Uploading Names and Contact Information to Auction Tracker

Further information about importing and exporting information to and from Auction Tracker can be found at:

http://wiki.nwsoftware.net/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1736818

1. Before importing, back up your data in Auction Tracker, as data imports can overwrite existing contact info .

Utilities > Backup data files > follow instructions. 

2. Do a couple of test imports with 3-5 rows, before importing hundreds or thousands of records. Proof of concept imports can ensure that the import is working as intended.

3. Look at this example there is also a template for more complicated data imports: The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th sheets in the spreadsheet “the proper order for the columns of data, with examples” show examples of fake data that you could import to Auction Tracker, depending on whether you want to import 

  • single individuals
  • individuals with their spouses
  • businesses
  • businesses and individuals
  • minimal data or extremely complete data

4. Place the columns of your data in the proper order

The first sheet of this link shows the proper order for the columns of data, with examples.

It can be helpful to copy and paste that first row into your spreadsheet, and then line your data up accordingly.

5. Remove any column headers; they should only be used as scaffolding

The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th sheets in the spreadsheet (the proper order for the columns of data, with examples) show examples of fake data; notice that they lack the column headers seen in the 1st sheet. Remove the column headers.

6. Save the file as a TAB-delimited ASCII text file, with a .TXT extension in the file name

7. Common situations 

(A) Importing spouses

To automatically make spouses being imported, to have linked records in Auction Tracker, they must be listed on the same row of the import spreadsheet.

They cannot have identical donor ID numbers if the they are on different rows.

If spouses records are listed on the same row, they can have identical or different donor ID numbers.

(B) Updating contact information by using a spreadsheet import

  • To update the contact information for existing records in Auction Tracker by importing updated info from a spreadsheet, ensure that the donor ID numbers of constituents already in Auction Tracker match the donor ID numbers of the constituents in the spreadsheet being uploaded
  • The contact information in the import spreadsheet WILL OVERWRITE contact information for existing records in Auction Tracker; thus if John Smith with Donor ID number 54321 is in the spreadsheet and in Auction Tracker, his contact information in the spreadsheet will overwrite any and all contact information in Auction Tracker -- even if the contact information in the spreadsheet is blank.
    • To pull a report showing donor ID numbers
      • Reporting > Application Reports > Names > All Constituents > Donor ID Number Listing
      • Reporting > LetterWriter. It will create a carat (^) - delimited text file which can be imported into Excel or Google Sheets as a spreadsheet.
        • To import into Excel select the Tell Me What You Want To Do search box in Excel, and enter “Get Data From Text” and follow instructions. Enter the ^ character as the delimiter and put a checkbox on the “My Data Has Headers”. 
        • In Google Sheets: go to File > Import > Upload, then in the Import File dialog box, select Create New Spreadsheet and in the Separator Type, select Custom and enter the ^ character in the empty field. Select Import Data. It will import the file and display “File Imported successfully” at the top of the dialog box. Select Open Now.
    • If you are updating information for all constituents in Auction Tracker, or rapidly adding donor ID numbers to constituents in Auction Tracker, use the Utilities > Add Donor ID Numbers tool
    • Suppose you are only updating information for guests, donors and sponsors associated with this year’s event. Then follow these instructions:
      • Assign guests their RSVP levels to let Auction Tracker know that they are guests; enter donor and sponsor information so that Auction Tracker associates them with this event.
      • Constituents > Add/Edit/Delete constituents > click on the 4th icon from the top left (a blue filter). Select This Event in the top right corner. Then select below “Filter Names by All Names”.
      • Open the very first constituent’s record. Notice in their Business or Individual tab (the first tab on the top left), the donor ID number is listed in the middle right of the dialog box. Check that this donor ID number is the same as the one in your spreadsheet, or copy and paste it if it is not the same. If there is no Donor ID number here, click on the little blue triangle to the right of the Donor ID field and then click in the Donor ID input field area.
      • Press the forward-pointing single blue arrow at the top middle of the screen, to go to the next guest/sponsor/donor associated with this year’s event, to cross-check their donor ID number in Auction Tracker, with your import spreadsheet.

