Decide what this import is allowed to change
Start with a short statement: “This file adds historical gifts,” or “This file brings contact details into the approved database.” A recurring-payment transfer needs its own provider-coordinated plan. Keep the source export and its date in your organization’s approved storage; do not send it to this site. Ask the person authorizing the import which existing fields may be updated and what must remain untouched. If that behavior is unclear, stop before the write rather than discovering it with live records.
Review the mapping as a second person would
Compare each intended source column with its destination and meaning. Watch for dates, amounts, campaign references, blank values and fields that look similar but answer different questions. 4aGoodCause’s import documentation describes a mapping stage and an error report; its donation-import guidance warns that the import has no undo. A small reviewed sample may help your organization’s authorized process, but do not assume a test import is reversible or harmless. Follow the provider’s current preparation instructions.
Separate accepted rows from unresolved rows
After the operation, record accepted and rejected counts, the exact file version, who performed it and where the exception report lives. Review whether a re-import could duplicate already accepted records before sending a corrected file. Do not delete unexplained rows to make totals agree. A count comparison can identify an investigation area, but the acceptance decision also needs field-level checks and a documented answer for each exception category.
A fictional acceptance note
A team imports 120 historical gift rows and sees 116 accepted and four rejected. Its note should not say “migration complete.” It might say “historical import accepted for 116 rows; four format exceptions assigned to the database owner; active recurring instructions outside this import.” That wording makes the next task visible. Use record types to resolve ambiguity about what moved, then migration scope if the project also includes ongoing gifts. Donor communication should describe only the work actually completed.
Sources used for this page
These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.
- 4aGoodCause contact import — Merchant documentation · help.4agoodcause.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-30
- 4aGoodCause donation-history import — Merchant documentation · help.4agoodcause.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-30