Import your contact data

In ChurchDesk, you can easily import your contact data – for example, from an existing database or an Excel list.

This allows you to quickly transfer your existing data and start using it right away in ChurchDesk to organize newsletters or events.

Before you begin

Before starting the import, please review the following points. They’ll help you avoid errors and ensure that your contact data is imported correctly.

• Use Excel (.xlsx) or CSV (.csv) files.
• The order of the columns doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the column headers are written exactly as in ChurchDesk (e.g. “First name”, “Last name”, “Email”, “Mobile”). If there’s a mismatch, don’t worry — you can manually match the columns during the import.
• There are no required fields, but you should at least include a name — otherwise anonymous contacts will be created.
• Make sure you have created all the necessary fields in ChurchDesk before you begin the import: How to create custom fields.
• Check that you have the permission to import contacts (“Create (and import) contacts into your congregations”).
• If you also want to export your contacts, you’ll need an additional permission: “Export contacts from your own congregations”.

Standard formats for contact and custom fields:

To ensure your data is recognized correctly, make sure you use the following formats:

• Date: DD.MM.YYYY (e.g. 25.12.2025)
• Email: valid format like example@church.org
• Phone number: should contain only numbers and possibly a “+” (e.g. +491751234567)
• Checkboxes: yes / no || x / (empty) || y / n
• Multiple-choice fields: separate multiple values with commas
• Custom fields: use the exact name of the field as it appears in Settings > Contacts > Custom fields in ChurchDesk.

Tip: If you’re unsure about your field names or formats, download an existing contact first (see below). This gives you the correct column headers to use as a template.

Create a template

To make sure the import goes smoothly, we recommend creating a template first:

1. Open the Contacts module.
2. Choose which columns you want to display (e.g. name, email, phone, address).
3. Select an existing contact and export it as an Excel file.
4. Open the file – the column headers show you the correct spelling ChurchDesk recognizes during import.
5. Delete the sample contact and fill in your new contacts in the respective columns.

Import contacts

1. Open the Contacts module.
2. Click on “More” (top center) and select “Import”.
3. Choose which congregation the contacts should be imported to and whether they should be added to a list.
4. Upload your file.
5. You’ll now see additional options.
6. Review the preview of your data and check if all columns are correctly mapped.
7. Once everything looks good, click “Import” to start.

Handling existing contacts

During the import, ChurchDesk automatically checks whether a contact already exists — based on the email address or mobile number.

If an existing contact is found, you can choose how to handle it:

• Update only empty fields: Empty fields in the existing contact will be filled with new data.
• Overwrite existing contact details: All existing data will be replaced with the new data.
• New contact: If no match is found, a new contact will be created.

You can also match your file’s columns to the ChurchDesk fields. ChurchDesk will suggest matches, but we recommend reviewing all of them.

If you forgot to create a custom field, you can add it directly by choosing “Create new field” in the dropdown.

If you added any columns that shouldn’t be imported, just click “Skip” or select “Do not import” in the dropdown.

Import errors

If one or more contacts couldn’t be imported, ChurchDesk will show you a message after the import. To verify that your import worked, click “Go to imports”. You’ll also receive an email after the import showing whether it was successful or not.

You can download an automatically generated Excel file listing all failed contacts with the corresponding error reason. Fix the issues in the file and import it again.

Keywords during import

Every imported contact automatically gets a keyword with the date of the import.

You can also add your own keywords to make it easier to filter or create lists later.

Import history

If you’d like to review previous imports, you can do so via the import history. You can see how many contacts were imported and whether there were any errors.

Tip: Need a list of all imported contacts? Simply click the blue “Contacts” link in the upload column.

When is importing especially useful?

• When switching from another system to ChurchDesk
• When adding new newsletter subscribers
• When digitizing an existing address list for your congregation

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Updated on: 22/10/2025