactions I need. A macro then reformats all my columns into what I need for the import. This is saving us time and paper (we used to have someone complete vouchers for each vendor), and is eliminating so many opportunites for mistakes!

Stephanie Crawley · August 2016

Daniel Bayer:

I love using Import to create queries.

For example, we were recently putting together a mailing list of over 12,000 people. The similar one we did last year was finessed by someone who is no longer with us. We couldn't figure out what exactly she did to the list to get the number she did - who she took out, who she added, etc. Thankfully, she left the column with everyone's RE ID in the spreadsheet. So I just copied that column to a text file and created a new import set to "Update existing records", checked the box to "Create an output query of the records updated", ran the import... et voila! A query that contains everyone we want to mail to so I can add an Appeal or Action, or add another query of new people to, etc. etc.

This is SO much easier than doing a vLookup & edit process in Excel or creating a query list in RE (I try to get people to use query lists when they're editing mailing lists but they love Excel too much), and has come in handy so many times that I don't know how I lived before knowing how to do this!

Yeah, this is a method we use regularly whenever updating actions for most of our mailers.

David Springer · September 2016

Daniel Bayer:

I love using Import to create queries.

For example, we were recently putting together a mailing list of over 12,000 people. The similar one we did last year was finessed by someone who is no longer with us. We couldn't figure out what exactly she did to the list to get the number she did - who she took out, who she added, etc. Thankfully, she left the column with everyone's RE ID in the spreadsheet. So I just copied that column to a text file and created a new import set to "Update existing records", checked the box to "Create an output query of the records updated", ran the import... et voila! A query that contains everyone we want to mail to so I can add an Appeal or Action, or add another query of new people to, etc. etc.

This is SO much easier than doing a vLookup & edit process in Excel or creating a query list in RE (I try to get people to use query lists when they're editing mailing lists but they love Excel too much), and has come in handy so many times that I don't know how I lived before knowing how to do this!

Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone! With his tip to use Import to create queries, Daniel Bayer is the winner of the forum contest this month! Congratulations, Daniel!

As he noted, Import gives you the option to perform an "update" that makes no changes and also Create an output query. This means you can effectively create an instant query based on a spreadsheet with only Import IDs or Constituent IDs.

As pointed out in Merrie Beth's excellent video here, another method to achieve a similar goal is to copy and paste into a query. With that said, Import's output query is more useful if you're working with a much longer list of IDs.

Thanks again for all the tips, and please join us for September's Need to Know topic, Export!

August's Stuff You Need to Know Forum Contest

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