This guide walks you through importing your past giving records into Gracely using the self-service Giving Import wizard — no emailing support required.
Before you start
Have a CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file of your giving records ready.
Make sure every gift has at least an Amount and a Date, plus a Donor Name or Email. These are required.
For best donor matching, import your people first (see Importing people into Gracely (CSV/Excel)).
💡 Tip: Need a starting point? The wizard's first step has a Download sample template link with the exact columns Gracely expects.
Open the wizard
In Gracely, go to Contributions → Giving.
Click the arrow next to Add gift, then Import gifts.
👉 Log in to Gracely to follow along.
In Contributions → Giving, click ① the arrow next to Add gift, then ② Import gifts.
The wizard has four steps: Upload → Map Columns → Match Funds → Import.
Step 1: Upload
Click Download sample template if you'd like to see the expected format.
Click Click to upload or drag and drop and choose your CSV or Excel (.csv, .xlsx) file.
Click Next.
① Download sample template ② upload your file (the name shows once chosen) ③ Next.
Step 2: Map columns
Gracely reads your file's headers and auto-matches what it can. It also shows how many gift records it found.
For each column in your file:
Use the checkbox to include or skip that column.
Use the dropdown to map it to a Gracely giving field.
Gracely's giving fields are:
Donor Name
Email
Amount (required)
Date (required)
Fund Name
Payment Method
Check Number / Note
Batch Date
Tax Deductible
Frequency
⚠️ Note: You must map at least Donor Name (or Email), Amount, and Date. The Next button stays disabled until those are mapped and your file has data rows.
① How many gift records were found. ② Tick to include a column. ③ Pick the Gracely field. ④ Next.
When everything looks right, click Next.
Step 3: Match funds
Gracely pulls the unique fund names from your file and lets you match each one to a fund in Gracely.
For each fund in your file:
Select an existing fund, or
Choose + Create new fund to create it during import. For new funds, you can tick Non-deductible if gifts to that fund aren't tax-deductible.
Gracely auto-matches fund names that exactly match an existing fund (not case-sensitive). If your file has no fund column, everything goes to a fund named General.
When every fund is matched, click Import.
Funds that match an existing fund are filled in. For a new one, ① + Create new fund and ② tick Non-deductible if needed. ③ Import.
Step 4: Import
Gracely processes your records in small batches and shows a live progress bar, then a summary:
Records imported and Total processed
Donor Matching — how many gifts were matched to existing members vs. imported without a member link
New Funds Created and Batches Created (if any)
Any skipped rows, with the reason for each
Gracely matches each gift to a member by name first, then email. Gifts it can't match are still imported — they just aren't linked to a member yet, and you can link them later from the giving record.
Click Done when you're finished.
After importing
Open Contributions → Giving and spot-check a few records.
Review any skipped rows noted in the summary and fix them in your file if you want to re-import them.
Check that any newly created funds look right under your funds list.
Troubleshooting
"Invalid amount" or "Invalid date" rows skipped: clean up those columns in your file (see Preparing your data before importing) and re-import.
Lots of gifts imported without a member link: import your people first, then re-import giving so Gracely can match by name/email.
A fund imported to the wrong place: re-run Match funds with the correct mapping, or move the gifts afterward.
Still need help? Start a chat with us, or email [email protected].