Import Members

Import Members

Importing members is an important step for organizations that are transitioning from another membership management software to MembershipWorks.

Prepare Your Data

Format Dates as Needed

For best results we recommend that you use the date format of MMM DD YYYY (e.g. Jan 01 2026) for date columns such as the Renewal Date column. Note – you may find that your spreadsheet program does not use this date format by default in which case you should format the cells to use the date format MMM DD YYYY. For Microsoft Excel users you can accomplish this by formatting the cells and selecting the “Custom” format option. Enter the text “MMM DD YYYY” to set the custom formatting.

Rename Column Headers as Needed

Your spreadsheet should include the column headers in the first row. It’s important to edit your spreadsheet to match the column headers that MembershipWorks recognizes, which we have listed below.
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You can also import custom fields you created by providing a header for the column that exactly matches the description of the custom field.
You may not need some of these fields and it’s a good idea to omit unnecessary fields from your import.
  1. Account name 1
  2. Contact name
  3. Organization name
  4. Position
  5. Phone
  6. Mobile
  7. Fax
  8. Skype
  9. Email 2
  10. Website
  11. Address 1
  12. City
  13. State
  14. Country
  15. Zip
  16. Tagline
  17. Profile description
  18. Label 5
  19. Membership level 5
  20. Membership add-on 5
  21. Join date
  22. Renewal date
  23. Directory 3
  24. Public directory email
  25. Privacy: do not show street address 3
  26. Privacy: do not show phone number 3
  27. Privacy: do not show mobile number 3
  28. Privacy: do not show contact name 3
  29. Privacy: do not allow messaging 3
  30. Facebook 4
  31. Twitter 4
  32. Linkedin 4
  33. Google+ 4
  34. Youtube 4
  35. BBB 4
  36. Yelp 4
  37. Pinterest 4
  38. Instagram 4
  39. Unsubscribe 3
1 If your spreadsheet lists your member’s names as separate First Name, Last Name columns, you can use those columns instead of “Account Name”. During import the first name and last name will be joined together.

2 Note that if an email is not provided, the member will not be able to sign in to his/her account online because the sign in is through their email address.

3 Custom check-box fields and yes/no fields such as Directory, Privacy fields, and Unsubscribe fields should have “Y” for yes/set and blank for no/not-set.

4 Provide the URL to the social media account. For example “https://www.youtube.com/memberfindme”.

5 If you include Membership Level, Membership Add-On or Label columns, you must have already created the membership level, add-on or label under Labels & Membership. The value in the appropriate cell is the name of the label or membership level you want to assign to that row. You can assign multiple labels when importing by having more than one column with the heading “Label”.

Convert 1-Column Addresses into Multiple Columns

If you have your address information contained all in one column, it will need to be converted into multiple fields as listed below. Watch the video below to learn how to do this in Excel.
  1. Address 1
  2. City
  3. State
  4. Zip
  5. Country

Manage Suffixes

If you have suffixes such as Jr., Sr, III or professional certifications such as MD or PhD, you may import them in any of the following ways:
  1. If you are entering the member's complete name in the Account Name column, include the suffix at the end of that field. For example, Jan Smith, LMSCW.
  2. If you are entering the member's name in First name and Last name columns instead of one Account Name column, include the suffix at the end of the last name. For example, Smith, Jr. in the Last name column.
  3. If you are entering the member's name in the Contact name field, include the suffix at the end of that field. For example, Jon Smith, Jr.

Save the Spreadsheet as a CSV File

From Excel, select Save As, then select CSV (Comma Delimited) as the format.


Excel may indicate that some features of your spreadsheet are not compatible with CSV, click Yes to continue saving it in the CSV file format.

Include Columns for the Minimum Required Fields

To ensure that members can log in and are set up correctly for membership billing, we would recommend that at the minimum you import the following: 
  1. Account name
  2. Email
  3. Membership level
  4. Renewal date (does not apply to free and lifetime memberships)
Note – the column “Membership Level” should be filled out with the name of the membership level you are assigning the member to. This should be entered on your spreadsheet exactly as it was entered in MembershipWorks.

Import Your Data

Once you have completed the steps in this article to prepare and save your CSV file, you are ready to import your members into MembershipWorks.
  1. Go to MembershipWorks > Folder: Members.
  2. Click the Import link at the top of the page
  3. Click or drop your CSV file in the upload box.
  4. You will see a preview of the import. Scan through the preview to look for any errors marked in red. Errors typically occur as a result of a column header not being named to align with a system field or a custom field.
    If you only have a few errors, you can opt to click on the column header in the preview to select the field you intended to import for that column.


    If you have many errors, we advise that you exit the import and make the necessary changes to your spreadsheet and/or create the custom fields that you need and then attempt to reimport.
  5. Click Finalize Import.
Once the import is completed, spot check a few member records to ensure that the information you intended to import is correct.

Frequently Asked Questions

My spreadsheet has separate columns for "First Name" and "Last Name". How do I manage this when MembershipWorks stores the member's entire name in one field?

For the purposes of importing you can either use one column header titled Account Name that would contain the first name and last name merged together in one column, or you can use separate columns for First Name and Last Name. In either case, the member’s name will be merged into a single Account Name field. 
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This solution is applicable for organizations that organize members by individual member name and not by company.

I have additional details for my members that are not included in the list of column headers. Can I upload this information, too?

You can import other information into MembershipWorks. To do this you will need to create a custom field in your membership templates under MembershipWorks > Customization. When importing you should assign the column header name to exactly match the description you created for the custom field.

