Using an Import to Update Your Contacts Database – Springly Help Center

When you need to update information for multiple people at once, you can do it in bulk using an Excel file import.

Here are the steps covered in this guide:

Export your Excel file with existing values
Edit the Excel file by clearing values for selected members
Import the Excel file with the updated values

Export your Excel file with existing values

To export your member list with existing information, go to Community > Contacts:

Check the box next to the 'Name' column and click to select all rows.

AssoConnect Contacts page showing a list of 90 persons with columns for last name, first name, email, date of birth, and landline phone, with 50 lines selected

Then, click the Excel icon ( icoExcel16Color ) located here:

AssoConnect Contacts page showing a list of members with columns for last name, first name, email, date of birth, and landline phone, with all rows selected

Choose the format that works best for you:

AssoConnect Contacts page showing a list of persons with columns for last name, first name, email, date of birth, and landline, with all rows selected

Next, select which information you want to export from the platform.

Option 1

- Use 'Export all columns' when you need to update multiple fields, then click Continue:

AssoConnect Contacts screen showing the "Export selected rows" dialog with "Export all columns" selected and a "Continue" button

Option 2

- Export 'only the displayed columns' when you've already selected the specific fields you need, then click Continue:

Important: the contact ID column must be included to prevent duplicates.

AssoConnect Contacts page showing the "Information to display" column picker with options like First name, Last name, Membership status, and Email checked

AssoConnect Contacts page showing the "Export selected rows" dialog with "Export only displayed columns" selected and Cancel/Continue buttons

Edit the Excel file by clearing values for selected members

Your Excel file is ready — now let's make the edits.

As noted above, to avoid duplicates (updating an existing profile without creating a new one), you must include the unique identifier column (email, contact ID, or custom identifier) in your import.

Your Excel file must include the following columns:

Contact ID
First name
Last name
The fields to update (e.g., date of birth, email, etc.)

Orange → Required columns

Green → Columns to remove

Blue → Columns to update

AssoConnect contact list spreadsheet showing columns for Contact ID, Last name, First name, Membership status, Donor status, Email, and Date of birth

Red highlights the changes made to the file:

Excel spreadsheet showing a contact list with columns for Contact ID, Last name, First name, Email, and Date of birth, with some cells highlighted in red

Import the Excel file with the updated values

Almost there! This is the final step — reimporting your data.

Once you've finished editing the Excel file, go back to the Contacts page and click +Add > Import people.

AssoConnect Contacts page showing the Persons list with the "+ Add" dropdown menu open, revealing options to add a person, import persons, record a membership or donation, or create a group

Since your file is already ready, go straight to the import by clicking 'Import my community'.

AssoConnect "Import your Community" page, with the "Import my community" button highlighted by a red arrow

Copy / Paste your data into the platform

Copy your data from Excel, including the column headers. Make sure the column labels exactly match the field names found on the Community > Settings page, paste them into the designated area, and click Next.

AssoConnect "Import your Community" page showing step 2 where contact data (ID, name, email, date of birth) is pasted from Excel, with a red arrow pointing to the Next button

Field mapping

This step maps each column in your Excel file to the fields configured on the Community > Settings page.

If needed, you can choose to skip certain columns.

Then click "Continue".

Step 3 'Field identification' screen mapping import columns (Contact ID, Last name, First name, Email, Date of birth) to system fields, with a highlighted Continue button

Preview before importing

If there are any errors, they'll appear highlighted in red at this stage. You can fix them directly in the red cell, or update your Excel file and paste the data in again.

Once everything looks good, click 'Continue':

Step 4 "Checks before import" screen in AssoConnect showing a list of contacts with a "Do not import" action, and a highlighted Continue button

Finalize the import

At this step, you can re-import these members as Members, Donors, or add them to one or more groups — with an optional group membership end date. This option supports both simple (fixed) groups and advanced groups.

Then click 'Import' and you're all set:

AssoConnect "Import your Community" screen at step 5 (Finalize import), showing group assignment options and an Import button

Learn more

Check out these related articles for more details: