Member Import Tool for PTA State Leaders

 

State PTA leaders can access unit details and upload a CSV file of member information under My Organization, Manage Units. Upon successfully uploading member records, the system will create membership records in that unit, resulting in an outstanding state dues remittance balance.

IMPORTANT: Before starting an import, please be sure that you are logged into Givebacks using an email address where you receive emails. The import results will be emailed to you.

Note: If you are a local PTA looking to upload members for your unit, please see this article instead.

Importing Members

1. From the toolbar, select My Organization, then Manage Units

2. Search for the unit and click on the unit name to open the Unit Compliance Manager page.

3. Click the Import Members link at the top of the page directly below the Unit Name.

4. Read the instructions and click the Download Template button.

5. Complete the downloaded CSV file with member data. Make sure the final document is in .csv format with correct column titles and complete information.

6. Check the boxes verifying these statements are true:mceclip0.png

7. Upload the file complete file and click the Import button.

It’s important to read and understand the instructions listed under Step 1 of the downloaded template before you complete your spreadsheet. You must adhere to certain data formats. In particular, you can’t add additional columns with data in the spreadsheet.

Data Formats

Make sure your data meets the following guidelines:

  • First Name - Member's first name.
  • Last Name - Member's last name.
  • Email - You must enter an email or phone number for each member unless it is a Student membership. Each member must have a unique email address. People can not share emails.
  • Phone Number - You must enter an email or phone number for each member unless it is a Student membership. If you don't have an email address or phone number, you can enter a fake phone number. An actual area code is needed.
  • Member Type - The member type must match one of the State Member Types (e.g., Parent/Guardian, Student, Teacher/Staff).
  • School Year Ending - Enter the year the school year ends. For the 2024-2025 school year, enter 2025.

Import Results are Emailed

The import file will be queued up to run in a background task. Once the import has been completed, the results will be emailed to the person who runs the import. The results will indicate that each new person and new membership were added. 

If the import encounters any errors before starting the process, you may see an error message with instructions. 

If the import encounters any rows with erroneous or malformed data, it will skip them and attempt to run to completion.

Invalid/Illegal Characters

If you receive an error regarding invalid input or illegal characters, please check your document to make sure only allowed characters are included (see tables of allowed and non-allowed characters below). Basically, any character where you would need to use the Insert Symbol menu, as opposed to just typing it on a keyboard without the use of a hotkey or programmed shortcut, will break an import. If you find any non-allowed characters, they must be removed or replaced with allowed characters (e.g. replace “é” with “e”)

Tip: Change the font in your spreadsheet to Verdana to make symbol versions of common characters, like commas, apostrophes, hyphens, etc., stand out more. If it doesn’t match the version in the Allowed Characters list below, it is a symbol that needs to be replaced with regular text.

If you cannot locate any non-allowed characters, it might be a non-printing character causing the problem. These can be tricky to find because they are often invisible. Using the Trim and Clean functions in your spreadsheet program will eliminate most of the common non-printing characters. After using the =Trim(Clean(CELL)) formula on your spreadsheet, if you visibly notice any spaces at the beginning of a cell, those are the offending characters, which will need to be removed manually.

If you have tried all of the above and are still getting an error, please submit a support request that includes the error you are receiving, the unit name, and the CSV file as an attachment (please also attach a screenshot of the error if possible).

Allowed Characters for Imports into Givebacks 
(including Member Imports, People Imports, and Custom Imports)

Upper Case

Lower Case

Numerals

Common Special Chars

65

A

97

a

48

0

32

Space

10

new line-PC*

66

B

98

b

49

1

38

&

13

new line-Mac*

67

C

99

c

50

2

40

(

*Note: new lines within a cell can only be used on memo-type fields and should not be used on any name, number, email or address-type fields where a single line of content is expected.

68

D

100

d

51

3

41

)

69

E

101

e

52

4

44

,

70

F

102

f

53

5

45

-

71

G

103

g

54

6

46

.

72

H

104

h

55

7

47

/

73

I

105

i

56

8

58

:

74

J

106

j

57

9

59

;

75

K

107

k

   

95

_

76

L

108

l

           

77

M

109

m

   

Other Special Chars

78

N

110

n

   

33

!

63

?

79

O

111

o

   

34

"

64

@

80

P

112

p

   

35

#

91

[

81

Q

113

q

   

36

$

92

\

82

R

114

r

   

37

%

93

]

83

S

115

s

   

39

'

94

^

84

T

116

t

   

42

*

96

`

85

U

117

u

   

43

+

123

{

86

V

118

v

   

60

<

124

|

87

W

119

w

   

61

=

125

}

88

X

120

x

   

62

>

126

~

89

Y

121

y

           

90

Z

122

z

           

 

Most Common Non-Allowed Characters that Break Imports

128

192

À

224

à

204

Ì

236

ì

149

193

Á

225

á

205

Í

237

í

151

194

Â

226

â

206

Î

238

î

153

195

Ã

227

ã

207

Ï

239

ï

161

¡

196

Ä

228

ä

209

Ñ

241

ñ

162

¢

197

Å

229

å

210

Ò

242

ò

163

£

198

Æ

230

æ

211

Ó

243

ó

169

©

199

Ç

231

ç

212

Ô

244

ô

174

®

200

È

232

è

213

Õ

245

õ

176

°

201

É

233

é

214

Ö

246

ö

186

º

202

Ê

234

ê

217

Ù

249

ù

191

¿

203

Ë

235

ë

218

Ú

250

ú

Basically, any character where you would need to use the Insert Symbol menu, as opposed to just typing it on a keyboard without the use of a hotkey or programmed shortcut, will break an import.

219

Û

251

û

220

Ü

252

ü

221

Ý

253

ý



Questions? Contact Givebacks Support.

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