I have past data for my members that I'd like to bring over. How does that work?

You may import payments and notes to the Timeline under the account with the following column titles accordingly. Note that you can only upload 1 note and 1 payment of each type per row, if you need to upload more transactions you will need to use the update feature described below.
  1. Membership Payment Date
  2. Membership Payment Amount
  3. Membership Payment Tax
  4. Membership Payment Note
  5. Event Payment Date
  6. Event Payment Amount
  7. Event Payment Tax
  8. Event Payment Note
  9. Event Payment Event
  10. Donation Payment Date
  11. Donation Payment Amount
  12. Donation Payment Tax
  13. Donation Payment Note
  14. Other Payment Date
  15. Other Payment Amount
  16. Other Payment Tax
  17. Other Payment Note
  18. Note Date
  19. Note Note
  20. Note Tags
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Event Payment Event refers to the event name. Event payments can be imported into Timelines, but they would not be associated with any event on your event calendar even if the event name is the same.

Importing Multiple Payments/Notes Per Account

If you have multiple payments or Timeline notes that need to be imported for each account, it would be easiest to import the accounts first, then upload the payments or Timeline notes as an update.

Separate payments of each type and Timeline notes into separate spreadsheets – ie. 1 spreadsheet for all the donations, 1 spreadsheet for all the membership payments, 1 spreadsheet for all the Timeline notes, etc. Use the column headers above for the information for the payment type or Timeline note. Then add the Account ID column, or Update Only plus Email or Account Name column, so we know which account to associate that entry/row with:
  1. If using the Account ID column, the row value should indicate the account ID of the member account you want to add the entry to.
  2. If using the Update Only column, each row value should be "Y", and you will need to provide either the Email or Account Name column for us to match the appropriate member account. Note that if we find more than one matching email address or account name, the entry will not be imported as we would not know which account to properly add the entry to.

For business members, how do we collect and upload the contact person for the account?

For organizations who primarily have business members, we would recommend that you structure your membership templates to use the systems Account name field to collect a member’s business name and use the system’s Contact name field to collect the primary contact name for the account. When importing your members you should structure your column headers as follows:
  1. Account name – displays the Business Name; for members without business names, their name should be entered in the account name field
  2. Contact name – the name of the individual who will be managing the account.

How do we bring in additional contacts for businesses or family memberships?

Each member has the capability for additional contacts to be added to their account. When importing additional contacts, the way your spreadsheet will be set up will be determined on whether you have only one additional contact that is being added to the members account or more than one additional contact.

How to Import One Additional Contact Per Account
To add one additional contact to a member’s account, your import can include the following column headers:
  1. Alternate First Name
  2. Alternate Last Name
  3. Alternate Name
  4. Alternate Position
  5. Alternate Phone
  6. Alternate Fax
  7. Alternate Email
  8. Alternate Address 1
  9. Alternate City
  10. Alternate State
  11. Alternate Country
  12. Alternate Zip
  13. Alternate Label
  14. Alternate Directory
  15. Alternate Note
How to Import More than One Additional Contact Per Account
To import more than one contact per member account, you will need to separate your spreadsheets into two imports. One import file will contain just the main member’s information and the second import file will be to update the existing member records with their additional contacts.

When formatting your spreadsheet for the additional contact import, you can include the same column headers listed above but will also need to include the following column headers:
  1. Account Name – Set to the name of the account the contact is being added to
  2. Email – Set to the email address of the member the contact is being added to
  3. Update Only – Add the value Y to each row in this column to indicate the import is to update an existing member’s records
Below is a sample of what the import for the additional contacts would look like. The three additional contacts will be added to the main ABC Company's account.

Some of our members are individuals and others are companies. How do we set that up?

For organizations who have a mix of business and individual members, we would recommend that you structure your membership templates to use the following fields:
  1. Account name – company names will go here as will individual names for those who are to be listed as individuals
  2. Contact name – use this field for businesses to list the name of the person who will be managing the account. It can be blank for those who are listed as individuals

Our members join as individuals, but we collect their company name, too. How do we set that up?

For organizations who have individual memberships, we would recommend that you structure your membership templates to use the following fields:
  1. Account name – this is where the member’s name (e.g. Sally Smith, LMSCW) will go
  2. Organization name – use this field to collect the company name affiliated with the individual (e.g. Family Medical Group)

Can I set my members to not be listed in the directory when I upload them?

Yes, you can stop members from being listed in your directory unless they opt in to be a part of it. To prevent directory listing by default:
  1. Add a column to your initial member import with the header Do Not List in Directory.
  2. In the Do not list in directory column, enter the letter Y in the column for all rows.
Members can manually opt to be a part of the directory by following these instructions:
  1. Log into their account (provide them a link to your account manage page).
  2. Under the Profile tab, uncheck the box next to Do not list in directory.
  3. Click Save & Continue.

Import Assistance is Available

If you are having trouble, you can send your .CSV spreadsheet to info@membershipworks.com for review:
  1. Include just the top header row and 1 row of fake data
  2. Do not send your full list of members
  3. Check that the spreadsheet is saved as a .CSV file before sending
We’ll compare your sheet to your account and let you know what changes need to be made (this may take up to 1 week). Make sure to follow the steps below to prepare for your import before sending us the spreadsheet. As always, customer service is included at no extra charge.

Sample Spreadsheets

We have attached sample spreadsheets below for reference. Note that there are two Label columns in the sample spreadsheets, and you may add more Label columns if required.
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