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Importing Transactions From Another System After Initial Import

Maggie Dubyk
  • Updated

 

Importing Transactions After Initial Import

If you have already done the initial import of your historical transactions, but you are still accepting transactions through another system external to Keela, this article will guide you through how to update Keela on a regular basis so you can keep track of those external transactions in Keela.

 

Important note: this article will focus specifically on importing transactions that are processed through an external system on a regular basis. 

  • If you have not yet done your initial import, we recommend exploring our Data Imports articles so you can import your transactions into the system. 
  • If you want to transfer your recurring existing recurring donations that exist in another system into Keela, we recommend the article Moving Your Existing Recurring Donations into Keela

Before Getting Started

If you are accepting transactions through another system, you may want to first consider accepting transactions through Keela. This will save you loads of time, so you do not have to export from your other system and import transactions into Keela on a regular basis. Learn more about the Benefits of Keela Donation Forms.

If your goal is to save time & effort while increasing efficiency, we definitely recommend transitioning your transactions to Keela!

Important Note: If you are wanting to update your transaction data, instead of importing new transaction data, then an import is not your best option.  A Transaction Import will always create new transactions, instead of updating exiting records.  To update your existing Transaction Data, we recommend this article: Bulk Editing Existing Transactions

 

Importing Transactions from Another System

If you prefer to keep accepting transactions through another system rather than Keela Forms, and you would like to track these transactions in Keela, we recommend the following steps. 

 

Step 1 - Determine Importing Schedule

It may help to have an importing schedule to make sure there are no transactions missed and your reporting is up to date. This is totally up to you and your organization's preferences!

For example, some organizations might want to do a weekly import of external transactions to make sure Keela is always up to date, while others might import external transactions on a quarterly basis.

 

Step 2 - Export Transactions 

Once you have an idea of your import schedule, the next step will be to export transactions from the external system that you want to import into Keela. See our article on Exporting from Third Party Systems. 

 

Step 3 - Format Your Data

Now that you have your exported transactions, you will need to format them so they meet the required format for import into Keela. 

 

In your spreadsheet, you will want to make sure you include one of the three (3) columns below. This way Keela can find any duplicate contacts that already exist in the account and merge the new transactions into the existing contact's record. 

  1. Origin ID - if the contacts already exist in Keela, and you originally imported them with an external Origin ID, you can use this same ID so Keela can match the incoming transactions to the existing contacts. 
  2. Primary Email Address - if you do not have an Origin ID, Keela will look for a Primary Email Address to match new transactions to existing contacts. 
  3. Full Name - if you do not have an Origin ID or Primary Email, Keela will look for a Full Name to match new transactions to existing contacts. 

 

Important note: if the contacts that you are importing transactions for do not already exist in Keela, and you want to import their contact information (e.g. address, phone number, etc), we recommend that you do a Contact Import before you import transactions. If you would need to import contacts first, you will want to follow the requirements in our article on Formatting Your Contact Data Spreadsheets. 

 

Step 4 - Import Your Transactions

Now that you have your spreadsheets formatted and ready to go, you will want to follow the steps in our article on Importing Your Data into Keela. Once you import, you should be all up to date and can repeat the import cycle as needed!