How do I migrate (import) an existing member database?

Importing data is inherently challenging. For most associations, member's information has been slowly acquired over years from a variety of sources. When the time comes to import member data into SilkStart, many organizations find that their data files have inconsistent formatting, missing information, typos, and other formatting challenges that sometimes make it hard to see what info should go wherein SilkStart. We recommend you give yourself plenty of time to review and revise during the import process.

Before we get started, please note:

• Our importer requires that you import First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Individual Member Plan, and Membership Expiry Date
• Your member's Email Address or Member Number is their unique ID, all data is imported attached to the email address
• Importing a new Email Address will create a new profile in SilkStart
• Importing an existing Email Address will update the corresponding profile within SilkStart
• Before you import, ensure that you have configured your network
• Individual Member Plan and Membership Expiry Date are left blank for the row, the member will be imported as a contact

Dates

SilkStart supports a variety of date formats, consistency is key. The follow table shows what formats are supported. Be aware that this is also the order in which data is interpreted:

Format	Example
yyyy/mm/dd	2020/02/28
yyyy-mm-dd	2020-02-28
yy-mm-dd	20-02-28
yyyy-mmm-dd	2020-Feb-28
yy-mmm-dd	20-Feb-28
yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SS	2020-02-28T11:07:58
mmm dd yyyy	Feb 28 2020
dd mmm yyyy	28 Feb 2020
dd mmmm yyyy	28 February 2020
dd-mmm-yyyy	28-Feb-2020
dd-mmmm-yyyy	28-February-2020
dd-mmm-yy	28-Feb-20
mmm dd yyyy	Feb 28 2020

If you have a date that can be interpreted in more than one format, the first will be used.

Starter Template

To start you may want to download the starter spreadsheet and migrate your data into this template. You can find the starter spreadsheet by navigating to Settings > Import Data in your admin panel. Click on the Download Starter Spreadsheet button in the top right-hand corner to download the starter spreadsheet.

Once you are ready to import member data follow these steps:

1. Login to the Admin Dashboard
2. Go to Settings > Import Data
3. Navigate to the bottom right corner and select Next: Upload
4. Select Choose File and upload the completed template
5. Check if all the columns will be assigned correctly in the database and plans are entered correctly. If you get any errors then re-upload the file.
6. Navigate to the bottom right corner and select Next: Import Data

The importer will import your data and provide you with any additional information about your import.

Example spreadsheet:

Alternatively you can contact us to assist with importing your Member database.