Our import tool helps you add contacts to Givebutter. You can upload a comma-separated value (CSV) file, copy and paste contacts from a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, or type info directly into the import table.
Givebutter needs some basic information about your contacts to create new files for them. Data formatting is traditionally a time-consuming step. To help you prepare your data, you can download a customized template from your dashboard that automatically includes any custom fields you have created.
Preparing data for import 🧮
There are two types of templates you can use for importing contacts. We recommend the following steps to download a personalized, dynamic template specific to your account, but you can also view and download a generic template. The generic template will not include contact custom fields from your account.
In your Givebutter dashboard, click on Contacts from the left-hand sidebar.
Click on Import in the upper right corner of the page.
Click Download Import Template from the dropdown menu 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.
If you've downloaded a personalized template, it will include one row of example data for John Doe. Be sure to delete that info before you upload your finished file!
The file must contain the following columns (in any order):
First Name
Last Name
At least one contact method (email, phone, or address)
The file may contain the following columns (in any order):
Prefix
Middle Name
Suffix
Primary Email
Emails – Enter additional email addresses separated by a comma
Primary Phone Number – Formatted as a 9- or 10-digit phone number, with or without parentheses, dashes, or a 1 at the beginning
Phone Numbers – Formatted as 9- or 10-digit phone numbers, with or without parentheses, dashes, or a 1 at the beginning, separated by a comma
Address Line 1
Address Line 2 – Optional
City
State
ZIP Code
Country Code – 3-digit or 2-digit country code allowed. (You cannot write an entire country name here, ie. "United States of America" must be "USA". This does not refer to a phone number area code.)
Important address information: If one address field has a value, then all address fields must have a value. For example, if Country Code and ZIP Code have a value, then Address 1, City, and State must also contain a value. Incomplete addresses will be deleted. Only contacts with complete address information will successfully import.
Gender
Household Name – Group contacts under a single Household name. Read more about using Households →
Household Envelope Name
Is Household Primary Contact? – Insert "YES" to set this contact as the primary contact for this Household. Insert "NO" if not.
Tags – Apply tags to your contacts, separated by a comma
Date of Birth – Use MM/DD/YY or MM/DD/YYYY format
Company – The company associated with this contact
Title
X (formerly Twitter) URL – Two formats are acceptable: the entire URL or /handle
Linkedin URL – Two formats are acceptable: the entire URL or /handle
Facebook URL – Two formats are acceptable: the entire URL or /handle
Notes
Email Subscription Status – Use
true/on/yes/1to subscribe, andfalse/off/no/0to unsubscribe. (If left blank, contacts will import as subscribed by default.)Phone Subscription Status – Use
true/on/yes/1to subscribe, andfalse/off/no/0to unsubscribe. (If left blank, contacts will import as subscribed by default.)Contact custom fields – The contact import template download is dynamic, which means it will include any contact custom fields you created prior to download. Enter custom field answers under the relevant columns. The answer format will vary depending on the type of contact custom field:
Text – Text input of either short answers or paragraph style
Number – Numeric value, as a whole number or a percentage
Date – A single date (
YYYY-MM-DD), or a range (YYYY-MM-DD,YYYY-MM-DD)Toggle –
yes/noOption – Multiple choice list, which can be restricted to one choice (
example), or allow multiple selections (example1|example2).
Worried about creating duplicates? Our system identifies existing contacts using first and last names, plus a matching email or phone number.
Uploading your data ⬆️
Click Settings on the left-hand sidebar, then select Imports.
Click on the blue New Import button and select Contacts.
You can also import contacts directly from the Contacts page! It's the same process. Click Actions in the upper right corner of the Contacts page, and select New Import.
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.
Select the Contacts sheet to add the data to this sheet, and click Continue.
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.
To get a detailed explanation of each data column, click Data checklist in the lefthand sidebar. This list includes each data column, the correct import format, and a description.
When you're done matching the data fields, click Continue in the upper right corner, and click Submit to import your transactions. 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 all 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 contacts to delete this import.
You can also delete transaction imports the same way!
If the contact import you're about to delete is associated with transactions, you'll also be given the option to remove these transactions. Click the checkbox to also remove the transactions from your account.
Click Delete Data to confirm the deletion.
FAQ 🤔
Can contact household information be imported?
Yes! It is possible to include household information when importing contacts. Relationship information cannot currently be imported.
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.
