Pre-Import Guide
Pre-Import Guide
Before you import your data, or send to the Eleo Support Team to import, please review the following tips and tricks that will help you to prepare your file.
1. Use the import templates in Eleo as a guide to match the fields you want to import. These templates can be found under Settings > Import Data.
2. Make sure you have added all codes to Eleo that you will need related to the import. Ensure examples exist in the system: Titles, Contact Groups, Gift Sources, Campaigns, Appeals, Funds, Appeal Categories, Tributes, Events, and Assigned To.
3. These can all be added under Settings and then the appropriate Gift Settings (Campaigns, Funds, Appeals, etc.), OR Account Settings > Lookup Table. Try to match these up to the import file, otherwise you will be prompted to choose the value to map to during the import.
4. Any custom fields you need should be created ahead of time as well. You can do this by going to Settings > Custom Fields and adding them.
5. All data being imported into your Eleo database will need to be in separate columns. Title, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, and Spouse need to be separated. This is true for address information as well (Address 1, Address 2, City, State, Zip Code). If there is more than one phone number or email address, they must be in their own individual cell. You may have as many columns with phone number or email as you need, but there may only be one entry per cell.
(NOTE: Image below shows the bare minimum that is needed for an import. Technically, address, phone number, and email are all optional fields.)
CONTACT RECORDS
1. Every contact will be classified into a Contact Type. There are seven different contact types that are hard coded in Eleo that cannot be added to or changed: Individual, Company, Organization, Foundation, School, Government, and Vendor.
2. If the contact record is classified as an Individual, there must be an entry in the First Name field. If the contact record is classified as anything other than Individual (Company, Organization, Foundation, School, Government, or Vendor), there must be an entry into the Organization field.
NOTE: You will NOT be able to complete the import without these fields completed. If you do, you will receive an error stating: ‘Cannot Proceed: There is either an Individual without a First Name or a Company without an Organization.’
- If you receive this error, we recommend exiting to review your file to ensure each Contact Type that lists an Individual has a corresponding First Name cell filled out, and each Contact Type that lists an Organization (or any other type of Contact Type) has a corresponding organizational name filled out under the Organization column in their cell.
- Please ensure that both individuals and organization names do not exceed 50 characters as those entries will be deemed as invalid.
3. Some organizations have ‘The Smith Family’ as the contact’s name and the contact record is classified as an individual. Since you must have an entry in the First Name field, ‘The’ can be used in the first name field.
4. The first phone number, address, and email listed in the spreadsheet will become the primary if one does not exist in the system already. You may add a column titled ‘Extension’ for phone numbers with extensions.
GIFT RECORDS
1. Each gift record must have a value in the Gift Amount column. The value can be $0.01, but gifts with a $0.00 in the gift amount field will not be recorded and added to your database. The same holds true for negative values. ‘In Kind’ gifts must also have an associated value. This will affect your reporting. Please make sure to uncheck the in-kind checkbox when running a report to see only monetary donations.
2. There must be a Gift Date, Fund, Payment Type, and Check Number (if the Payment Type is Check) for each donation. If any one of these pieces is missing on your spreadsheet, the gift record will not be recorded in Eleo.
3. Gifts with Payment Type 'Check' need a Check Number associated. (If you do not have this, you can make up a number such as 0000 or put N/A).
4. It is beneficial to add a Reference # column in the spreadsheet to match to the field in the system. This is helpful in making sure all data was imported correctly. For example: label 1-100 in the Reference field if you have a spreadsheet of 100 names. Be sure to map this Reference column to thecontact or the Gift Reference (depending on which type of file you are importing).
Other Helpful Hints
1. Here are some character limits:
2. You may leave spaces blank if you do not have that information, however, be sure not to leave any characters such as a slash “/” in date fields without any numbers as this will cause issues.
3. When importing, CAREFULLY REVIEW the data mappings page at least twice to make sure every field is mapped the way you want it. Sometimes Eleo will match it up to a field that it thinks it should map to and it may not be the correct one that you want, so it is important to double check even if it is highlighted in green.
4. We recommend you breakup your spreadsheet into multiple spreadsheets if it exceeds 3,000contacts and/or gifts to ensure the Import Tool does not time out.
EXCEL TIPS
1. If you pulled your Excel file from another source, you may need to format the cells. For example: splitting up first name and last name, or address, city, state, and zip code. You can separate these fields in Excel by using the ‘text to columns’ feature. Here is a sample spreadsheet:
We need the name separated into individual columns. To do this, first insert 2 new columns after the Name column (if you have middle and last name, or just add one if only last name). Highlight the name column, click on the Data heading on the top of Excel, and select ‘Text to Columns’
The ‘Convert Text to Columns Wizard’ will open. Step 1: Select ‘Delimited’ and then ‘Next’.
Step 2: Select the delimiter. What breaks up the text currently? Typically, it will be a space or a comma. In this case I will choose Space. Then click on ‘Next’.
Step 3: Review your changes and click on ‘Finish
The name will now be split up and you will just need to name each column accordingly.
For splitting addresses, you may have to do 2 parts. First break up the line of address from state and zip code by following the same steps as above but choose ‘Comma’ as the delimiter.
Then do another ‘text to column’ on the state and zip code, and use ‘Space’ as the delimiter. Thenlabel your new columns.
1. On the flip side, sometimes you may need to combine columns. To concatenate columns, you may do the following: First, insert a new column after the two columns you need to combine.
In the row in the new column next to the item you want to combine, type the equals sign (=), and then click the cell that contains the first text that you want to combine (such as Spouse First Name).
Type the ampersand (&) quote (“) space quote” (a space enclosed in quotation marks). Then click the next cell of text to combine such as the Spouse Last Name, and press Enter (see example below).
Once you press Enter it should look like this: If you have more rows in that column to adjust, drag the bottom right-hand corner down to the end of your file to bring the formula down the page.
If you have any other questions about your import file, or would like an Eleo Support Specialist to be on the phone to walk you through the import process for the first time (which we highly recommend), please feel free to give us a call!