Use VMS imports, received files, data management, and fiscal-year rollover

Tags: product:volunteer-management intent:vms-import intent:received-file intent:data-management intent:rollover intent:gift-configuration

Authorized VMS administrators go to Volunteer Management > Data Management > Import History to review runs and Received Files to see files delivered for processing. Some institutions also see Onboarding and Subscription Usage. Volunteer and assignment uploads are launched from their respective management pages and link to previous uploads.

Use the exact current template for each file type, preserve constituent/volunteer IDs and leading zeros, and test before changing a recurring feed. A successful file transfer is not the same as a successful import; confirm the run result in Import History.

Use the supported Data Management controls for stale or ghost records only after changing upstream exports so removed records are not recreated. For example, remove unwanted IDs from every constituent/additional feed before using a deletion uploader, and preserve leading zeros in the deletion file.

Use Volunteer Management > Settings > Gift Configuration to decide which imported gift data powers each customer-facing use, including constituent records, administrator dashboards, volunteer dashboards, and automated gift notifications. A configuration can draw from Detailed Gifts, Gift Summaries, or Last Gift Details when that source is available; some calculations require detailed or summary records and therefore do not offer Last Gift Details. Define the included gift data in the query builder and use View Records where available to inspect the records rolling into an administrator-dashboard configuration.

For a Detailed Gifts configuration that exposes Soft Gifts, enabling transaction-ID deduplication counts the gift amount only once when multiple included gifts share the same transaction ID. Donor-count behavior is separate: when multiple constituents have gifts with the same transaction ID, each constituent contributes to the donor count. Do not enable deduplication as a generic fix for unrelated duplicates; confirm that the source uses a stable transaction ID and that the shared ID represents one financial gift.

Fiscal-year rollover affects source data, roles, cohorts, assignment strategy, and reporting periods; it is not a single universal reset button.