Importing historical certificates via CSV

In short: Upload a CSV or Excel file of certificates you issued elsewhere, map your columns to ActiveDonor's fields, and click Import — ActiveDonor creates the donors, receipts and certificates in the background. Files must be ≤5 MB and ≤3,000 rows. The most recent completed import can be rolled back unless any of its items are already in an IT3(d) submission.

Overview

The certificate importer lets you bring existing Section 18A records into ActiveDonor from a spreadsheet — for example certificates you issued in a previous system before moving to ActiveDonor. You upload a CSV or Excel file, map your columns to ActiveDonor's fields, and ActiveDonor creates the donors, receipts and certificates in the background.

This is for historical records you already issued. To create new certificates from donations captured in ActiveDonor, issue them normally — see Issuing a single Section 18A certificate.

Before you start

You'll need:

• The Manage Certificates permission.
• Your file as CSV or Excel (.csv, .xlsx, .xls).
• A file that's 5 MB or smaller and contains 3,000 rows or fewer. Split larger files into chunks and upload them one at a time.
• One donation per row; donors are grouped automatically.

💡 Tip: Download the official template so your columns line up — the import page offers "Use this Excel import template" and a "Help Doc: How to import certificates". Matching the template makes column mapping automatic.

The template columns

The import template uses these column headings, in this order:

1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. Entity Name
4. Type
5. Trading Name
6. Tax No
7. ID Reg No
8. ID Type
9. Country of Issue
10. Email
11. Cellphone
12. Address 1
13. Address 2
14. City
15. Province
16. Post Code
17. Country
18. Reference
19. Receipt No
20. Receipt_Method
21. Amount
22. Donation Date
23. Project
24. Certificate No
25. Description

You don't have to use these exact headings in your own file — on the next screen you map each of your columns to the right field — but matching them makes the mapping automatic.

Importing the file

Step 1: Open Import Certificates

Open the Import Certificates page.

Step 2: Upload your file

In the Certificate Uploader panel on the left, choose your file (accepted: CSV, Excel .xlsx, .xls) and click Upload.

Step 3: Map the columns

ActiveDonor reads the file and shows the Import Preview: how many Columns it found and how many Donors (rows). For each column you see your data and a dropdown to choose which field it maps to (the dropdown lists all the template fields plus an option to ignore a column). ActiveDonor pre-selects a match where your heading matches a template field. Check that every column points to the correct field — the on-screen instruction is "Check if your columns match up with the correct header."

Step 4: Import

Click Import. The file is queued and processed in the background.

📌 Note: Only one import can run at a time. While one is in flight the page shows "Import in progress" and refreshes itself; you can upload another once it finishes.

Step 5: Check the result

When it completes, the import appears in Import History with the number Imported, the number Skipped, and a status.

Import History and status

Each import on the Import History table shows a date, the file name, the Imported and Skipped counts, and a Status:

Status	Meaning
🟢 Completed	Finished successfully.
⏳ Processing	Currently running.
⏳ Queued	Waiting to run.
🟡 Partial	Some rows imported, some skipped.
🔴 Failed	The import failed.
↩️ Rolled Back	The import was undone (see below).

For a Completed import you can download a results spreadsheet to see exactly what happened with each row.

Rolling back an import

If an import was wrong, you can roll it back to undo it.

⚠️ Important: Rollback "will PERMANENTLY DELETE all donors, receipts, certificates, and certificate PDFs from this batch. Receipt and certificate numbers will be reset. This action cannot be undone."

Rules:

• Only the most recent completed import can be rolled back. To undo an older one, roll back the more recent import(s) first.
• Rollback is blocked if any item is part of an IT3(d) submission. Once a certificate from the batch has been submitted to SARS, the batch can't be rolled back. Revoke and re-issue individual certificates instead.

Field reference (key columns)

Column	Purpose
First Name / Last Name	The donor's names (for a person).
Entity Name	The organisation name (for an entity donor).
Type	Donor type (Individual, Company, CC, NPC, Trust, Association, Estate, etc.).
Tax No	Donor's SARS tax reference number.
ID Reg No	Donor's ID or registration number.
ID Type	ID or Passport (for individuals).
Receipt No	The original receipt number for the donation.
Receipt_Method	How the donation was made.
Amount	The donation amount.
Donation Date	The date of the donation.
Project	The project the donation belongs to.
Certificate No	The original certificate number.
Description	Free-text description of the donation.

Common issues & solutions

What you see	What it means	How to fix it
"The uploaded file contains N rows, which exceeds the 3,000-row import limit."	The file is too long.	Split it into chunks of 3,000 rows or fewer and upload one at a time.
The file was rejected on upload.	Wrong format or too large.	It must be a .csv, .xlsx or .xls file and 5 MB or smaller.
"No data found for preview."	ActiveDonor couldn't detect valid columns or data.	Make sure the first row has column headers with data below them; download the template for reference.
Rows were Skipped.	Some rows were missing required details or duplicated existing records.	Download the results spreadsheet to see why, fix them, and re-import only those rows.
The rollback button is disabled.	It's not the most recent import, or an item is already with SARS.	Roll back newer imports first; if an item is in an IT3(d) submission, the batch can't be rolled back.

FAQ

Can I bring in certificates from my old system? Yes — that's what this importer is for. Upload a CSV/Excel of the historical records and map the columns.

How big can the file be? Up to 5 MB and 3,000 rows. Split larger exports and upload them one at a time.

Can I undo an import? Yes — roll back the most recent completed import. This permanently deletes everything it created and resets numbering, and is blocked if any item is already in an IT3(d) submission.

Do my column headings have to match the template exactly? No — you map columns on the preview screen. Matching the template just makes the mapping automatic.

Related

• Issuing a single Section 18A certificate
• Section 18A eligibility and required donor tax details
• Generating the IT3(d) file for SARS
• Section 18A issued and revoked reports