At its core, Importacular NXT’s main goal is simple: take the data you want to import and put it into Raiser’s Edge. But every data source is different, and every Raiser’s Edge is different, so getting there isn’t always straightforward. Along the way, you’ll need to think about questions like:

• What is the state and condition of the incoming data?
• Does the incoming data contain all the information you need?
• Does the incoming data need cleaning up or preparing in some way?
• Does the incoming data need adjusting to meet the requirements of your Raiser’s Edge and your organisation’s data entry protocols?
• What is the state and condition of your existing Raiser’s Edge data?
• What field settings and Business Rules are at play within your Raiser’s Edge?
• Should you treat new records differently to existing records?
• How should you manage existing addresses and email addresses?
• Is the standard of the incoming data better than the standard of the data already in your Raiser’s Edge, or the other way round?
• Does the data being imported meet the needs of your Finance, Marketing, and Fundraising teams?
• Is there more you could add to make segmentation and reporting easier?

You’re best placed to answer these questions yourself. Importacular NXT is an incredibly powerful, comprehensive tool with the potential to radically transform your Raiser’s Edge data for the better, but used carelessly, it can just as easily work against you.

That’s why we’ve built in safeguards at every step:

• Plain English throughout, including error messages, so you always know what’s being asked
• Default field and area settings that prevent key data being overwritten unless you actively choose to change them
• Ready made record lookups and templates for common scenarios
• Practical tools to keep your data clean
• User Guides, Knowledgebase articles, free video demonstrations, and webinars, all available to help you get it right

With all that in mind, here’s our guide to getting the most out of Importacular NXT and importing good, clean data into your Raiser’s Edge.

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1. Start small

When you first build your template, start with a couple of test records that represent the type of data coming from your data source. Once you’ve mapped your areas and start mapping fields, Importacular NXT shows you what the data looks like in the first two rows of your data source. Seeing this at the field mapping stage helps you decide things like whether a field needs a Field Manipulation applied.

Because only the first two rows are shown, don’t build your template around the record that happens to be sitting on row 10 or row 100. Pick your sample rows to be representative.

Starting small also means you can complete an import and test the outcome without corrupting live data, or, at the very least, make it easy to reverse any changes you’ve made.

2. Let Importacular NXT do the hard work

Avoid touching or cleaning your incoming data before importing. Manual clean up invites unnecessary human error. Instead, let Importacular NXT do the cleaning and tidying for you.

• Field and area settings cover all manner of scenarios, from formatting text correctly to adding the right country codes for phone numbers
• Most settings are written in plain English to help you decide which to use
• Take time to read what’s on offer in each field and area setting; they may answer questions you hadn’t even thought to ask

3. Data Manipulation and Data Transformations are your superpower

This builds on point 2. We offer many ways to change or transform incoming data into values that RE will accept. The standout feature here is Data Transformation:

• Available on most fields
• Designed to be used by anyone, no technical background needed
• Not behind a paywall
• We even provide our own recommended transformations, called Global Transformations, that we think everyone can benefit from

4. Spend some time with your Record Lookups

Take a moment to review your Record Lookups and Matching Rules. These are how Importacular NXT finds suitable matches in your RE. The default Record Lookups we provide are generic, meant as an example, not tailored to your incoming data or your RE.

Consider how your incoming data compares to your RE data. For example:

• Matching by email address alone works well if an email only ever appears on one constituent record in your RE. But if the same email often appears on multiple records, say, spouses sharing an address, or a child using a parent’s email, that rule will often return “decides” at the Manage Matches stage. If so, consider adding another field, such as first name, to narrow the lookup. Matching on last name as well as email is less reliable, since family members often share a surname.
• Matching on a field you haven’t mapped won’t work. For example, if you want Importacular to match on the RE Lookup ID/Constituent ID, but your incoming data doesn’t include it, or you haven’t mapped it in the template, that Matching Rule has nothing to work with.

Tailoring your Record Lookups to your incoming data and your RE data produces better matches, improves import quality, and saves you time managing “decides” or fixing mistakes afterwards.

5. Consider how much time you’re spending in the Manage Matches screens

Once your import cycles through processing, it lands in the Imports Requiring Attention section for review. When you’re starting out, or running a new template, take time to review all the matches in Manage Matches to check your Record Lookups are doing their job.

• If you have Decides to manage, you’ll be directed to Manage Matches to make a final call. You can’t continue the import until all decides are resolved. Lots of decides usually means your Record Lookups need adjusting: revise your import, update your Record Lookups, and run it again.
• The same applies to Manual Matching. It’s there for occasional use. If you need it more than 2-3 times in an import, your Record Lookups likely need attention: revise, update, and re-run.

Once you’re confident in your template and Record Lookups, you shouldn’t need to spend much time reviewing matches, which makes importing faster.

6. Make sure you’re happy with the data being added or updated

Alongside Manage Matches, the Imports Requiring Attention stage also offers Review Data, showing exactly what will be added or updated on each record. Since templates can add a lot of data, you can filter down to specific fields, areas, and constituents rather than viewing everything on one screen.

Review Data shows the data after Field Update Conditions, Field Manipulations, and Area Settings have been applied. As with Manage Matches, spend time here when starting out or testing a new template, to confirm it’s doing what you expect. Things to look out for:

• If the incoming value is in all caps and you have a Field Manipulation set to “Proper Casing,” you should see the Proper Casing version, not the original.
• If a value is attached to an existing constituent, but a Field Update Condition only applies it to new records, the field should show blank for that existing constituent while still populating for new ones.
• If you have a Data Transformation on a field, check the value has actually changed to what it should be, not the raw incoming value.
• For Contact areas (address, email, phone, online presence) with special Area Settings, make sure you understand exactly what’s being added or updated.

If the data doesn’t look right, revise your import, adjust your mapping, field settings, or area settings, and run it again. Once you’re confident in your template, you shouldn’t need to spend much time reviewing data, speeding up the whole process.

7. Manage any exceptions and double-check what’s imported

When you continue from Imports Requiring Attention, data is added and updated in your RE. Once finished, the import lands in Recently Completed Imports. Check the Results screen:

• Any exceptions are shown first, with a plain English explanation of the error
• Select exceptions (and any ignored records) to re-import them; this opens a pre-populated Import Creator so you can edit your template, clone and edit a copy, or choose a different template
• Error messages are shown again while editing, so you don’t have to remember what went wrong

If you’re unsure what an error means, check the Knowledgebase. Still stuck? Email support@zeidman.info and the team will help.

Worth noting: Importacular NXT adds and updates records asynchronously, meaning it adds and updates as much as it can on a record even if it hits an issue. This differs from Importacular Classic, which would stop entirely on an issue, report it, and move to the next row.

Beyond exceptions, take time to check successfully added or updated records directly in RE. We recommend checking several records when starting out or testing a new template, moving to occasional spot-checks as you grow more confident.

Some other things to consider

• Importacular NXT can do a lot to tidy and arrange your incoming data into something that RE will accept and that your RE users will be pleased with. However, it is not magic. It does need reliable data to work with. If you are new to importing or are using a new data source, starting to use Importacular NXT is a great opportunity to think, is there a better way of collecting the data for Importacular NXT to use as well as is there a better way in which data is stored in Raiser’s Edge?
  
  
• Importacular NXT can talk to so many different data sources as well as using CSV and Excel spreadsheets. You may have started using Importacular NXT to import from just one data source, there may be many more files or data sources that you have access to could be added to RE. One of Importacular NXT’s strengths is that it can import data into RE cleanly, quickly and consistently. Users that have embraced Importacular have deeply enriched their RE data whilst saving themselves tens of hours a month in staffing hours.