This article explains how to create new or updated Constituent Manager profiles using a data spreadsheet upload. Before you begin, make sure you see the “Import Data” option in Constituent Manager > Settings.
Note: If you do not see this link, please contact Finalsite Support to have that option enabled.
If you do see this menu item, you’re ready to complete your datasheet and upload the data to Constituent Manager.
Go to the Downloads section of the Knowledge Base to find the datasheet templates for faculty, students and parents, and alumni. Open the template for the role you want to upload in your favorite spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel.
Complete the datasheet
Once you’ve downloaded the datasheet template, you’ll need to populate it with constituent data. It may be advantageous to start by uploading only a few constituents at a time, until you are familiar with the process.
You can only populate one role at a time, so choose one file to start with. We recommend starting with faculty.
Refer to Populate constituent datasheet templates or the instructions in each template for specific details about how to complete each datasheet.
Upload the datasheet
With your datasheet saved and ready, go to Constituent Manager > Settings > Import Data > Constituent Profile Data, and click “Continue” to open the upload utility.
Click “Choose File” to select the Unicode .txt version of your datasheet.
Click “Import” to begin the import of the datasheet.
Select the correct items from the dropdown menus:
- Constituent Role: For this example, we’ll use Faculty & Staff. When uploading, select the appropriate role for the datasheet you’re using. Choose "Student" as the role when uploading the relationships.
- Match Criteria: Use the importID option whenever possible. Using the FirstName LastName option isn’t always accurate, because you may have more than one “John Smith” at your school.
- Constituent Origin: Because we’re using Finalsite’s datasheet template, we’ll put “Finalsite System Default” as the source for this data upload. If this data was coming from an export from another student information system, we would indicate that here.
- Constituent Feed: Because “Finalsite System Default” is the constituent origin, the only option here is “finalsite.”
Make sure the Uploaded Columns and the Database Columns match. This will go a long way toward preventing errors in the upload.
Ensure that the checkboxes under "New" and "Update" are both checked for the columns you are uploading. You can determine which rows are imported on the following screen.
Once you have verified the columns, click “Confirm Data” to move to the next step.
On this screen, you can confirm that all the data appears the way you expect it to. If any of the column headers don’t match the data that’s below it, click “Redefine import fields” to go back to the previous step and select the correct field(s) from the dropdown menu. If everything appears correct, click “Import Data Now.”
The import may take a few minutes to process. Once the import has completed, you’ll see a table of your new and updated Constituent Manager profiles with “OK” next to each row.
After you have finished uploading, always check the profiles in Constituent Manager to make sure everything looks correct!
Comments
Please allow a better way to sync staff directory.
People from our corporation (students and parents) are being added to our directory page. We don't know where these are coming from and how to get rid of them. They don't show on our constituent manager.
Shelley, Thank you for your question!
To narrow down which constituents display on a directory page, go to the Constituent Element Settings and choose "Constituent Filters". Selecting "Display constituents who belong to - ANY ROLE" means the directory will populate from all of your existing roles (including Public Users). Changing this to "SELECTED ROLES" and choosing "Faculty & Staff" (then be sure to click "Save") will ensure that only Faculty & Staff roles will display on the Directory Page.
If you continue to have difficulties, feel free to submit a case to our support team so that we can help you further!
Hi Joe! Uploading constituents is definitely a process. If you’re already managing your constituent data in a Student Information System, it may be possible for you to sync that info using one of our integrations. There’s more information at https://www.finalsitesupport.com/hc/en-us/sections/360001617331-Data-integrations and you can always talk to your Client Success Manager about it!
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