Import members from Excel

The member import uses a CSV file with fixed columns. If your list lives in Excel, export the sheet as CSV (UTF-8) and follow the steps.

TL;DR

CRM → Members → Import, download the template, paste it in Excel, fill the columns, export as CSV UTF-8 and upload the file.

Steps

1. CRM → Members → Import.
2. Download the CSV template from the link on screen.
3. Open the template in Excel or Google Sheets. Respect the column names.
4. Fill one row per member. Required fields are first_name, last_name and at least one of email or phone_e164.
5. Use YYYY-MM-DD for dates and E.164 format for phones (+12025550199).
6. File → Save as → CSV UTF-8.
7. Return to Ministrium and upload the file.
8. Review the preview summary: valid rows, rows with errors, duplicates detected.
9. Confirm the import. The process runs in the background and notifies you on completion.

Deduplication rules

Ministrium considers two rows as the same member when they share:

• the same normalized email, or
• the same E.164 phone, or
• the same full name + date of birth.

In each case, the row with more complete fields is imported and the other is flagged as a duplicate in the report.

Common mistakes

• CSV in Latin-1 instead of UTF-8: names with accents become garbled. Re-export as UTF-8.
• Phone without country code: rejected. Use E.164 format (+ and code).
• Date in MM/DD/YYYY: rejected. Use YYYY-MM-DD.
• email column with multiple addresses comma-separated: rejected. One row per member.