How to use the member import tool
Our member import tool makes it easy to bulk import existing membership records from other software. It requires that the data be provided as either a Microsoft Excel or .csv (comma-separated values) file. The data must also be in a specific format. The table below outlines these requirements. We've also created a template as a starting point.
We strongly recommend having our team review your data before the initial import. This helps ensure it works well with the software and minimizes post-import adjustments.
The import tool automatically checks your data at the first step of the wizard and reports any errors it finds. This means you can upload your file, review any potential issues, and make corrections before completing the import. It cannot bulk update records.
The member data must be in the format specified in the table:
| Field | Format | Required |
|---|---|---|
| first_name | Max 25 characters | Required |
| last_name | Max 25 characters | Required |
| birth_first_name | Max 25 characters | Not required |
| birth_middle_names | Max 25 characters | Not required |
| birth_last_name | Max 25 characters | Not required |
| gender | Male, Female | Required |
| birth_date | YYYY-MM-DD | Not required |
| death_date | YYYY-MM-DD | Not required |
| was_baptized | Yes, No | Not required |
| baptism_date | YYYY-MM-DD | Not required |
| baptism_church | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| baptism_minister | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| did_profession | Yes, No | Not required |
| profession_date | YYYY-MM-DD | Not required |
| profession_church | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| profession_minister | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| address | Max 255 characters | Not required |
| city | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| country | Valid 2-digit country code | Required with region |
| region | Valid province/state/territory code | Not required |
| postal_code | Max 25 characters | Not required |
| mailing_address | Max 255 characters | Not required |
| mailing_city | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| mailing_country | Valid 2-digit country code | Required with mailing_region |
| mailing_region | Valid province/state/territory code | Not required |
| mailing_postal_code | Max 25 characters | Not required |
| home_phone | Max 25 characters (111-222-3333) | Not required |
| work_phone | Max 25 characters (111-222-3333 x 4) | Not required |
| mobile_phone | Max 25 characters (111-222-3333) | Not required |
|
Max 50 characters Must be a valid email address |
Not required | |
| membership_type | Member, Guest | Not required |
| membership_start_date | YYYY-MM-DD | Required with membership type |
| membership_end_date | YYYY-MM-DD | Not required |
| membership_end_reason | Deceased, Excommunicated, Excluded, Moved, Released, Transferred, Withdrew | Required with membership end date |
| membership_previous_church | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| membership_left_to_church | Max 50 characters | Not required |
| family | Unique identifier used to group people into families | Not required |
| marriage_status |
Active, Ended by death, Ended by divorce, Separated
Both spouses must have the same value
|
Required with marriage start and end dates |
| marriage_start_date |
YYYY-MM-DD
Both spouses must have the same value
|
Not required |
| marriage_end_date |
YYYY-MM-DD
Both spouses must have the same value
|
Not required |
| shepherding_group |
Must be a existing ward/district/parish name
All family members must be in the same ward/district/parish
|
Not required |
| giving_number | Must be a valid number | Not required |
| notes | Not required |
Memberships
The membership_type and membership_start_date fields are not required during import. If left omitted or left blank, those people will be added as non-members in your Church Social account. We strongly recommend including these fields whenever possible, as it will save you the work of manually adding membership information to each person later.
Quite often administrators won't know the membership start date for some, or all of their members. In those situations, we recommend simply choosing an arbitrary date in the past, such as the first day of the year, or even your church institution date. Just note that any members born after that date will need a membership start date of their birth date, since the system will not allow you to be a member before you are born.
Families
Members can be automatically grouped into families based on the family field. This is helpful, since it removes having to manually group members into families after the import has completed. Be sure to verify that two families do not share the same family identifier. Note, this field is not used for anything beyond this purpose. You will not find the family field value anywhere in the app after the import has finished.
Marriages
It's possible to import marriages using the marriage_status , marriage_start_date , and marriage_end_date fields. Both spouses must be in the same family, and must share the exact same marriage information in order for a match to be found. Error messages will be shown if this is done incorrectly.
Wards/districts/parishes
You can set the family ward (also often called districts or parishes) using the ward field. Like the family field, this is quite helpful, since it removes having to manually assigned wards once the import has completed. All members within a family must have the same ward set, otherwise an error will be shown. Be sure to first create your wards in the groups section of the app. The ward field must match the ward name as it is defined in that section.