Less time updating records. More time connecting with people.
Keeping track of your church family shouldn’t mean chasing spreadsheets, searching through separate systems or wondering whether someone followed up.
How-to guides
How to import your contact list from Excel
Move names, emails, and phone numbers from a spreadsheet into ChurchRaise — step by step, with no tech jargon.
Step-by-step guideAbout 15 minutes
Before you begin
- A ChurchRaise account with admin access
- A spreadsheet saved as CSV (Excel can export this)
- Column headers: first name, last name, email, and/or phone
Before you start
A CSV file is just a spreadsheet saved in a simple format ChurchRaise can read. If your list lives in Excel or Google Sheets, export or download it as CSV first.
Step-by-step
Open People in the left sidebar
Sign in to ChurchRaise. In the menu on the left, click People. This is your church directory.
Start the import
Click the Import button (near Add Person). Choose Upload CSV or Import People.
Download the template if you are unsure
If this is your first import, click Download template. Match your spreadsheet columns to the template headers — firstName, lastName, email, phoneNumber work best.
Upload your file
Click Choose file and select your CSV from your computer. Wait for the file to upload.
Match each column
ChurchRaise shows your spreadsheet columns on the left. For each column, pick the matching field (First name, Last name, Email, Phone, etc.). Skip columns you do not need.
Preview and fix red rows
Review the preview table. Red or highlighted rows mean something looks wrong (bad email, wrong date format). Fix those rows in your spreadsheet and re-upload, or skip them.
Confirm the import
Click Import or Confirm. New people are added; existing people (same email or phone) are updated instead of duplicated.
Tips
- Test with 5–10 rows first before importing your whole church.
- Dates should be YYYY-MM-DD (example: 1980-03-15).
- Phone numbers work best with country code: +15551234567.
- Save your spreadsheet as UTF-8 CSV if names have accents or special characters.
If something goes wrong
Column will not map to a field
Check for typos in the header row. Rename the column to firstName, lastName, email, or phoneNumber.
Many rows rejected for invalid email
Remove extra spaces. Each email needs one @ symbol and a domain (name@church.org).
Same person imported twice
ChurchRaise matches on email or phone. Dedupe your spreadsheet before importing, or merge duplicates later under People → Duplicates.
After the import
Open People and search for a few names you know. Check that tags or custom fields landed correctly. Run Duplicates from the People menu if you imported from multiple old systems.
Related articles
Also available in-app at /help/people when you're signed in.