8. Common issues & errors to be avoided

  • Put the columns in the order shown in the examples (above)
  • The first column must include Y for a business, N for an individual. See the example data, above
  • Remove column headers. Delete them before importing. They are scaffolding
  • Do not include unusual characters
  • Before importing, open the .TXT file in Notepad and delete any blank rows below your data
  • Duplicate rows -- the donor ID number for each person or business must be unique
  • Properly format zip codes, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
  • Close the file in Excel before importing it into Auction Tracker
  • Save the import file as a TAB-delimited ASCII text file
  • Save the file with a .TXT extension
  • The second column must include a donor ID number 
  • Spouses will be automatically linked if you place them on the same row. They can have the same or different donor ID numbers. If they have the same donor ID number, then they must NOT be on separate rows, or the import will be rejected for having duplicates. If they have different donor ID numbers and you place them on separate rows, then they will not be automatically linked; however, the import can succeed.
  • The second column must include a donor ID number 
    • This assists imports from donor management software. 
    • If you do not use donor management software, it's ok to make up this number as long as you have a reasonable system for doing so. The easiest way is to enter a number in your spreadsheet in the first row, and in the row below it to type the formula =B1+1 or =B2+1 depending on whether you have column headers still in place or not. Then copy that cell and paste it into all the rows below it. Follow a similar process for generating donor ID numbers for spouses.
    • If you wish to update the contact information for existing records in Auction Tracker, you will need to make sure that the donor ID numbers of constituents already in Auction Tracker match the donor ID numbers of the constituents in the spreadsheet you’re uploading that contains the updated contact information.
      • To pull a report showing donor ID numbers
        • Reporting > Application Reports > Names > All Constituents > Donor ID Number Listing
        • Reporting > LetterWriter. It will create a carat (^) - delimited text file which can be imported into Excel or Google Sheets as a spreadsheet. To import it in Excel select the Tell Me What You Want To Do search box and enter “Get Data From Text” and follow instructions. Enter the ^ character as the delimiter and put a checkbox on the “My Data Has Headers”. 
          • In Google Sheets, go to File > Import > Upload
          • Data > Split Text to Columns > enter the ^ character as the separator
      • If you are updating information for all constituents in Auction Tracker, or rapidly adding donor ID numbers to constituents in Auction Tracker, use the Utilities > Add Donor ID Numbers tool
      • Suppose you are only updating information for guests, donors and sponsors associated with this year’s event. Then follow these instructions:
        • 1. Assign guests their RSVP levels to let Auction Tracker know that they are guests; enter donor and sponsor information so that Auction Tracker associates them with this event.
        • 2. Constituents > Add/Edit/Delete constituents > click on the 4th icon from the top left (a blue filter). Select This Event in the top right corner. Then select below “Filter Names by All Names”.
        • Open the very first constituent’s record. Notice in their Business or Individual tab (the first tab on the top left), the donor ID number is listed in the middle right of the dialog box. Check that this donor ID number is the same as the one in your spreadsheet, or copy and paste it if it is not the same. If there is no Donor ID number here, click on the little blue triangle to the right of the Donor ID field and then click in the Donor ID input field area.
        • Press the forward-pointing single blue arrow at the top middle of the screen, to go to the next guest/sponsor/donor associated with this year’s event, to cross-check their donor ID number in Auction Tracker, with your import spreadsheet.
    • If you're importing some data one year, and more data the next year, create new donor ID numbers for the new names being imported
    • If a donor ID number is already in Auction Tracker, and you import using that donor ID number, then there are 2 possibilities:
      • If the names are the same, then, for those constituents, the import file will cause existing contact information in Auction Tracker to be OVERWRITTEN and LOST and replaced with the new contact information in your import file
      • If the names are different, the import file's data will be completely ignored and that record will not be imported at all

9. Close the file in Microsoft Excel before attempting the import

10.  Import the data

In Auction Tracker's menu, select

File > Data Import > Import Constituent Data From Donor Management (Generic)

A warning box may pop up "Caution! Records already exist. Continue with data import?"

There are a couple considerations, here:

  • If a donor ID number is already in Auction Tracker, and you import using that donor ID number, then there are 2 possibilities:
    • If the names are the same, then the import file will cause contact information to be updated or added to the constituent's record
      • If the names are different, the import file's data will be completely ignored and that record will not be imported at all
  • There are a couple ways to find the donor ID numbers of existing Constituent records in Auction Tracker so that you can appropriately choose donor ID numbers for constituents you are importing:
    • To obtain a report that lists all of them:
      • Reporting > Application Reports > Names > All Constituents > Donor I.D. Number Listing
    • To look them up one at a time:
      • Click on the big button Constituents
        • Using the mouse or the down-arrow key, select a name (but do not actually open it)
          • On the upper-right side of the Constituent Selection box, you should see a field labeled Donor ID. It may or may not include a Donor ID number; these numbers are not generally created by Auction Tracker except when a record has been imported.

When the warning box pops up "Caution! Records already exist. Continue with data import?"

Press Continue if you wish to proceed, given the above considerations.

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