Before you Get Started
- Don't feel like completing these steps yourself? No worries! We also provide Data Formatting and/or Data Importing as Professional Onboarding Services. You can reach out to us at support@keela.com for details on all of this!
- Not sure where to start with your spreadsheets? There is an Excel Template at the bottom of this page that is built to suit Keela's Accepted Fields.
How to Format Your Contact Data
In this brief video, we'll discuss some of the things that you need to know about formatting your Contact Data before importing it into Keela and how this will populate within the system.
Accepted Fields
Remember: If you don't see a field here that you'd like to use, consider adding this data as a custom field or tag!
Important: To ensure all data is imported to Keela, please ensure that all inputs are Capitalized as per the formatting examples below. In some cases, Keela cannot recognize lower case, so your data will not be imported if the input is not capitalized.
| FIELD NAME | DESCRIPTION OF FIELD | FORMATTING NOTES | IS THIS AN INDIVIDUAL OR COMPANY FIELD? | FORMATTING EXAMPLE |
| Contact Type | Use this field to specify which of your contacts are Company records |
By default, Keela will import a contact as an individual. If the contact record is for a company, write Company in this column |
Company |
Company |
| Origin ID | an ID that you provide from a previous CRM |
When importing new data for contacts that already exist in Keela, you can add the Origin ID to your file to allow Keela to match the new data with the existing record. Only strings of numbers and letters will be accepted. No special characters. If you import your own Origin ID to Keela, we will keep that number in the background so Keela can easily match any future records with that ID that are imported |
Both |
NFDM8KXX4mvm2GsRP |
| Deceased | When a contact is marked as deceased, they will have a grey ‘Deceased’ badge on their profile and their email subscription status will automatically be set to ‘Opted-Out’ and the solicitation to ‘No’. |
Yes, y, No, n, True, False, 1, 0 |
Individual |
Yes |
| Solicitation | The email solicitation status for this contact (applies to all emails and Email Marketing sent from Keela) |
Yes, No, Unspecified |
Both |
Yes |
| Email Subscription Status | The email subscription status for this contact (applies only to Email Marketing in Keela) |
Opted In, Opted Out, Unknown |
Both |
Opted In |
| Notes | Any additional notes for this contact |
Any format will be accepted |
Both |
Jenny is our biggest fan and loves to chat about our Spring event when you call |
| Priority | The priority level for this contact |
Low, Medium or High *priority must be capitalized |
Both | High |
| Tags | Tags you wish to add to the contact | Separate multiple tags with ";" | Both | Board Member; Major Donor; Spring Programming |
| Name - Full Name* |
A person's full name |
Use this field if your contact's first, middle and last name are combined in a single column, like the example on the right. If the name is separated into different columns in your file, use the separate name fields below instead and delete this column. |
Both |
John Michael Smith |
| Name - Preferred Name |
A person's preferred name |
Any format will be accepted | Individual | Johnny |
| Name - First Name* |
A person's first name |
Any format will be accepted | Both | John |
| Name - Middle Name* |
A person's middle name |
Any format will be accepted | Both | Michael |
| Name - Last Name* |
A person's last name |
Any format will be accepted | Both | Smith |
| Name - Title |
A person's title |
Any format will be accepted | Individual | Mr. |
| Name - Suffix |
A person's suffix |
Any format will be accepted | Individual | Jr. |
| Gender | A person's gender | Any format will be accepted | Individual | Male |
| Birth Date | A person's date of birth |
Standard date formats will be accepted (e.g. 01/31/1959, 1959-01-31, 31-Jan-1959)
Important Note: The following format is not accepted by Keela: DD/MM/YYYY |
Individual | 1959-01-31 |
|
The primary email address for this individual or company contact |
The Primary email is used for all email communication in Keela
Email address must have a valid domain (ie. @abc.com) and contain no spaces. |
Both | john@abc.com | |
| Email - Home | Email address must have a valid domain (ie. @abc.com) and contain no spaces. | Both | johnsmith@abc.com | |
| Email - Work | Email address must have a valid domain (ie. @abc.com) and contain no spaces. | Both | ||
| Email - Other | Email address must have a valid domain (ie. @abc.com) and contain no spaces. | Both | ||
| Phone |
The primary phone number for this contact Smart Code Compatible & Filterable |
Any format will be accepted. |
Both | (111)111-1111 |
| Phone - Home | Any format will be accepted | Both | ||
| Phone - Work | Any format will be accepted | Both | ||
| Phone - Other | Any format will be accepted | Both | ||
| Primary Address - Address Line 1 |
The street portion of the primary address for this contact Smart Code Compatible (Full address) |
Any format will be accepted | Both | 1234 Main Street |
| Primary Address - Address Line 2 | The unit portion of the primary address for this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | Unit 101 |
| Primary Address - City | The city portion of the primary address for this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | New York City |
| Primary Address - State/Province | The state or province portion of the primary address for this contact | Any format will be accepted, but ensure your states/provinces are formatted consistently for reporting (e.g. always use NY, or always use New York) | Both | NY |
| Primary Address - Country | The country portion of the primary address for this contact | Any format will be accepted, but ensure your countries are formatted consistently for reporting (e.g. always use USA, or always use United States) | Both | USA |
| Primary Address - Postal/Zip | The postal or zip code portion of the primary address for this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | 10001 |
| Company - Name* |
Name of the Company for a Company record OR an individual associated to a company |
Any format will be accepted | Both (Used on individual record to link to company) |
ABC Corp |
| Company - Position |
The position of a contact at said company |
Company Name must also be completed Any format will be accepted for the position |
Individual |
Admin Assistance |
|
Company - Email
|
The email of the company to which is individual contact belongs to. ** Only fill this field if there is an associated company on an individual entry | Email address must have a valid domain (ie. @abc.com) and contain no spaces. | Individual | john@abc.com |
| Household - Name | Household associated with a contact | Any format will be accepted | Individual | Smith Household |
| Household - Role | Role in the Household | Any format will be accepted | Individual |
Primary |
| Website | The website associated with this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | http://www.abc.com |
| The Twitter handle associated with this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | @keeladotco | |
| The Facebook account associated with this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | facebook.com /groups/keeladotco |
|
| YouTube | The YouTube channel associated with this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | youtube.com /channel/abc |
| The LinkedIn account associated with this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | ca.linkedin.com /company/keela |
|
| The Instagram handle associated with this contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | @keela.co | |
| Other Website | Other website associated with the contact | Any format will be accepted | Both | |
| Assignee | The Keela user that is the assignee of the contact | Any format will be accepted as long as it matches the name of the user on the Keela Account | Both | Stefania |
*A Company Name can be added to any Name Type column marked with an asterisk, as long as you mark that contact as a Company under 'Contact Type'.
