Contrasting the Two Standard Admire Imports

THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTATION IS A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE MAIN INTRINSIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO MOST COMMONLY USED IMPORTS IN ADMIRE. THIS DOCUMENTATION IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENTATION OF IMPORTING PROCESSES ON ADMIRE.

There are two most commonly used standard imports on Admire: one is a financial import and one is a non-financial import.

The financial import can be found by navigating to Tools → Standard Web Import and selecting the import named General Financial Import. In this post, we'll call this financial import "the financial import."

The non-financial import can be found by navigating to Tools → Data Maintenance → Import Accounts. In this post, we'll call this non-financial import "the account import."

The financial import facilitates the importing of accounts as well as the importing of pledge AND/OR payment information for the accounts.

The account import facilitates the importing of accounts alone.

The financial import allows for the importing of PLEDGE associations ONLY. NO Payment or Account associations can be imported there... although you will be able to manually add ACCOUNT associations one-by-one IF some of the accounts on your spreadsheet are new. This is because new accounts would be added via the standard New Account screen, which offers an account association field in its bottom left corner. You would obviously not use the screen to add associations that way in bulk, however, as it is completely non-streamlined.

The account import allows for the importing of ACCOUNT associations ONLY. NO Pledge or Payment associations can be imported there. If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense, since the account import has nothing to do with pledges/payments or ANYTHING other than ACCOUNTS THEMSELVES.

In both cases, the association code names themselves must be pre-entered into the associations list in the Admire system using Tools → Association Editor.

The financial import requires you to upload a spreadsheet with column headers (the top row of each column) whose names PRECISELY (down to the precise characters and spaces) match the available columns listed here. If you do not use those column names, the data will not load on the spreadsheet in the import screen. Note that you can type data manually into the import screen, but doing so in bulk would obviously defeat the main purpose of the import in the first place. Note as well that only the columns available on the documentation linked above (click here) can be used in the import. Other columns/fields CANNOT be imported using that screen (unless you request a customization job from our professional services team).

The account import, by contrast, allows you to even name your columns "Am Yisroel Chai" or "B'Yachad Nenatzei'ach," etc. (And you can even upload lists without any column headers at all!) You will have the opportunity on the account import to MANUALLY MATCH each column header (or each actual column, if there are no headers) with its correct Admire field name and format. ONLY columns available on the matching screen can be used in the import. Other columns/fields CANNOT be imported using that screen (unless you request a customization job from our professional services team).

The financial import features two steps in its process: First, you will use the Match/Create Accounts button. DO NOT, however, use the AUTO Match/Create Accounts button unless you know what you're doing to an extraordinarily high degree and have used the button before (the AUTO button may even be disabled on your system... for good reason). The Match/Create Accounts button (as opposed to the AUTO Match/Create Accounts button) facilitates the CAREFUL and METHODICAL review of the rows on your list. You will either approve a respective row to be created as a new account, or use an existing account if you deem a potential match offered by the system to be accurate. Once an account is matched/created, its Account ID will appear in its row in the leftmost column. If you then select its row, you will be able to IMPORT Pledge/Payment information by clicking "IMPORT DATA."

The point I am making here is that the processes are SEPARATE. You match and create accounts, and then, once an Account ID is listed, you import the pledge/payment information. If you match/create an account and then fail to import any pledge/payment association... the ACCOUNT will still very much exist in your system. This is integral to understand. Additionally, understand that since the processes are distinct, you can also input the Account IDs yourself in the column (or, more likely, include such a column on your original spreadsheet, if the Account IDs are known to you and available)... and then ALL YOU WILL NEED TO DO is simply IMPORT DATA. You will not need to Match/Create Accounts.

Now, the account import is very different. Sure -- IF you input Account IDs, you'll have the option to simply mass-associate particular associations you choose on the spot to the accounts in your spreadsheet. [Incidentally, THIS can also be done on the Search Accounts screen (Accounts → Search Accounts on Admire's main toolbar).] And if you have not included information other than Account IDs and association details, then you will ALSO have the option -- and this is a major usage of the account import screen... to click Import Associations and import the various associations you have included on your spreadsheet in your association code column... which is indeed similar to the financial import's SEPARATE uses as a Match/Create Accounts tool and an IMPORT tool.

If, however, you did not include the Account IDs, you will first Match/Create the accounts as in the financial import. AND IN THIS CASE, there WILL NOT be a TWO-STEP process. As long as the proper association column is filled out with an existing Admire account association code, the system will automatically import the association at the same time as it creates the new account when you click to “Add New” (to add the new account). The financial import, by contrast, obviously cannot Match/Create Accounts while simultaneously adding associations, since the associations on the financial import are PLEDGE associations and are related to the PLEDGE/PAYMENT step of the financial import process... which is only done at all in THAT SECOND STEP.

If you look at the bottom left of the new account screen as you create the new accounts, you’ll see that the Association is listed as an “Additional Association” automatically (and will be imported along with the account). It is called “additional,” since you can manually add another one, if you wish, which would make the one on your sheet “additional.” HOWEVER, even if you end up matching an account on your sheet to an existing account, and you therefore no longer see that telltale “Additional Association” listing, the system will STILL import the association automatically at the same time as you click “Use existing” and match the account… as long as, of course, the proper association column is filled out with an existing Admire account association code.

A final note: On Azure BROWSER VERSION, you can upload .csv files and use them straight from the AU uploads folder. The uploads folder is a temporary storage folder, so you may wish to save them to the Documents folder so that they do not get deleted and you can return to them later if you do not complete the work in one sitting... however, you CAN just load .csv files straight from the AU Uploads folder. On the other hand, .xls files need to first be copied to the Documents folder and then loaded onto the import screen page FROM THE DOCUMENTS FOLDER. On Azure DESKTOP VERSION, both .csv and .xls can just be loaded straight from your computer to the screen without any issues.

Please reply to this Admire Community Forum post for further explanation of any of these (or related) points. Please also let me know on that thread if this documentation was helpful. It was written in a specific style, and I would like to know if it is beneficial.