This guide will walk you through exporting your data from Little Green Light so it is import-ready for Givebutter. With the step-by-step instructions below, you will easily ensure you have all of the data you need to bring over to Givebutter. Although data migrations can feel daunting, we're here to support you every step of the way!
We will be using Little Green Light’s reporting feature to export these details so they are easier to prep for import. You can also export a comprehensive report of all of your account data to ensure everything from Little Green Light is available offline. We recommend doing this if you want peace of mind!
Migrate recurring donors 🔁
Send a copy of your recurring donors in Stripe 💳
After you have logged into your Stripe account with Little Green Light, navigate to the Customers tab and run an Export. Make sure the Customer ID, Name, Email, and Description boxes are checked.
After you export that file, save a copy. We will use that later! You can modify the original copy and remove all columns, except the Customer IDs. Then delete the header row so there are values only in one column down starting with ‘cus_’:
If there are any that say ‘guest’, you can delete those from the file. Then, Save As or Export it to a CSV. Then, you will navigate back to your intermediary Stripe account and to the customer dashboard again.
Click Copy customers.
In the Copy Method field, click Upload from file.
Select the CSV file of customer IDs from their computer.
After selecting the correct file, click Continue. To handle errors, refer to Handle upload errors.
Enter the account ID (format: acct_xxxx) of our recipient account below. You will receive a message stating that the recipient needs to authorize your request before the copy occurs. Givebutter's account ID is acct_17qVRFEBuKNYj3GG
Click Confirm.
After successfully sharing your data, you will see the pending copy request at the top of the Customers page.
You can submit this intake form after you have sent a copy of your donors through Stripe so our migration team can retrieve the Stripe file you will need.
Export your recurring donors ➡️
Next, you'll export a recurring donor report from Little Green Light.
Navigate to the Reports tab under Home and select Gift/Pledge Reports.
Select New Report > Continue to Report Builder.
The default should be Export Gifts where the Gift Date is All Dates. If it is not, change the date range to All Dates.
You can select Add more criteria and choose Categories > Include any > Gift: Recurring.
Little Green Light allows you to specify what this category is called when you set up your recurring donors. The language may be slightly different in your account.
Hit Next, and under the General Giving Field, select Gift Date, Amount, Campaign, and Fund. Under Gift Fields you can select Payment Type. Under Constituent Fields select First Name and Last Name. Under Contact Info Fields you can select Preferred Address, Preferred Email, and Preferred Phone.
The right side will display the options for the Preferred Address. Make sure Pref. Street, Pref. State, Pref. City, Pref. Zip Code, and Pref. Country are all checked.
You can Preview the report and then hit Save Report.
Prep your recurring donor import 📝
Between this file and the one that you exported from your Stripe account to copy, you will have the beginning details needed for our recurring donor template. The remaining data will come from our Stripe account. Here is a breakdown of how this information comes together:
Givebutter’s Stripe File
This file has the unique Stripe IDs needed to add to our importer so your recurring donors can bill with your account.
Stripe file from your Little Green Light Stripe account
Lists the Stripe Customer IDs and who they belong to. This will help you identify which ID belongs to which donor.
Little Green Light Recurring Export
Gives you the final pieces needed to know how often and when each monthly donor is billing, as well as their email and full address.
After your import file is complete, you will finish the remaining steps to import, validate, and activate these plans.
You will need to coordinate with Little Green Light to cancel your plans so no one is missed or double-charged.
Migrate contact records 👤
Export from Little Green Light ➡️
Navigate to the Reports tab under Home and select Constituent Reports.
Select New Report > Continue to Report Builder.
You can select Add more criteria and choose Constituent Type > Individual and click Next.
Now it’s time to build this export! You can select any of the constituent categories on the left side to choose which columns of data you want to import. Our template is a great reference to start with to choose which fields you want to import. Make sure to include Communication Tags!
Remember, we support custom fields for contacts. This means anything that you don’t see on our template can still be imported as its own column.
When all of your columns are set, You can Preview the report and then hit Save Report.
Prep for Givebutter 🌟
You can now open that downloaded file and copy the data into our template so it imports more seamlessly. If you notice any of your data needs to be re-formatted to align with our template’s rules, check out our prep guide which highlights some great features in Google Sheets.
Little Green Light has a Communication Tags option under their Constituent Category Fields. You will want to make sure to include this in your export so you know who is and isn’t opted-in for your communications when mapping over your data. (For example, anyone who has ‘do not email’ in this column should be marked as ‘no’ under our Email Subscription Status column.)
Once your file is ready, you can import your contacts!
