CSV import: bring your people into FlockConnect

What do I need in the file?

A CSV with a header row and one person per line. Each person needs a name, since that is what FlockConnect uses to identify them in your people list. Everything else is optional. Email, phone, and status all import if your file has them, and FlockConnect leaves out anything it does not recognize.

Most exports from common church software work as they are. You do not need to rename your columns or reshape the file first. Upload what you have, and the next step sorts out which column means what.

• Required: a name for each person. Email, phone, and status import when present.
• Auto-mapping makes a best guess from your column headers, and you can override any row.
• A preview shows your headers, a sample of rows, and the total row count before anything commits.
• Likely duplicates are matched on email and phone, flagged in the preview, and skipped on import.
• An owner or a permitted admin approves the import. Nothing is added to your people list until then.
• Every imported person is tagged as a CSV import and tied to the file it came from.

How does column mapping work?

After you upload, FlockConnect makes a best guess at how each column in your file lines up with a person field. It reads common header names, so a column called Email, Primary Email, or E-mail all point to the same place. This is a starting point, not a final answer.

You review every mapping before anything is saved. Change any row that looks wrong, and set any column you do not want to import to leave out. The guess is there to save you time, not to decide for you.

What does the preview show me?

Before you commit anything, FlockConnect shows you what it read: your column headers and a sample of the rows from your file, alongside the total number of rows it found. This is your chance to confirm the file looks right and the columns landed where you expected.

If something looks off, you can upload a different file and start over. No one is added to your people list at the preview stage.

How are duplicates handled?

FlockConnect checks each row against the people you already have, matching on email and phone within your church. Rows that look like an existing person are flagged in the preview as a likely duplicate, so you can see exactly which ones overlap before you decide.

When you approve the import, flagged rows are skipped so you do not end up with two records for the same person. If duplicate checking is unavailable in your environment, FlockConnect tells you plainly and pauses the import until it can run that check, rather than quietly adding people without it.

What happens when I approve the import?

Importing is a deliberate step. An owner, or an admin with permission to manage people, reviews the preview and the mapping and then commits the import. FlockConnect adds the mapped people, skips the rows flagged as likely duplicates, and reports how many were added and how many were skipped.

Each imported person is tagged with where they came from, recording that they arrived by CSV and which import they belong to, so the source of every record stays clear. Once a file is committed it will not import again, which keeps a second click from doubling your people. If something does not look right after an import, contact support and we will help you sort it out.