Knowledgebase

TRANSCRIPT

Let's look at Import Manager. It's within the Membership section.

Import Manager is the quickest way to update member data in bulk. StarChapter compares the current member data with the data in the incoming spreadsheet, adding new members, moving dropped members to the non-member list (and marking them as former members), and updating members' profiles. While it's normally used only by organizations that get their member lists from a parent organization, it can be useful for making bulk updates even if you handle your own membership.

First, download your member roster from your parent organization, or prepare a roster for import. This should always be your full member roster, not just a list of new members. Check over the file using your preferred spreadsheet program.

Make sure that the top row contains headers or labels for the information in each column. If you do imports on a regular basis, your column headers should remain the same. The actual content of the headers doesn't particularly matter, as long as they're consistent. Save the file in CSV format. This is usually available under the Save As option in most spreadsheet programs.

Next, go to Membership > Import Manager. We have reports on previously completed imports here. Click on Import Data at the top. Choose whether you are importing a list of members or non-members. In this video, we're bringing in a member list.

Browse for and select your file, then click Next.

Select an import map. The import map is a set of matches between the columns in the spreadsheet and the data fields within StarChapter. The map tells the incoming data where to go. The best match out of your preexisting maps is pre-selected. Usually you won't change anything here, you'll just click Next.

This screen is long, but not too complicated. This shows where the data in each spreadsheet column goes. The check box tells the system whether to update this field or not. Usually, you'll want to check everything. Then we have the name of the field in StarChapter's database. Next to that is a drop-down to choose the matching column from the spreadsheet that you uploaded. The next column is a view of what's in the spreadsheet for my first member, so if I accidentally match something incorrectly, we can see that and correct it before moving forward.

Earlier, I said that Import Manager adds new members, moves dropped members, and updates members' profiles. It does all this based on the member ID. Import Manager compares all the member IDs in StarChapter with all the member IDs on the incoming spreadsheet to see who's new, who's dropped, and who's updated. But it can only do this if the member ID field is matched up correctly. If your member ID field isn't properly mapped, you're going to see some massive changes to your member list that you don't want. So be careful. We have an additional check for this on the next screen.

Other than the basic profile fields, the paid-through date, or expiration date, should be matched up and the box checked. Otherwise, the data won't come in, or it won't update the profiles of existing members who have renewed.

At the bottom of the screen, we have group maps. Just like you can match up someone's profile fields, you can use information in a spreadsheet column to put someone in a group. I typically recommend checking the box, to add any new subgroups that we don't already have. For example, if you just got your very first student member, that membership type might not exist yet. Import Manager can create it for you.

On the next screen, you'll see a preview of what will happen to your current membership list if you complete this import. It's important to check these numbers as a safeguard before finalizing the import. We have our number of new members, our number of dropped members, and our number of updated members. These totals do NOT include any members who are moving between groups. If your dropped or new member numbers are very high, then something's wrong, and you shouldn't complete the import. These numbers are pretty low and about what I would expect, so I'll go forward.

On the final screen, we get our success message and a reminder about email verification. However, you usually don't have to do separate verification for new members. In Membership > Settings > Members, we have an automated welcome email option. If you turn this on, the welcome message that new members get with a set-your-password link will verify their email address automatically in the background.

And that's it! If you ever get to the end of the process and find that something has gone wrong with your import, feel free to reach out to us in Support. We can help you undo a recent import and get your data straight.