Import Utility: Importing Auction Purchases Part III - Import Details

Import Utility: Importing Auction Purchases Part III - Import Details

1. Once you have set up your data file, you are ready to import the data (be sure to read our "Import Utility: Importing Donations Part II - Prepare Your Data" tutorial before proceeding with this step).
2. To get started, on the Main Menu click Import.

   

3. This will take you to the Import Utility index screen. Here you will see a list of your previously completed, in-progress, and draft imports.

   

4. If you have a draft import already started, you can click the drop down to the right of the import batch and select Edit. Otherwise, click the blue Create Import Batch button in the lower right hand corner.

   

   OR

   

5. The import utility consists of 5 tabs. On Tab #1: Import Details, you will set up the meta information for the batch.

   

   

6. Start by giving your batch a Batch Title. Best practice is to give the batch a descriptive name that identifies what type of records are in this batch. For example, "Auction Purchases From Annual Gala" or "Auction Purchases From Old System."

   

7. Next, for the Import Type choose "Auction Purchases."

   

8. In the  Assign Default Settings section select the Fund the purchases will be tied to from the drop down list. The Fund must already be configured in your system; you cannot create funds "on the fly" here.
   

   

   

9. Additionally, in this section, you have the "Move the donations of this batch to Skipped Acknowledgements" option to tell the system to not queue up any donation acknowledgement letters for the donations in this batch. This is helpful when you are importing old/historical data and don't need to send thank you letters to your donors for these donations. Checking this box will move all the donation acknowledgements to the "skipped" queue in your system.

   

10. The last field in this section, Contact Identification is required. This tells the system what method you want to use to match donor names to existing contact records in your system. You can use an External Contact ID (a tax ID number or a unique identifier from your old system that you have already added to our CRM in the external ID field), the CRM Contact ID, or by duplicate prevention settings specific to the import that you will set on Tab #4.

    

11. Please Note: if you are using the External Contact ID field as your duplicate prevention setting for an import:
    • This setting can only be used to update existing donor records/records that are already in your CRM account. New contact records cannot be created via the import when you use External ID as the duplicate prevention setting; all contacts must already be in the system
    • the External ID field does NOT show on view/edit contact. The "ID" field on the Personal Info tab of edit contact is NOT the External ID field.  The External ID can only be added to contact records via the import utility; there is no way to add it manually to records
    • the External ID must already be on the contact records when you import. Any records in your spreadsheet that the system can't find with the External ID in your spreadsheet will cause the batch to fail
12. Please Note: if you are using the CRM ID field as your duplicate prevention setting for an individual contact import:
    • This setting can only be used to update existing records/records that are already in your CRM account. New contact records cannot be created via the import when you use CRM ID as the duplicate prevention setting; all contacts must already be in the system
13. Once you have finished setting up your meta configurations for the batch, click Save & Next to move to tab #2. Click View History to exit back to the Import Utility index screen without saving.

    

14. See the Import Utility: Importing Auction Purchases Part IV - Upload the File tutorial for the next step.