Beginning Balance: Profiles Import Template

This article provides an overview of the template needed in order to migrate your profiles (people and organizations) into CommunitySuite. 

1. Open the Smartsheet and click the paper clip icon next to Profile Import Template and Reference Guide (Profiles Template).
   • The spreadsheet will download as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to your computer.

There are two tabs in the Profiles Template spreadsheet. 

• Template - The Template tab is the blank template that you will use to input your data from other spreadsheets and systems to create profiles. Do not edit the columns or headers. While not all columns are required to be populated with data, all columns must be in the template for a successful migration.
• Examples - This tab is a guide to help you fill out the Template tab.

The manner in which you fill out the columns in the Template tab tells CommunitySuite which type of profile you want to create. It is important to only complete specific columns depending on the type of profile you need to create. 

Types of Profiles

There are three types of profiles that can be created: individuals, households, and organizations. Profiles to consider including in this template are your donors, constituents, grantees, accounts payable vendors, and any other persons or entities with whom your organization interacts. 

The Examples tab on the spreadsheet includes color coded pathways for each type of profile. 

• Blue - Individuals
• Gold - Households - Couples
• Orange - Households -Trifecta
• Pink - Organization 

Individuals

This profile is for one person. They may be fund holders, donors, board members, or committee members in your organization. Fill out columns B through F to create an individual profile. Do not fill out anything in columns G through I.

Household - Couples 

If you currently track two people together as one record in your current spreadsheet or database, you can include the two people together to create one profile. This profile type is for the head of a household, not parents and children together in one group. Do not enter any names in columns B through F, H, or I.

Household - Trifecta

This an uncommon path, but it is possible to create and link a household profile (couple) with individual profiles for each spouse. This is a more complex way to complete the template. It is recommended to create each individual spouse profile using the individual profile columns B through F, and then create the household profile name in column G. Do not enter any names in columns B through F, H, or I.

Organization

This profile includes your accounts payable vendors, grantees, private businesses, universities, or any non-person type of entity. Entering a name in Column I tells the system to create an organization profile. You can add a name in columns B through F on the same row as an organization profile if you want to include that person as a contact within the organization profile. The contact will not be a standalone profile; it will only be a name within the Organization profile. If the contact is also relevant to the organization in another capacity, such as also being a donor, you will need to create an individual profile for them in addition to adding the name as a contact on the Org row.

Profile Codes

A Profile Code in column B is required for migration and must be unique for each row in the spreadsheet. No two rows can have the same profile code. The Profile Code can be a mix of letters, numbers, and dashes with a character limit of 60. If your current database does not have an existing exportable unique ID number, you will be required to create one for the migration. If you are combining profiles from different spreadsheets, accounting software, or another source like an email marketing system, it is recommended that you add a letter code to your profile ID to help know which system or spreadsheet the profile came from as shown below. 

• 123-QB - A profile that came from an accounting software.
• 678-D - A profile that came from a donor list spreadsheet.
• 101-G - A profile that came from a list of grantees.

The Profile Code becomes the Legacy Profile Code for that profile in CommunitySuite. The unique Legacy Profile Code will be used to assist in populating CommunitySuite with historical grants and donations. 

Additional Guidance

Review the information below prior to compiling your profiles template.

• You are limited to one piece of contact information by type (address, main phone, mobile phone, or email).
• Address - Only use the primary address for the profile. Only one address can be entered per profile/row. If you keep additional address records for a person or organization, keep track of the additional address records because you can do a bulk update to add in the extra addresses once the profile is migrated into CommunitySuite.
• Email - Only one email address can be entered per profile/row. If you keep additional emails for a person or an organization, keep track of which email you have entered on the profile template to exclude it from the rest. Once you are live in CommunitySuite, you can do a bulk update to add in the extra emails.
• Profile Type - If your organization will be using the Fund Advisor Portal in CommunitySuite, it is recommended to use the Profile Type column to tag the profiles that have fund associations by entering "Fund Advisor" into that column. This will help with future portal access setup. If you are not using the portal, or for profiles that are not fund holders, choose the most important group/segment you will need to get started. Only one per person/organization is available. Profile types are used to help segment, filter, and prioritize your database of profiles. You can add more profile types in batch once you are live in CommunitySuite.
• System Designations - Columns AN through AS on the template are available to turn on functionality in CommunitySuite depending on the profile/person/organization's transaction history. This will set up each profile with that functionality. A profile can have multiple designations selected. Profile Designations / Profile Is provides information on designations.

  • For accounts payable vendors, enter a 1 in the is_vendor column.

  • For your organizations you have awarded grants to in the past, enter a 1 in the is_grantee column.

  • For individuals you have awarded scholarships to in the past, enter a 1 in the is_student column.

• Embrace Duplicates - It is fine to have duplicates in your template. Pulling data together from multiple sources can be a challenge. It is preferred to bring in all of your records from all of your databases as part of the migration so nothing relevant is missed. CommunitySuite has the logic to flag possible duplicates, and your Implementation Specialist will train you on this functionality. 
• It is recommended to wait to setup org roles until you are live in CommunitySuite. Org Roles can be used to connect an organization to an individual or household profile. They have a date range and status, but the date range is not required. 
• Hard returns in a cell - Any hard returns in a cell in the template will cause an error with the migration. All cells in the template need all hard returns removed. A hard return is created when you click Enter on the keyboard and a new line is formed.
• Populating zeros - Leave blank columns blank; do not populate zeros anywhere.
• Household name needs to match the Household Member column.
• The Organization name cannot be in the same row as an individual when it is intended to create an individual profile. 

Beginning Balance: Profiles Template Video