Migrate company records 🏢
Export from Little Green Light ➡️
Navigate to the Reports tab under Home and select Constituent Reports.
Select New Report > Continue to Report Builder.
You can select Add more criteria and choose Constituent Type > Organizations and click Next.
Now it’s time to build this export! You can select any of the constituent categories on the left side to choose which columns of data you want to import, as well as any other data we support for company imports. Make sure to include Sort Name and Communication Tags!
Remember, we support custom fields for contacts. This means anything you don’t see on our template can still be imported as a separate column.
When all of your columns are set, You can Preview the report and then hit Save Report.
Prep for Givebutter 🌟
You can now open that downloaded file and copy the data into our template so it imports more seamlessly. If you notice any of your data needs to be re-formatted to align with our template’s rules, check out our prep guide which highlights some great features in Google Sheets.
Little Green Light has a Communication Tags option under their Constituent Category Fields. You will want to make sure to include this in your export so you know who is and isn’t opted-in for your communications when mapping over your data. (For example, anyone who has ‘do not email’ in this column should be marked as ‘no’ under our Email Subscription Status column.)
Once your file is ready, you can import your companies!
Migrate transaction records 💰
Export from Little Green Light ➡️
Navigate to the Reports tab under Home and select Gift/Pledge Reports.
Select New Report > Continue to Report Builder.
The default should be Export Gifts, with the Gift Date set to All Dates. If it is not, change the date range to that and then select Customize.
Now it’s time to build this export!
For General Giving Fields, be sure to include at least Gift Date, Amount, Campaign, Fund, and Appeal.
For Gift Fields, be sure to include at least Payment Type and Related Gifts if you have soft credits! You will also want to customize Related Gifts on the right side to include Related Note, Related Constituent First Name, Related Constituent Last Name, and Related Constituent Org.
For Constituent Fields, be sure to include at least First Name, Last Name, and Sort Name.
For Contact Info. Fields, be sure to include at least Preferred Email, Preferred Phone, and Preferred Address.
The other fields we support for transactions can also be included in this export if you need them.
If you don't have any other columns to add, your report is ready. Hit Preview to ensure everything looks good, and then save the Report.
Prep for Givebutter 🌟
Once you are ready, you can copy the data into our template so it can be imported more seamlessly. If you notice any of your data needs to be re-formatted to align with our template’s rules, check out our prep guide which highlights some great features in Google Sheets.
For any donors missing an email address or phone number, you will need to add the donors’ Givebutter Contact IDs to the file. This will ensure that donations link to the right contact record and will help avoid creating duplicates.
Since Givebutter only has campaigns and publicly displayed fund designations, You will need to decide which information in Little Green Light you want to be associated with your transactions (i.e. how to map over campaigns vs appeals vs funds).
For any transactions that have a soft credit associated with them, you will want to use our Internal Note field to note that they have a ‘soft credit’. You can then copy those transactions with all details, including the soft credit, to their own file. We will need that information later, so only the ‘hard credit’ needs to be imported right now.
Once your file is ready, you can import your transactions!
Migrate soft credit records 🍦
Prep for Givebutter 🌟
We already have our soft credits exported and in their own file from the previous step, so you can now add that data to the soft credit import template! Soft credits will need to be imported based on the transactions that you have already added, to which they are attributed. Since we left an Internal Note with those transactions, we can more easily retrieve these for this file!
To start this step, navigate to your transaction dashboard in Givebutter, and filter by Internal Note > With internal note. Then, you can click Export and select the following custom columns to include: Campaign Title, First Name, Last Name, Reference Number, Amount, Transaction Date, and Method.
Now that you have this file, you can use it against the Little Green Light export to compare which soft credit belongs to which transaction. Once your file is ready, you can import your soft credits!
Verify and clean up 🧹
Check Imports: Spot-check a few contacts and transactions in Givebutter to ensure data is transferred correctly (e.g., amounts, dates, names).
Handle Errors: If any rows fail (visible in Settings > Imports), download the failed records, fix them in the CSV, and re-import them.
Delete Test Imports (Optional): If you make a mistake, you can delete an entire import from Settings > Imports, but proceed cautiously as this is permanent.
Additional tips ✨
Timing: Plan this migration when you have downtime, as it may take a few hours to format and import everything.
Support: Givebutter’s process is self-service, but you can email [email protected] if you have further questions about this.
This process leverages Givebutter’s free, user-friendly tools and Little Green Light’s export capabilities, ensuring a smooth transition without starting from scratch.
Let us know if you hit any snags or need clarification!