Should I change the Headers of the columns in my Data Spreadsheets to match Keela's?
Yes! We recommend changing the headers of your data spreadsheet to exactly match the Field names in the Accepted Fields table above wherever possible. If you ensure that these headers match exactly, Keela will match the incoming fields automatically!
Individual and Contact records in Keela
There are two contact record types in Keela - Companies and Individuals. Here are some things to watch out for if you will be importing both. If a contact record is a Company record, be sure to add Company under the Contact Type column in your spreadsheet.
Linking a Company Record to an Individual
To keep track of relationships between people and an entity, add the organization name to your spreadsheet.
In the example below:
- Joanna Clark is not associated with a company so the company columns are left blank
- John Doe and Debbie Freeman are both associated with a company, so the Company Name is added to their record. Their position at that company is also confirmed in the position column.
- The last line is for the company record of ABC Company (only required if you need to include additional information for the company record. See notes below)
Important to Note: If you add a Company Name to an individual record one of two things will happen upon import:
- If the Company has it's own record in Keela or in your spreadsheet - this will link the contact to the company record.
- If the Company does not have it's own record in Keela or in your spreadsheet - a new company record will be created.
Linking Contacts to a Household
Using the fields 'Household Name' and 'Household Role', you can link your contacts into a Household straight from an import!
Adding Tags to your Contact Data Spreadsheet
Tags are a label that can be applied to your Contacts - think of a single piece of information that groups them together! It should be something that is relatively self-explanatory that these Contacts have in common.
Here are some examples of Tags that you might use:
- Donor
- Volunteer
- Monthly Newsletter
- Annual Gala Attendee
- School
- Church
- Email List
Adding Custom Fields to your Contact Data Spreadsheet
Have data that doesn't fit in the Accepted Fields? You can create unlimited Custom Fields to record additional contact data!
Note: You will need to Create the Custom Field before the import so you can match the field to your column in Step 4. You are unable to create custom fields directly from an import.
To prepare your file, enter the name of the custom field for your column header (e.g. "T-shirt Size") and the values for the field in the rows below (e.g. "Medium").
Here is how you'll need to format your data for the different types of Custom Fields:
| TYPE | DESCRIPTION | OPTION FORMATTING | FORMATTING EXAMPLE |
| Multiple Select | A list where you can choose multiple options | Separate multiple options with a ";" | Red; Orange; Yellow |
| Single Select | A list where you can choose one option | Enter only one option per row | Red |
| Number | Any number | 123456 | |
| Simple Date | Specific Date | MM/DD/YYYY | 22/04/2019 |
| Date & Time | A specific date (with or without time) | MM/DD/YYYY Time | 12/31/2018 12:30:00 |
| Yes/No | A Yes or No question | Yes/No, Y/N, 1/0 | Yes |
| Text | An open text field | Any data | Hello, here is some text! |
In the example below:
- Interests is a Multiple Select Custom Field (multiple values can be added at once)
- T-Shirt Size is Single Select Custom Field (only one value can be added)
- John Doe will not have any inputs for Interests and Debbie Freeman will not have any inputs in T-Shirt size
Ready to Go? Convert your Data to CSV Format.
Keela accepts only CSV (Comma Separated Values) files for import. If you're working with a different file type, such as XLS, you can save your file to CSV format using Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets or other spreadsheet programs. Just look for the "Save As" or "Export" function in your spreadsheet program to find the option to save it as a CSV.
What's Next?
Well, that depends on you and your data! Do you have Donation, Revenue or Volunteer data to prepare? Head over to the rest of our Formatting Your Data Spreadsheets articles to learn how to do this!
Have you finished formatting your data? Are you ready to import it into Keela? Scoot over to our Importing Your Data into Keela article to learn more about this.