First-time poster - Importacular - do I need it

Hi, there, Thanks for the posts.


I have just completed a direct import from GiveCampus.

We needed to look up each Constituent ID and add to spreadsheet. Is this the only way to identify our constituents for import?  

Aaron Rothberg:
Timothy Burke‍ 


Hi Tim!


You could use either product, but you don't "need" either product. I import gifts from CrowdRise every month using Raiser's Edge standard Import. You simply need to mock up the CrowdRise gift list adding necessary fields for the constituent import process and the gift import process. Below is a list of fields I add to the report and populate myself. After each field name, I've added "->" with a sample value to help you decipher what each field is for. There is the additional step of first looking for Constituent Ids in your database for the donors to see if they already exist and if they don't, adding the required fields for a constituent import as well to precede your gift import. It sounds complicated, but honestly once you've tried it a few times it gets easier and easier.

Constituent Import Fields to add to CrowdRise and then populate those fields:

ImportID -> Make this up, perhaps CR-050719-0001
ConsID -> Get from Raiser's Edge or have it auto-assigned during the Constituent Import
KeyInd -> I for Individual record | O for Organization record
ConsCodeImpID -> Make this up, possibly ImportId you see above plus Cons like this "CR-050719-0001-cons"
ConsCode -> Friend
ConsCodeDateFrom -> 05/07/2019
Gender -> Male | Female | Unknown
Titl1 -> Mr. | Mrs. | Ms.
FirstName -> William
LastName -> Smith
Nickname -> William, or Bill if appropriate
MrtlStat -> Married | Separated | Widowed | or just leave blank or delete this column. if you do have spouse information, you can also add fields for spouse name, spouse title, etc...
OrgName -> Populate with Org name or leave blank if Individual
PrimAddID -> Use the number code associated with the Addr/Sal you want, look in CONFIG -> ADDR/SAL -> right-click -> PREVIEW -> Addressee/Salutation Report
PrimSalID -> Use the number code associated with the Addr/Sal you want, look in CONFIG -> ADDR/SAL -> right-click -> PREVIEW -> Addressee/Salutation Report
PhoneType -> Email | Phone | Business Phone, use one of the phone types in your database
PhoneImpID -> Make this up, something like CR-050719-0001-email
PhoneNum -> wcsmith@aol.com
PhoneIsPrimary -> Y
AddrImpID -> Make this up, something like CR-050719-0001-addr
PrefAddr -> Y
AddrType -> Home | Business | Any address type in your database
AddrSendMail -> Y
AddrLines -> 123 Main Street/nApt 2
AddrCity -> Boston
AddrState -> MA
AddrZIP -> 02108
AddrCountry -> United States
CnAttrCat -> Use only if you are importing a Constituent Attribute and populate with the Name of the Attribute, delete from spreadsheet if not in use
CnAttrDesc -> Use only if you are importing a Constituent Attribute and populate the the Attribute value, delete from spreadsheet if not in use

Gift Import Fields to add to CrowdRise and then populate those fields:

ConsID -> Get from Raiser's Edge since you just imported new constituents from the CrowdRise donations
GFDate -> 5/7/2019
GFTAmt -> 50
GFType -> Cash
GFSubType -> Credit Card
GFRef -> CrowdRise gifts or whatever notes you want in the reference field
GFCCType -> VISA | MASTERCARD or just leave blank
GFPayMeth -> Credit Card
GFCheckNum -> Use only if there is a check number or just leave blank or else delete this column
CampID -> Annual, Use whichever campaign makes sense
GFAppeal -> 19MARATHON, Use whichever appeal code makes sense
FundID -> Unrestricted Fund or Annual Fund, Use whatever fund makes sense
GFLtrCode -> Assign one of your gift letter codes if you want or else leave blank or delete this column
GFRcpt -> Receipted
GFRcptDate -> Use the date they made the gift
GFRcptAmt -> Same as gift amount
GFAckDate -> Only populate if you did in fact acknowledge this gift or else delete this column
GFAck -> ACKNOWLEDGED | NOT ACKNOWLEDGED or else delete this column
TribImpID -> Use only if you want to attach the gift to a specific tribute or leave blank or delete this column
GFGiftCode -> Use whatever gift code makes sense or leave blank or delete this column



That's it! The first time you do this it may take a number of hours. After you've done 10 or 20 or these, you'll finish them in less than 30 minutes for hundreds or possibly thousands of gifts and constituents. The most exhaustive part of this process is when you have 1,000 constituents you need to research for existing records in your database and also cleaning up address data. Other than that you're simply adding fields and populating them all at once. This is how I complete my imports from CrowdRise, PayPal, Team Raiser, OneCause, Network for Good, basically any other system. I use the same template to mock up my import file over and over again. I just copy-paste column headers from my Import template into my CrowdRise constituent and gift list. I used to use ImportOMatic at another place of work so I understand what it can do for constituent matching which saves a LOT of time, but configuring ImportOMatic profiles also takes time and I had to constantly open my profiles to see which order the columns need to be in. With Raiser's Edge Import, the columns can be in any order you want. You just have to map them correctly and if you use the the headers as I've written them, they will auto-map.