Has anyone imported Actions? If so, was it a smooth import? If we can't get web access for our development officers/VPs to enter their Actions, I am thinking of importing the Actions by setting up an Excel spreadsheet for them to enter the Action and then import them into RE.

I haven't done action imports, but I've manipulated actions using VBA and that worked well enough for me. Importing actions should also be straightfoward. You might need to be careful about some fields such as action date/time. You probably want it to be the date of the action, not the date of the import. The date created and date changed fields (which aren't on the screen, but are visible on properties) are going to be whenever you did the import and will not match the action date. Tom Luongo [Email Removed] Boston, MA 617-852-7350

We use a Access DB that each Officer has on their laptop. They select all relevant info and the actions are imported every 2 weeks. Works great though we are looking to move to web access soon. I didn't develop the Access DB, my predecessor did. Josh Database and Research Manager Bluffton University

I have recently imported new Actions to existing constituent records - it was a simple & straightforward process. Be sure you have the development people give you the Donor ID, Import ID or SSN with their data. If you're adding Attributes or Notes to an exisiting action, all you'll need is the Action Import ID for each record. Tracie Cassidy Database Coordinator Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation (206) 987-6833 [Email Removed]

I know this is an old thread, but I am struggling to grasp what I am doing wrong!

I am trying to do a similar import: new ATTRIBUTES to existing constituent records

• I have a list of Constituent names & ID #s in a CSV file
• I would like to add to all of them the same attribute, attribute description and date.
• When I go to Import:
• General Tab:
• Update Existing Records
• I link my csv file
• I select "cont. Id"
• On the Fields tab:
• I don't know what to do because I don't have an attributes import id....

Any Advice?  I would greatly appreciate your help!!! Thanks!

Megan,

 You need to do an import of new records, not an update.  Select the Constituent Attribute import type and set it to Import New Records.  Then use your ConsID to identify existing constituents. 

Megan,

If you are adding new cons attributes use Import New Records instead of Update Existing Records. You will need these fields consid, cattrcat, cattrdesc, cattrdate (optional), cattrcom (optional).

 Jundino

That was my problem! thanks Jundino!!!!

Jundino,

one last question, do I touch (do anything with) the "options" section on the General Tab?

 Thanks, Megan

If your table entries (cattrdesc) are not created you can select Create new table entries option and RE will automatically create table entries for you. You don't have to select validate only if you are doing live import.

Megan - In the future, when you're adding the same attribute info to a list of constituents it's much easier to use the Globally Add function. Import works better when you're adding different attribute values to a list of constituents.