Data Importer - Getting Started with Data-Powered Features

* We have officially launched Guided Import—a new AI-powered experience designed to take the guesswork (and the frustration) out of data mapping. We recommend you start your data import journey there! For ongoing imports and advanced use cases, our Manual Field Mapping option remains available.

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The GiveCampus Data Importer helps you send more data into GiveCampus, unlocking greater visibility, analysis, and actionable insights for your fundraising. By pairing great data with great technology, you can run more efficient, targeted, and impactful initiatives.

 

What the Data Importer Enables

Data loaded via the Data Importer can power, among other things:

• Donor status calculations (e.g., first-time donor tracking)
• Matches and challenges for first-time donors
• Benchmarking and goal tracking
• Texting campaigns
• Wealth Analytics & Wealth Alerts
• Smart Appeals anniversary giving workflows
• Personalized outreach at scale
• Smart Ask Amounts
• Smart Segments
• GC Outreach segmentation & merge tokens
• Constituent Matching via email for gifts and event registrations

Using the Data Importer

• Data Importer - Unlocking the Basics: Data Importer Made Easy
• Data Importer - Preparing Your Files
• Data Importer - Mapping and Importing Your Files
• Data Importer - Maintaining Your Data
• Data Importer - Uploading Files via SFTP (optional)

Additional Resources: 

• Unlocking the Basics: The School Level Data Importer Made Easy
  • a step-by-step guide to getting started, including downloadable templates
• Product Office Hours: Data Security Review for Advancement Services
• Product Office Hours: Technical Video Walk-Through with Q&A of Data Importer
• Webinar: Leveraging Data to Unleash Your Fundraising Superpowers 
• Making the Case for Data Import
  • an easily shareable and editable email template to help you explain why using Data Importer will be so valuable for your team. It also outlines all the supporting resources and documentation needed to get started.
• Recommended & Required Fields by Feature
  • explained in the Preparing Your Files article but a handy resource

### Should we import every constituent type or only alumni and parents? GiveCampus recommends importing all active constituent types. A broader import increases the match rate for online gifts and event registrations and allows more features to work fully for your community. ### Why am I seeing a low match rate for gifts or event registrations? A low match rate means that the email address on a gift or registration does not match any constituent record in GiveCampus. Importing a wider range of constituents—such as current parents, past parents, faculty/staff, donors with alternate emails, and volunteers—improves the likelihood of a match via email. ### What GiveCampus features improve when I import a more complete constituent dataset? A complete dataset enhances these capabilities: - Personalized greetings and pre-filled forms (Online Giving Personalization) - First-time donor tracking and matches - Donor status calculations (e.g., Current Year, LYBUNT, SYBUNT) - Smart Ask Amounts - Smart Segments - Smart Appeals anniversary workflows - Wealth Analytics and Wealth Alerts - GC Outreach segmentation and merge tokens - Constituent matching via email for gifts and event registrations ### How can I check which fields I need to include before I expand imports? Use the Data Selector tool at [datarequirements.givecampus.com](https://datarequirements.givecampus.com) to identify the required constituent fields for each GiveCampus feature. This helps you prioritize which columns to include so that new imports immediately power the features you need. ### Practical next steps to improve match rates 1. Run the Data Selector for the features you want to enable and capture the required fields in your export. 2. Include every active constituent type your institution requires, not just alumni and parents, to ensure donor and registrant emails are represented in GiveCampus. 3. Verify that the email column in your file contains the primary addresses (including alternate emails, if available) used by donors and registrants so that the importer can match records accurately.