Help Topics/Getting Started & FAQs/Importing From a Spreadsheet

Importing From a Spreadsheet

You can add your whole congregation to ChurchTrac from a spreadsheet. Whether your list comes from another church management system or a spreadsheet you've kept yourself, the steps below will get it ready.

Two Ways to Import

  • Import it yourself. On the People screen, open the "Add" menu and choose "Import Spreadsheet." You upload the file, match your columns to ChurchTrac fields, and review the results.
  • Let our team import it for you. Prepare your spreadsheet using this guide, then send it to us through a Support Ticket. We'll import it and let you know when it's done.

Either way, prepare your spreadsheet the same way.

Coming from another church management platform? Reach out to our team before you get started. We may be able to export your data for you.

Import Requirements

File type CSV or Excel (.xlsx)
File size 1 MB (maximum)
Rows 2,000 people, not counting the heading row
Columns 60 (maximum)

If your list is larger, split it into several files and import them one at a time. Keep everyone in a household in the same file.

You can import during your free trial and on all paid plans. If you're on a paid plan, an import that takes you past your plan's name limit will still finish. After that, you'll need to upgrade your name tier, or archive or delete names, before you can import again.

Prepare Your Spreadsheet

  • One row per person. Children, spouses and other family members each get their own row.
  • Descriptive column headings in the first row. Use clear headings like First Name, Email, Mobile Phone or Family ID. ChurchTrac matches most common headings on its own, so clear headings mean less matching for you.
  • No blank rows or columns. Don't use empty rows or columns to separate families or sections. Keep your data together, starting in the top-left corner.
  • One worksheet. Put everyone on a single sheet, and leave that sheet selected when you save the file.
  • Values, not formulas. If any cells use formulas, copy them and paste them back as values. Files with macros, embedded objects or links to other workbooks can't be imported.
  • One email address and one mobile number per person. If someone has more than one, choose the one they use most. Put other numbers in the Work Phone or Other Phone columns.

If you're starting from scratch, Download our Import Spreadsheet. You can open it in Excel, Numbers, or your favorite spreadsheet app, and its headings already match ChurchTrac's fields. Use it as your starting point, or just reference it while you format your existing spreadsheet.

Required Columns

Every spreadsheet needs these three columns, and every row needs a value in each.

  1. First Name. First name only. If two people share the same first and last name, add a middle initial to tell them apart (for example, Mary J. and Mary K.).
  2. Last Name. Last name only. If a suffix is needed to tell two people apart, such as John Smith Jr. and John Smith Sr., put it in a separate Suffix column.
  3. A household column. This tells ChurchTrac who lives together. Everyone in the same household must have exactly the same value, and each household needs a value no other household uses.

If first and last names are together in one column, split them into two columns before you import.

Household Examples

Option 1: a family number. Most church systems export a family or household ID. This is the most reliable choice. ChurchTrac uses the number to group people and writes a family name for you, like SMITH, John and Mary.

First Name Last Name Family ID
John Smith 1001
Mary Smith 1001
Emma Smith 1001
Robert Smith 1002
Linda Garcia 1003
Carlos Garcia 1003

John, Mary and Emma become one household. Robert Smith is a separate household, even though he shares their last name.

Option 2: a family name. If you don't have an ID, use a name that is unique to each household. Follow ChurchTrac's format, LASTNAME, FirstName and SpouseName, using ALL CAPS for the last name portion. Starting with the last name keeps households sorted correctly.

First Name Last Name Family Name
John Smith SMITH, John and Mary
Mary Smith SMITH, John and Mary
Emma Smith SMITH, John and Mary
Robert Smith SMITH, Robert
Carlos Garcia GARCIA, Carlos and Linda
Linda Garcia GARCIA, Carlos and Linda

Avoid a plain last name such as Smith or Smith Family. Two different Smith households would be merged into one.

Using both. If you have a Family ID and a Family Name, include both. The ID groups the household and the name is shown in ChurchTrac.

Married couples with different last names, and blended families, just need to share the same household value.

First Name Last Name Family ID
David Lee 2040
Sarah Nguyen 2040
Ava Lee 2040

Individual and Family Fields

All other columns are optional, but highly recommended. They fall into two categories, which match what you see when you select a person's name on the People screen:

  • Individual fields appear at the top of the screen. This is information entered for one person, like First Name, Birthday, and Mobile Phone.
  • Family fields appear at the bottom of the screen. This information is shared by everyone in the same family. For example, every member of the Smith family shares the same Home Address and Formal Greeting.

Add any of the columns below that you have. Leave a cell blank when you don't have the information. Words like N/A, none or unknown are treated as blank.

