Focus On: Custom Exports

Focus On: Custom Exports

Welcome to our Focus On series. In this series of e-mail tutorials, we will show you a few overlooked features in our system. We encourage you to print this document to follow along through the lessons.

Tutorial: Custom Exports

Custom Exports are a way that you can export data into a .csv file (which can be opened in Excel). It is used in combination with our Custom Report Generator and some Standard Reports.   

In this tutorial, you will learn:

Lesson 1: What is the difference between a Custom Export Format and a Custom Report?

Lesson 2: Creating a New Custom Export

Lesson 3: Using a Custom Export with Custom Reports

Lesson 4: Practice: Creating a Spreadsheet.

In order to use the Custom Export Tutorial, you must have the access permission level of Export.

Lesson 1: What is the difference between a Custom Export Format and a Custom Report?

Very Important! A custom export is NOT a custom report.

Custom export formatsdetermine what specific details you want a report to contain. Think of it as the columns in a spreadsheet:

First Name, Last Name, Address Line 1, City, Stateare all columns that you want your spreadsheet to contain. A custom export is how you select your column headers.

However, creating the Custom Export Format does not perform a database search or fill in the columns. In order to fill in the data, you must use Custom Exports with Custom Reports (hint: they both sound similar because they go together).

Custom reportsfill the data into those columns:

In the Custom Report Generator, you create the target group of records (your query) that will be returned. This is your data. If you select Custom Export as your Export Method, the results of your Custom Report will merge with your Custom Export.

So, your Export contains First and Last Name, City, and State.  But the query you ran could be anything: contributors, residents of a certain city, or people with a certain code on their record. 

This means custom export can be reused. You could use it with your custom report on contributors and later, use it for your custom report on volunteers because it only relates to the column you want in your spreadsheet – not the data!

Ok, now that you understand the difference, let’s create a Custom Export!

Lesson 2: Creating a Custom Export

1. Go to Management --> Custom Exports

2. Click on Add New Format.

Name – Give your new format a name. For Example, Contributions with Addresses.

Layout - .csv is the Excel spreadsheet format. .txt would be the format you would choose if you were sending this information to a mail house.

Categories – Think of categories as folders that hold different fields in your database. General holds things like Name and Occupation and Employer where as Contribution Summary will hold things like Largest Contribution and Total Contributions. If you can’t find the Available Field you are looking for, check your category selection.

Available Fields – List of the fields (think column headers) that are available under that Category.

Included Fields – These are the fields that you have selected and clicked Add to include in your custom export.

3. Click on the field you wish to include in your report.

4. Click Add.

5. You should see it appear in your Included Fields area.

6. Continue selecting fields. If you can’t find a field you want, check a different category. For instance, phone numbers can be found in the Phones category. You have also check the help file here for a list of all the export fields available.

7. Once you have all the fields you want to include in your spreadsheet, click Save Changes.

Now that we have created our custom export, let’s generate our spreadsheet!

Lesson 3: Using your Custom Export with the Custom Report Generator

1. Go to Reports --> Custom Reports

2. Create your query (if you need help understanding the Custom Report Generator, check out our previous tutorial here).

3. In your Export Options area, in the dropdown menu for Type, select Export.

4. In the Format dropdown menu, select Custom Export (Merge File).

5. Click Submit Query.

6. A new window will open. (If a new window does not open, check to see if you have a pop-up blocker on)

7. Click on the drop down menu for Format and select the Custom Export you created.

8. If you wish to replace the Organization Salutation with something other than the Organization Name, click on the second radio button (white circle) and write in what you wish to replace it with. If you do not have organizations in your query, ignore this.

9. If you wish to combine spouses, click on the Combine Spouses checkbox.

10. Export Format Orderallows you to order the results in the spreadsheet. You can also do this once your export is in a .csv file.

11. Click Generate Merge File.

12. You will get a box that will allow you to Open or Save the spreadsheet. If you save it, please be aware of WHERE you save it so you can open it once it has downloaded.

13. You should now be able to see your spreadsheet!

Now that you get the idea.Let’s practice doing a custom export with a custom report.

Lesson 4: Practice: Creating a Spreadsheet.

Scenario: Your boss wants to see all the contributors that donated in the Primary but haven’t yet contributed in the General. He wants their name, address, phone number and the total amount they contributed in the primary and their largest contribution.

In this scenario, we have a bunch of information. We have the information needed for the Custom Report and the information needed for the Custom Export. Let’s start with what your boss wants as an end result. He wants a spreadsheet with their name, address, phone number and the total amount they contributed in the primary and their largest contribution. Since this the result (the spreadsheet) we know this is the information we need to set up in our Custom Export. Ok, let’s set this up!

1. Go to Management --> Custom Exports

2. Click on Add a New Format.

3. In the Name field type: Contributed Last Year.

4. Keep the Layout .csv.

5. Keep the Category: General.

6. Select: IndividualName(14)

7. Click Add.

8. Select the Category: Addresses_Primary.

9. Select the field PrimaryOrganization(152), click Add.

10. Select the field PrimaryAdr1 (16), click Add.

11. Select the field Primary Adr2 (17), click Add.

12. Select the field PrimaryCity(18), click Add.

13. Select the field PrimaryState(19), click Add.

14. Select the field PrimaryZip(20), click Add.

15. Select the Category: Contributions_By_Election

16. Select the formatted amount for the primary, such as FormattedAmountP-2006. Click Add.

17. Select the Category: Contributions_Summary.

18. Select the field LargestContributionFormatted. Click Add.

19. Click Save Changes at the top.

So we’ve now set up the export. However, we have to fill in the data for this report. Our boss wants to see only people in our report that have contributed in the primary but not the general. So let’s go to the Custom Report Generator.

1. Go to Reports --> Custom Reports.

2. Select the following:

3.       Click Add to Query

4. Then, go back to the Query Builder for the second part of the query, select the following:

5. Click Add to Query.

6. Now, your query details should look something like this:

7. Under Export Options, select Type: Export, Format: Custom Export (Merge File).

8. Click Submit Query.

9. In the new window, select the dropdown box for Format and select Contributed in the Primary.

10. Click Generate Merge File.

11. In the dialog box, click Open and view your new spreadsheet.

Hopefully you now have a better understanding of the Custom Exports and what they can do for your campaign.

Do you have an idea for our next Focus On? Is there something you would like to know more about? Simply email us at: support@completecampaigns.com. We’d love to hear from you!