# Import Data If your church already has its records in a spreadsheet, Import Data lets you bring them in instead of retyping everything by hand. First choose **what you're importing**: **Members**, **Visitors**, **Giving history** or **Groups**. Each has its own template and its own columns; the steps below are the same for all four (see "Visitors, giving and groups" further down). ## Before you start - **Use your file as it is.** Excel (`.xlsx`, `.xls`), LibreOffice (`.ods`) and CSV files all work. The columns can have any names and be in any order, and extra columns are fine: you choose what each one fills in the next step. - **Starting from scratch?** Click **Download template** (Excel or CSV). It has the right columns, an example row and, in the Excel version, an *Instructions* sheet saying what to write in each column. Fill it in and import it here. - **Custom fields first.** If your file has information HolyCRM has no field for (a baptism date, a membership class…), create a custom field for it in **Settings → Custom Fields** (full app) before importing. It then appears in the column list and in the template. The Import Data screen lists the custom fields you already have. ## The four steps ### 1. Upload Upload the file. If an Excel file has several sheets with data, pick the one with your people. The first row should be the column headers. Files over **500 rows** are rejected: split a larger file and import it in batches. ### 2. Match your columns For every column in your file, choose which HolyCRM field it fills — first name, last name, email, phone, birth date, status, tags, location, your custom fields and more — or **Don't import**. HolyCRM guesses the matches from your headers, in English, Spanish or Portuguese ("Apellido", "Nome", "Celular"…), and a filled-in template matches itself. A sample of each column's values is shown next to it, so you can check what's really in the cells. **First name** and **last name** are the only required fields. ### 3. Preview See every row exactly as it will be saved, with all the columns you matched. Each row shows whether it's **Ready**, ready with a **warning** (something small was left blank, like an unreadable date; the row still imports), or has an **error** (no first or last name; the row is skipped). Use **Show** to see only the rows with warnings, with errors, or people who are already in HolyCRM. ### 4. Import Rows are saved a few at a time with a live count. At the end you see how many people were created, updated and skipped, and the reason for anything that failed. ## People who are already in HolyCRM The preview checks every row against your directory: - **Same person** — the same email, the same phone number (even written differently: `+54 9 11 5555-1234` and `11 5555 1234` match), or the same first and last name (accents and capitals don't matter). - **Possible match** — a similar name: a typo ("Jonatan" / "Jonathan"), a nickname ("Pepe" / "José", "Bill" / "William"), a short name ("Ale" / "Alejandra", "Juanito" / "Juan"), or one surname of two ("María López" / "María López García"). For the **same person** rows, choose once what happens to all of them: - **Skip them** (the default) — the existing records stay as they are. - **Update the existing people** — fills in the columns from your file. Blank cells never erase anything, tags are added to the ones the person already has, and the person's **name is never changed**. - **Import them as new people anyway.** **Possible matches** are imported as new people unless you choose otherwise, because a similar name can be a different person. Every matched row also has its own choice in the table — **Skip**, **Update this person** or **Import as new** — so you can decide one by one. If the same person appears twice in your file, the second row shows a warning ("Looks like row 4"). Both rows are imported, so delete one from your file if needed. To clean up people who were already entered twice, use [Find Duplicates](#/find-duplicates); the summary screen has a button to open it. ## Good to know - **Tags are created automatically** if a tag name in your file doesn't exist yet. - **Locations are matched by name, never created.** If a location in your file doesn't match one you've set up, that cell is left blank, with a warning. - **Dates:** a date cell from Excel is read exactly. Dates typed as text are read as day-first or month-first on a best-effort basis, so spot-check a few birthdates after importing. A CSV file keeps dates and long numbers the way the spreadsheet *displayed* them (`3/7/85`, `5.49E+12`), so upload the Excel file itself when you can. - **Custom fields** are read by their type: a number, a date, yes/no, or one of the choices of a list field. A value that doesn't fit is left blank, with a warning. - Minor status is worked out from the birth date with your church's age cutoff — see [Members](#/members). ## Visitors, giving and groups - **Visitors** — first name (required), last name, email, phone, WhatsApp, address, first visit, how they found us, stage and notes. Visitors already in HolyCRM are spotted the same way as members. - **Giving history** — one gift per row: date and amount are required. The **giver** is matched with your members by email or by first and last name; if nobody matches (or two people have that name), the gift is recorded without a giver and won't show in a person's giving statement. Amounts can be written `1500.00` or `1.500,00`. A blank currency means your church's; another currency needs an **exchange rate** column. A **category** that doesn't exist yet is created; blank uses your first income category. Gifts that are already in HolyCRM (same date, amount, giver and reference) are flagged, so importing the same file twice doesn't count them twice. - **Groups** — name (required), type, leader (matched like a giver), meeting day and time, where they meet, host, description and status. A group with the same name as one you have can be skipped or updated. ## What it can't do (yet) Import more than 500 rows at once, the members of each group, or expenses.