Most organisations start by bringing their people across. This guide covers importing people and organisations from a spreadsheet, or from your current system’s export, in six steps.
Before you start
- Save your file as CSV. Affinux reads comma-separated CSV files, not Excel workbooks. In Excel, choose File → Save As and pick “CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)”.
- Put the headings in the first row, with one column for each detail, such as first name, last name, email, phone and postcode.
- Check the size. A file can be up to 100 MB and 250,000 rows. Split anything bigger into parts.
- Check your plan. New people count towards your plan’s contact limit.
- Check you can import. Administrators can. Anyone else needs import permission, which an administrator can give them.
Want to look around first? Add sample data from Settings → Imports, and remove it all in one go when you’re ready.
Step 1: Upload the file
Go to Settings → Data → Imports and choose Import a file. You can also start from the setup checklist, under Bring your records across.
Choose what you’re importing, such as people, then choose Choose a CSV file.
Step 2: Match your columns
Affinux matches each column to one of its fields, using the column headings. It understands common alternatives, such as “surname”, “mobile” and “post code”, and the names you’ve given fields in your own Affinux.
Check each match, and pick a field for anything it missed. Choose Do not import for columns you don’t need.
Each new person needs at least a first name, a last name or an organisation name. A row with only an organisation name becomes an organisation.
You can save the mapping for next time, so the same kind of file goes straight to the check. If the headings in your file change, match the columns again.
Step 3: Decide what happens to people you already have
By default, Affinux recognises people who are already in Affinux by their email address, and updates them instead of creating duplicates. You can choose another column instead, such as the ID from your old system.
You can also choose what the import does:
- create new people and update existing ones
- only create new people
- only update people who are already there
An update changes only the columns you matched, and an empty cell leaves what the record already has. If your file has the same person twice, the later row is used.
Step 4: Check the dry run
Choose Check the file. Nothing is saved yet. Affinux reads every row and shows what would happen: how many new records, how many updates, and any rows with problems, with the reason for each.
Most problems are quick to fix in the file:
- Dates are read as day, month, year by default, such as 25/12/2025. Write years in full. You can change the order for a column if your dates are written differently.
- Phone numbers are saved in international format, so 07700 900123 becomes +44 7700 900123. A number that isn’t valid stops the row, unless you choose to skip just that value.
- Postcodes must be UK postcodes.
- Roles and tags can share one cell, separated by semicolons. Tags in the file replace a person’s existing tags.
Step 5: Import
Choose Import. Rows with problems are left out, so you can fix them in the file and import them afterwards. You get a notification when the import finishes.
Step 6: Undo it if something looks wrong
For 30 days after an import of people finishes, you can choose Undo this import on the import’s page. New people are archived, roles the import added are ended, and changed details go back to what they were, unless someone has changed them since.
What doesn’t come across yet
- Past activity, such as a timeline of notes and calls, and attachments. A single notes column can go into each person’s Notes field.
- Donations and Gift Aid declarations
- Each person’s communication preferences for each channel and purpose. The marketing, contact and data processing consent columns can be imported as yes or no.
Moving from another system
If you’re moving from another system, such as Lamplight or GoodCRM, email support@affinux.com and we’ll help you plan the move. We set up your workspace with you on a call, and check your first import.