Importing payment data into Zeffy
Use a payment import to bring your supporters' historical payment data into Zeffy. One import creates the payments, creates or updates the contact profiles behind them, and files the payments under fundraising campaigns.
Imported payments cannot be edited afterward: you cannot change the amount, date, or payment method of an imported transaction. Review your file before you launch the import. If something is wrong afterward, you can delete a payment or undo the whole import.
What a payment import creates
Contact profiles
Every payment import is also a contact import. When a payment belongs to a contact with no email, or with an email that does not exist in your database yet, Zeffy creates a contact profile for that person.
Email is the primary identifier of a contact: payments for someone who already exists in Zeffy with the exact same email are linked to the existing profile, but if their email is left out or a different one is used, second contact profile is created for the same person.
Campaigns
Use the Fundraising campaign column to file each payment under a campaign.
To attach payments to an existing campaign, enter the campaign's exact name, including capitalization, spacing, and punctuation. Copy the name directly from your Zeffy dashboard to avoid typos.
For events, raffles and online store payments, the Rate title column value must also match an existing rate name in that campaign, so the right ticket type is assigned to each buyer.
If the campaign name does not match an active campaign, Zeffy creates a new campaign to organize the imported payments. Campaigns created by an import are archived: when the import is done, you will find them under Campaigns > Past.
Besides imports, you can add individual payments to an active campaign using manual payment entries.
Confirmation emails, e-tickets and tax receipts
E-tickets are issued when importing onto an existing campaign with e-ticket generation enabled, but they are not emailed directly to buyers. Confirmation emails with tax receipts or e-tickets can be sent manually after the import using the "Resend receipt" option.
Tax receipts can be issued manually in bulk after importing. If receipts need to be issued for a specific amount, be sure to enter it in the Eligible amount column. For donations, be sure to fill out the Date column with the correct payment date.
To bulk generate tax receipts after importing, stay on the page you're directed to right after the import is complete. It will display all of your recently imported payments. You can select them all or individually to use the bulk Generate tax receipts option.
You can also select individual payments in your payments list and the option to generate receipts will appear in the purple tab at the top of the payments list.
Tax receipts will not be emailed to donors directly. They can be downloaded or the link to the receipt should be copied and emailed to the donor.
Start a payment import
In your Zeffy dashboard, go to Payments > Import and click New import.
Select Contacts + their payments and click Next.
Membership payments are a separate import. Use Contacts & their memberships when you want members added to a members list and a membership campaign. If you are only recording past membership payments as history, the standard payment import also works. See Importing members and creating membership cards.
Prepare your import file
Two things are required for every row: an Amount, and either a name or an email so Zeffy can create the contact. Everything else is optional.
The import template contains every column the import supports. Download it from the import setup screen and fill it in, or use your own file. If you use your own file, stick to the columns the template supports: custom columns have no matching field in Zeffy and will not be imported, and you will need to map your columns to Zeffy's fields before launching.
The maximum number of payments per import file is 5000. If you have more, split them into separate files.
Template columns
Every column is optional unless noted as required.
Column | What it does |
|---|---|
Amount | Required. The payment amount. |
First name / Last name | Required if the row has no email. |
Required if the row has no name. The contact's primary identifier. | |
Date | The date of the payment, formatted |
Fundraising campaign | The campaign the payment belongs to. Enter an existing campaign's exact name to map to it, or a new name to group the payments under a new campaign. |
Rate title | Events and raffles only. The title of the ticket. It must match the campaign's rate name exactly, for example |
Lists | Mailing segments/lists to add the contact to. If a contact belongs to multiple lists, separate multiple list names with a comma. |
Fund | Assigns the payment to a fund for back-end organization. See Use Fund Designation to Categorize Donations and Let Donors Choose a Fund. |
Payment method | How the payment was made: |
Receipt eligible amount | The portion of the payment eligible for a tax receipt. |
Receipt URL / Receipt number | For receipts that were issued outside Zeffy. |
Ticket URL | A link to a ticket issued through a different software. |
Payment annotation | A note on the payment itself (e.g. check number). |
Secondary email | A secondary email on the contact profile. |
Language |
|
Address, Postal code, City, Region, Country | Contact address fields. Country must be a valid two- or three-letter country code (for example, |
Phone number | The contact's phone number. |
Company name | For payments made by a company. |
Contact notes | Notes on the contact profile. |
Household name | Organizes the contact under a household. |
Subscription status | Imported contacts are subscribed by default. Set a different status here if the contact has unsubscribed. |
Import your file
Select your file into the import setup screen.
Click Next.
Review the field mapping. If you used the template, your columns are already mapped; if you used your own file, check that each column maps to the right Zeffy field before continuing.
Launch the import. Zeffy analyzes the file first and flags any issues up front; if there are none, confirm to start the import.
When the import finishes, you land on a page listing all of the payments you imported.
Fix import errors
If your file contains formatting errors, a popup indicates how many rows have issues. Click See ___ issues to review them in a workbook, with incorrect cells highlighted in red. You can also choose Import without ___ contacts to import only the valid rows.
At least one identifier: You must provide an email, first name, or last name. These cannot all be blank.
Invalid country: Use a valid two- or three-letter country code (for example,
CA,US,FR).Invalid email: The field must be a valid email address.
Invalid language: Use only
ENorFR.Invalid date: Format as
dd/mm/yyyywith all zeros.Invalid payment method: Use one of the listed payment method values, entered exactly as shown.
Too many rows: Your file exceeds the 10,000 row limit. Split it into smaller files.
What happens after import
Payments appear in the Payments section alongside your regular transactions, linked to contact profiles by email.
Nothing is emailed to donors automatically. Confirmation emails, receipts, and e-tickets are sent from the payment after the import.
To generate receipts, select the imported payments and click Generate tax receipts to issue receipts for every eligible amount.
E-tickets issued by an import appear on the payment, ready to be sent to the buyer.
To send a donor their confirmation email, open the payment, click "Actions" and use the option to resend the receipt. This email contains the e-tickets and the receipt, but not the personalized thank-you message from the campaign, even when the payment was imported onto a campaign that has one.
From the payment drawer you can also edit the buyer details with the pen icon next to the buyer information, add notes, delete the payment, or cancel the tickets attached to it.
Delete or undo an import
Delete individual payments
Go to Payments.
Click on the payment row (avoid clicking the donor name, which opens the contact page).
Click Actions in the top right of the payment drawer.
Click Delete.
Deleting a payment that has an e-ticket or membership card automatically cancels the ticket or card.
Undo an entire import
To undo an entire import:
Go to Payments
Click Import
Select import history
Click Delete next to the import row.
Importing recurring payments / subscriptions
Recurring donors and members cannot be imported in a way that lets their recurring payments or memberships keep renewing automatically through Zeffy. For historical recurring supporter data, use the payment import.
What to do next
How imported data will appear in Zeffy — See how payments and contacts are linked after import.
Managing and editing contacts — Review the contact profiles created from your payment import.
Reports and exporting data — Learn how to export your payment and contact data.