Managing your contacts efficiently in Aplos is essential for smooth operations. This guide walks you through the process of importing new contacts and updating existing ones within your Aplos account.

Adding New Contacts: If you're setting up your Aplos account and already have a list or file of your contacts and their information, you can use the import tool to upload and easily add those contacts all at once.

Updating Contacts: If you are looking to update existing contacts in your import, you can also do this using the import tool. To accomplish this you can export the Contact List and it will include a column for Contact ID. When you import your new file, if you include the Contact ID, the system will find and update this existing record.

Below is a video tutorial, as well as written steps, that go over the process involved with accomplishing these tasks:

Preparing for Import

Before importing contacts, we recommend that you configure any custom fields for information you want to collect as well as set up any grouping of lists you want to add your contacts.

Custom Fields

You may have other fields of information you would like to import into your Aplos contact list that are not default options we provide. If this is the case, you will want to navigate to the Contact Configuration section to set up custom fields such as:

These custom fields will be available when importing contacts. To learn more about custom fields check out this resource.

Lists

Your contact list in Aplos is a master list of all contacts in your system. So, if you would like to group your contacts into lists you can utilize our lists feature to set this up prior to importing in your contacts. To learn more about lists check out this resource.

Preparing Your File

You will need your contacts and their information in an .xlsx file in order to upload. You can use any file, but we recommend formatting your file with a header row across the top with one column for each contact data field like the example below:

The best option would be to utilize out example file that we provide you when getting ready to import your contact data.

Step 1: Download the Template File

1. Navigate to your Contact List.

2. Click on the Import button on the right-hand side.
   

3. Download the example file provided.
   

4. Open the file in Excel to begin adding your contact details.
   
   

Step 2: Understanding the File Columns

The template includes several key columns:

• Contact ID: You will populate the Contact ID column ONLY when you are updating an existing contact. This field is not meant to assign a contact ID to a contact you're importing. If you enter a number in the Contact Id field for a new contact, this could throw an error during the import process.

• Type: Specifies whether the contact is an individual or a company (mandatory field).

• Company Name or First Name & Last Name: Enter the appropriate name based on the selected contact type.

• Birthday: Enter in MM-DD-YYYY format.

• Organization Type: Only applicable to company contacts. View available options by clicking "Create Contact" in your Aplos account.

• Phone Numbers & Emails:

  • Primary contact details should be placed in the first column for each category.

  • Custom labels (e.g., Home, Work) can be adjusted in column headers.

• Mailing Address: Enter complete address details (street, city, state, postal code, country). Additional addresses can be added by including extra columns.

• Accounting & Donor Management: Use "Y" to categorize contacts.

• Custom Fields & Lists: Add additional columns to the end of your file with the custom field/list name as the header.

  • Ensure column names match exactly with those set in Aplos.

  • for list columns, use "y" to categorize contacts into the the desired list
    
    

Step 3: Uploading the File

1. Save your completed file.

2. Return to the Contact List and click Import.

3. Click Choose File, select your document, and upload it.
   

4. Review and map your columns to Aplos fields.
   
   
   

   1. • if there is a column you will not be bringing in (i.e. contact ID) leave as "do not import"
      • map all phone columns to the "phone number" Aplos field
      • map all email columns to the "email address" Aplos field
        
      • ensure the Address is all mapped to "Address 1"
        

5. Click Import Contacts to finalize the upload.
   

6. If errors occur, highlighted fields will indicate necessary corrections.

Updating Existing Contacts

To update existing contacts, you must include the Contact ID from Aplos. There are two ways to retrieve it:

1. Export Contact List:

   • Navigate to the Contact List.

   • Select the box with the down arrow in the top right corner

   • Click "Export Contacts"
     

2. Run a Contact Report:

   • Go to Reports > Contact List.

   • Add "Contact ID" as a column in the "report layout" dropdown.
     

   • *optional* - Apply a specific list of contacts you have created by selecting the "report filters" dropdown and entering the list name in the list field. Be sure to scroll down and click "apply"
     

   • Download the report and copy the relevant IDs.
     

Important Notes for Updating Contacts:

• The system only adds new data and does not overwrite existing information.

• You cannot modify existing fields

• New phone numbers and emails will be added but not replace the primary ones.

• Ensure all column names match exactly with those in Aplos before importing.

Contact Import Errors

A common error that you might receive will be due to unaccepted characters in the email address field. The import process does not allow you to import multiple email addresses in a single column, so if you have two email addresses listed, and error message will appear. You'll need to edit your import file and re-import the file.

You may also receive an error if you attempt to import a value into a field that has a different format. For example, if you attempt to import text into a date field, you will receive an error.

Merging Duplicates

The importer does not flag or recognize duplicate contacts in your file, so you may find that you have imported contacts that already exist in your Contact List in Aplos. If you happen to find duplicates, you can check out this article on how to merge them together.