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Updating Activities Using the File Uploader

Bulk update existing activities, such as recording event attendance, using a spreadsheet upload.

Cristina Gruita avatar
Written by Cristina Gruita
Updated over a week ago

⚠️Important:

  • Updates made via the File Uploader cannot be undone. Prepare carefully and keep backups.

  • Remove any columns you don’t want to update.
    If a column exists in the worksheet and is blank, the corresponding field in Donorfy will be cleared.

  • No duplicates allowed. Each Activity can only be updated once per upload.

  • Row limit: Maximum 1,000 rows per file (including headers).

What You Can (and Can’t) Do

You can:

  • Update data fields on existing Activities.

  • Update custom extra fields (Text, Number, Date, Yes/No).

You cannot:

  • Move an Activity from one Constituent to another using the updater.

  • To “move” an Activity, you must:

    1. Add a new Activity to the correct Constituent.

    2. Delete the original Activity.

Performing the Update Step 1: Prepare the Worksheet

  1. Download the Donorfy Updates Data Preparation Template ( Activities Update.xlsx )

  2. Locate the Activities Update worksheet.

  3. Right-click the tab and copy it into a new workbook.

  4. Delete any columns you do not need to update.

Leaving an unused column (even blank) will clear that field in Donorfy.

Step 2: Get the Activities to Update

It’s usually easiest to start from a List.

  1. Create an Activity List containing:

    • Activity Number (Entity Number).

    • Constituent Number.

  2. Download the list as a spreadsheet.

These two numbers together ensure the correct Activity is updated.

Step 3: Add Data to the Update Worksheet

In your copied Activities Update worksheet:

  1. Paste the Activity Number and Constituent Number from your list.

  2. Enter values only in the columns you want to change.

  3. Remove any columns you don’t want to update.

Updating Custom Extra Fields

If your Activity Type has extra fields, you can update them using these columns:

  • Text fields: Text1 to Text10.

  • Number fields: Number1 to Number10.

  • Date fields: Date1 to Date10.

  • Yes/No fields: YesNo1 to YesNo10.

(These correspond to the extra fields configured for the Activity Type.)

Step 4: Upload and Apply

  1. Save the file as .xlsx.

  2. Go to Data Management, click File Upload.

  3. Upload the file.

  4. The system will validate:

    • Activity exists.

    • Constituent matches.

    • Lookup values (e.g. Campaign) are valid.

  5. If validation passes, Apply Changes.

Moving Activities in Bulk (Workaround)

Because Activities can’t be moved directly, use this bulk workaround:

  1. Create and download an Activity List including:

    • Current Constituent Number.

    • All Activity fields (including extra fields), in the same order as the upload template.

  2. Replace the Constituent Numbers with the new/correct ones.

  3. Paste the data (without headers) into the Activity template sheet from the Data Preparation Template.

  4. Upload the file to create new Activities on the correct Constituents.

  5. Bulk delete the old Activities using the list.

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