Individual Fields

Column What to enter
Suffix Jr., Sr., III
Email One address per person, formatted correctly
Mobile Phone One number, with area code. This number is used when you send SMS messages from ChurchTrac.
Work Phone, Other Phone One number each, with area code
Birthday One date column (MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD), or separate Birth Year, Birth Month and Birth Day columns. If you use separate columns, enter numeric values only. You can skip the year if it's unknown or you'd rather not include it.
Family Role Primary, Spouse, Child or Other. Common words also work, such as Head, Husband, Wife, Parent, Son, Daughter or Dependent.
Member Status Your church's statuses, such as Member, Regular Attender or Visitor. New statuses are added for you, and you can customize this list at any time to match what your church uses.
Active Active or Inactive (Yes/No also works). If left blank, the person is imported as Active.
Member or Envelope Number Needed if you plan to import giving records. You'll be able to enter Giving screen contributions by this number.
Groups Group names separated by commas, such as Choir, Men's Bible Study. Spell each name exactly as it appears in ChurchTrac. Any name that doesn't match an existing group creates a new group, which can leave you with duplicates.
Notes Notes or comments about the person. These are imported into the Notes section of their People profile.
Medical / Allergies Medical notes or allergies
Organization Name For a business or organization instead of a person

Family Fields

Repeat family information on each row for everyone in the household.

Column What to enter
Formal Greeting The name for mailing envelopes, such as Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. This is used for printing family mailing labels. If left blank, ChurchTrac generates one from the head of household and spouse names.
Informal Greeting First names, such as John and Mary
Address, Address Line 2 The first line of the family's physical or mailing address, then apartment, suite or unit number
City, State, ZIP Separate, consecutive columns, or one column with City, State and ZIP/Postal Code together. If you use one column, leave the other two out.
Secondary Address A second mailing address
Home Phone The household phone number or landline, with area code
Family Notes Notes about the household

Custom Fields (UDFs)

You may have information about individuals or families that isn't covered by a column above, such as marital status, anniversary date, T-shirt size, baptism date or ministry interests. Keep each of those in its own column and import it as a user-defined field. ChurchTrac already includes a few sample user-defined fields to help you get started. Learn more about User-Defined Fields ›

When you match columns during the import, you can pick an existing user-defined field or create a new one on the spot.

Note: ChurchTrac supports several types of user-defined fields. When adding one, choose the field type that best matches your data. You can import fields as Yes/No, Date (with or without a year), Selection List, or Text. For date columns, we recommend setting the column to "Text" in your spreadsheet, which prevents Excel from converting your dates into a different format. If you have a question about which field type is best for a certain column, please don't hesitate to ask!

Import It Yourself

  1. On the People screen, open the "Add" menu and choose "Import Spreadsheet."
  2. Drag your file into the window, or click to browse for it.
  3. Match your columns. ChurchTrac shows each column from your spreadsheet with a few sample values. Columns with clear headings are matched for you. For each remaining column, choose the ChurchTrac field it belongs to, create a user-defined field, or skip it. Every column must be matched or skipped before you can start.
  4. Choose what happens to people already in ChurchTrac. A person counts as already in ChurchTrac when the first and last name match, or when the email and last name match.
    • Skip them (the default) leaves their records unchanged.
    • Update their record fills in or replaces their information with any non-empty cells from your spreadsheet. Blank cells leave saved information alone. Updates can't be undone, so use this option with care.
  5. Click Start Import. A progress bar shows how far along it is. You can cancel while it runs, and anything already added is removed.

Review the Results

When the import finishes, you'll see how many people were added, updated and skipped. The new names appear on the People screen right away, so you can look them over.

Keep or Undo

For one hour after the import finishes, you can choose:

  • Keep These Imported Names to finish the import.
  • Undo This Import to remove everyone the import added, so you can fix your spreadsheet and try again.
Note: Undo removes only the people and households this import added. It doesn't reverse updates made to people who were already in ChurchTrac, and groups or member statuses the import created stay in place. If you don't choose, the import is kept automatically after an hour, or as soon as you start another import.

Fix Skipped Rows

Rows that couldn't be imported are listed with the reason for each, such as a missing name or household, an invalid email address, or a name that appears twice in the file. Everyone else is still imported.

  1. Download the skipped rows. You'll get an Excel file with only those rows, your original columns, and a column explaining why each row was skipped.
  2. Correct the rows in that file.
  3. Import the file again. Your column matches carry over, so there's little to review.

Importing FAQs

Is importing people data free?

Your first import is free in ChurchTrac. We recommend submitting a data import to our team when you have all the people information that you need to be imported.

Can I import my data even if I'm on a trial?

Yes! We recommend having us import your data on a trial, as it gives you a better idea on how ChurchTrac can help your ministry.

Can you import individual giving data?

To import giving data for your people, see our Importing Contributions article.

Why was a row skipped?

A row is skipped when it's missing a first name, last name or household value, when the email address isn't valid, or when the same name appears twice in your file. After the import, you can download the skipped rows with the reason for each, fix them, and import that file again.

What if my spreadsheet is too large?

Split it into several files of 2,000 people or fewer and import them one at a time. Keep everyone in a household in the same file.

What happens if my import puts me over my plan's name limit?

The import will still finish. After that, you'll need to upgrade your name tier, or archive or delete names, before you can import again.

Need help? Send your spreadsheet to our team through a Support Ticket and we'll take a look.