CSV imports in CiviCRM
In the past week I've had coaching sessions with three different clients, about CSV imports in CiviCRM.
Here are some details from those discussions that these folks said we're very useful:
You can import Excel spreadsheets (not only CSV files)
Saved field mappings are very handy for predictable repeat imports of a consistent format.
Tagging every import with a unique tag makes it much easier to double check your work.
The CSV Import Helper extension is a big help when importing contributions or event participants, by making it much easier to identify existing contacts in your data.
Understanding how Dedupe Rules work, and selecting the right one, will help reduce the number of duplicate records you might create through an import.
You might have known some are all of those things already.
But if you've been struggling to make CSV imports work smoothly, it might be worth trying again.
All the best,
A.