Our import tool helps you add funds (donation designations) to Givebutter. You can upload a comma-separated value (CSV) file, copy and paste from a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, or type info directly into the import table.
Donation designations (funds) track incoming donations to the right place, allowing donors to directly support specific areas of need. To learn more, check out our guide about using funds →
Givebutter needs some basic information about your funds to create them in your account. Data formatting is traditionally a time-consuming step. To help you prepare your data, you can download a template from your dashboard.
Preparing data for import 🧮
In your Givebutter dashboard, click on Settings in the left-hand sidebar.
Click on the Imports tab, and click New Import.
Select Funds from the dropdown. The uploader will open and fill the page.
Click Download Template and choose the format you prefer. Click Download.
The file will be saved to your computer, usually in your downloads folder or on your desktop. Open the template with the software of your choice, such as Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets, and enter your own data.
The template will include one row of example data for Fund A. Be sure to delete that info before you upload your finished file!
The file must contain the following columns (in any order):
Name – Name of the fund. Does not need to be unique from other fund names in your account. Fund names are displayed to supporters publicly (as relevant).
Code – Enter a code for the fund. Fund codes must be unique from other funds in your account. Fund codes can be abbreviations, acronyms, or other helpful codes you come up with yourself. They can include spaces, numbers, and special characters. Fund codes are not displayed to supporters publicly.
Uploading your data ⬆️
Click Settings on the left-hand sidebar, then select Imports.
Click on the blue New Import button and select Funds.
Choose Upload file, and select the correct file from your computer. You can also manually enter data by typing it in, but file imports are much faster.
Select the correct file from your computer. Supported file types include .csv, .tsv, .xls, .xlsx, .xml, and .txtfile. After selecting your file, data will automatically be extracted.
Click Import to import your data.
Confirm mapping for your data. If Givebutter assigned your Incoming Field data to a Destination Field that isn't a match, click the dropdown arrow to assign your column to a different Givebutter field/attribute.
When you're done matching the data fields, click Continue in the upper right corner, and click Submit to import your funds. The importer will begin processing.
You'll be notified by email when your import is complete.
If the import failed, follow the directions provided in our email to reconcile any errors. To track the status of your import, navigate to Account in the left-hand menu on your dashboard and click on Imports.
Viewing imports 👀
In your dashboard, go to Settings, then click Imports. You'll see a list of your import history.
Failed import rows will be displayed here. You can download just the failed records by clicking the red icon next to the relevant import.
To download the import file, click the three dots [...] on the left side, and click Download File.
Click on any import to view details, including the type of import, number of rows, number of failed rows, the date of the import, and specific line items for each failed row.
Deleting imports ❌
If you make a mistake, you can delete imports from your account. This will remove all data from this import – proceed with caution. We cannot restore deleted import data.
In your Givebutter dashboard, navigate to Settings and click Imports.
You'll see a list of all previous imports in the History section. Click the three dots [...] on the right side of the import you'd like to delete.
Click Delete imported funds to delete this import.
You can also delete transaction imports the same way!
Click Delete Data to confirm the deletion.
FAQ 🤔
I don't want to import a spreadsheet. How do I manually add contact import data?
You can manually enter data following the same steps listed above – instead of selecting a file to import from your computer, click Manually enter data.
I'm importing an Excel file and the data doesn't look correct in the importer.
Excel has many formatting options for text or numbers. Make sure your data isn't formatted in any particular way that will be confusing for the system. General is a good category to default to if you can. Below is an example of a format that could cause issues.
