Importing new constituent records vs. manually adding new records

Crystal Godbolt 2 · November 2018

We have new records to add to RE. Let's say around two hundred or so (or more). I've always created new records manually to make sure all the constituent information was added correctly. I've imported new data to existing constituent records but never imported data to create a constituent record itself. I was curious to know if others have performed imports to create new records with no issues? I'd have constituent data for practically each tab on the record including gift information/action and notes. So, a lot of data. I'd like to hear your feedback. Thank you

John Heizer · November 2018

I do this several times a year, adding new constits from our online event system.

Much of what you're talking about can be imported in a single pass, other things will require multiple imports. My big tip is to assign your own Import ID wherever possible so that you know the Import ID of John Doe if you have to do multiple imports.

Shelly Gammieri · November 2018

Importing can definitely save some time, and has the added possibility of being more accurate by eliminating mistakes that can happen manually. But, it is just a little tricky and requires a bit more attention and focus, with the extra potential to really corrupt your data if you aren't precise. Big risks can equal big rewards. Best wishes to you!

Crystal Godbolt 2 · November 2018

Thank you

Snigdha Verma · November 2018

Depending on the number of times you import, it is definitely a time saver and avoids errors as a result of manual entry. I Have a template set up now to be used each year and with a few tweaks it works out well.

See attached sample.

Bob Wiebe · November 2018

We use a combination of import and manual work to bring in several hundred new student records each year. The import does fine on bio data like name, birthdate, phone, address, schoool. It is not able (after consultation with RE Help), to do a good job with relationships such as parents. Maybe others have been able to do more, but this is what we do.

Shelly Gammieri · November 2018

Hi Bob,

We do manage to import with parent relationships, but each relationship has it's own "relationship" import ID. This does require multiple imports (we import the student first), but since we currently only have one constituent parent per household (with non-cons spouse records), it's not too bad. A little trickier, but definitely doable.

Anne Herbert · November 2018

I import new grads 3x a year and I use ImportOMatic. It finds potential matches that I can choose to match to or to add the person as a new record if it is someone new. Great tool

JoAnn Strommen · November 2018

IMO, importing definitely the way to go. The Import guide can be really helpful.

My tips would be look through a record to select all the fields you want to have added. Don't miss ones like "send mail" to this address. I usually try to structure my import fields in approximate order of tabs so that I can see any duplicate fields and make sure the import extensions match like they should. (That is one tricky part to watch - it doesn't always put the same extension for all the address fields so just make sure they are all the same like 00.)

Other tip, I always take the first 2-3 records to validate and import as test records. I then open them, make sure all data is where I want it before I do the entire file.

Knowledgebase may have some demo videos on importing.

Dariel Dixon 2 · November 2018

Importing is definitely the way to go. The biggest issue is having the confidence to pull the trigger. Importing is intimidating at first. I've definitely had imports go not as planned, but nothing so broken that it couldn't be fixed with a global change. Making sure you create a query of records imported is key, as well as checking out the exceptions.

The time it would take to manually update over 100 records can be redirected toward something else. Spot checking the records after the import can allow you to determine how the import worked.

My import process is always in constant evolution. Sometimes I add other pieces, somethings I remove.

Phillip Bicknell · December 2018

Twice a month I have a bunch of new supporters to add. When there's fewer than 20 of them then I add them manually, but otherwise I do an import from CSV file, which I've created from Excel. I occasionally make a mistake and the import is flawed, but hey ho, it's soon corrected. I add to tabs Bio 1, Bio 2, salutations, Gift Aid (UK tax module), Attributes, all in one go.

Matthew Nareff · December 2018

I would most often import a large group like that, especially if it was already a list that was in an excel document or something like that so I wouldn't have to retype a lot. But as someone above mentioned you may have to actually do multiple imports because you can't always import everything in one shot. The other possibility is a constituent batch so you can select all the fields you need and have defaults that you don't have to worry about (like if everyone is going to have the same constituent code and from date). And if this is something you do often you can just save and reuse that batch configuration each time.

Importing new constituent records vs. manually adding new records

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