Importing giving allows historical giving records to be imported into Breeze. Users may want to do this to populate Breeze with data from a previous database or regularly import giving files received from a 3rd party online payment solution.
To Import Giving Transactions
- Navigate to the Account Settings (
) > Bulk Tasks > Import Giving."
- In the bottom right, use the drop-down to select the format of the file you'll be providing Breeze.1
- Download the template file. Ensure that your import file matches the template format.
- Import your file. Your file will be verified prior to importing.
Following the import, we recommend checking that the sums match the original data.
For importing pledges, see Import Pledges
1 If loading data from a previous church management system, we recommend using the Generic format. If you don't see your giving platform on the list, let us know via email and we can let you know if it can be added to the list.
Import field information is case sensitive. (ex. If a fund name starts with a capital letter, then the fund listed in the fund field must also begin with a capital letter)
There is a limit to the number of batches that can be imported. If this is breached the batches will show to be the number 2,147,483,647. Once this number is reached all batches will reflect this number moving forward, and all batches beyond this will be linked together since they can't move past this limit. The likely scenario here is that an incorrect Batch number was imported by a file. To resolve this error simply delete the batches and re-import using the correct Batch number.
Understanding Fields on the File
While different file formats have different columns, below you'll find the general categories used.
|
Field |
Options |
Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Breeze ID If a person is not in the database, add them. If there’s a large number of people not in the database, bulk import them. Be sure that the person is not in the database with a slightly different name as creating them as a new person will create a duplicate person. If duplicates are created, they can be merged (individually).
|
Integer "Anonymous" |
102301231 194202391 Anonymous 140293123 |
| Processor ID If importing from a third party provider, this is the ID associated with the person in the third party system. Breeze will prompt you to associate this ID with the corresponding profile within Breeze (if not already associated). Some third-party providers will use their own unique ID while others will use a phone number or an address.
|
Integer "Anonymous" |
b2932kdfsf23 555-123-4567 123 Main Street Ave SE |
| First Name Technically speaking, the first name field is ignored by the import (the Breeze ID is the only identifier used). The first name field is for the benefit of the person constructing the import file.
|
String (optional) | Jack Lisa Sue Craig |
| Last Name Technically speaking, the last name field is ignored by the import (the Breeze ID is the only identifier used). The last name field is for the benefit of the person constructing the import file.
|
String (optional) | Anderson Smith Rogers Doe |
| Date | mm/dd/yyyy | 1/1/2012 3/15/2013 10/1/2014 |
| Amount Be sure to remove any text or currency symbols.
|
Float | 100 100.01 100.10 100.1 |
| Fund If the fund name does not match an existing fund, a new fund with that name will be automatically created. Funds can be merged afterward if a new fund was accidentally created. When importing, rows can only contain one fund. Split funds should be entered as two separate gifts.
|
String | General Fund Student Ministries Spring Fundraiser Building Fund |
| Method If the method name does not match an existing method name, a new method with that name will be automatically created. Methods can be merged afterward if a new method was accidentally created.
|
String | Check Cash Credit/Debit Online Credit/Debit Offline Donated Goods (FMV) Stocks (FMV) Direct Deposit Carrier Pigeon |
| Batch Number We recommend adding batch numbers grouped by date (oldest to newest) starting at 100 and incrementing up by one for each subsequent date. For example:
|
Integer | 100 100 101 101 102 |
| Batch Name If a batch name is already defined, names in subsequent rows with the same batch number will be ignored.
|
String (optional) | Sunday 11:00 Giving Wednesday PM Giving Mid-July Fundraiser |
| Check Number | Integer (optional) | 100 5201 10042 |
| Note | String (optional) | Part of bulk import Import from old system |
Manage Associations
Some import formats require you to link the ID of the 3rd party payment provider with the person within Breeze that number should associate with. You will be prompted to do this when importing the file for any associations that do not currently exist.
To Import Anonymous Giving from PayPal you will need to create an Anonymous person in your database to record all this giving under, as there is no Breeze ID or Processor ID field in the PayPal template.
To view or delete associations that already exist:
- Navigate to the Account Settings (
- Click "Manage Associations" in the bottom left.
- Delete any associations you'd like to remove by clicking the "X" to the right of the row.