Importing and Exporting Data

TimelyChurch can bring data in from other systems and export your records when you need them. Use this guide when moving from another church app, sharing data with a ministry team, or creating a backup.

Importing People from a CSV File

Who Should Use This?

• Churches switching from another church app
• Anyone with a spreadsheet of people to add (from a conference, event, partner church, etc.)
• Staff who received a list of new members or visitors in spreadsheet format

Before You Start

Make sure your CSV file has at least a first name and last name column for every person. All other fields are optional. The maximum file size is 10 MB.

Importing needs the People & Families Import permission (included in Full Access). Your plan also has a maximum number of people. If your directory is already at that limit, the import is refused: "You've reached the maximum of 100 people records on your current plan. Please upgrade to add more." (with your plan's number). If a file would take you past the limit, only the people that fit are imported and the result says so, for example "73 people imported successfully." followed by "7 rows were not imported: your plan allows 100 people. Upgrade to add more." Nothing is half-created.

Where to Find Import

1. In the left sidebar, open People and click People.
2. Click the Add Person ▾ button in the top-right corner.
3. Choose Import from File. This opens the Import People window, which auto-detects your file format. No column mapping is needed.

Option A: Use the TimelyChurch Import Template

If you are starting with your own spreadsheet data, the template ensures your columns match what TimelyChurch expects.

1. Open the Import People window (People > Add Person ▾ > Import from File).
2. Under "Need to start from scratch?", click Download template.
3. Open the downloaded CSV file in Excel, Google Sheets, or another spreadsheet application.
4. Fill in your data following the template columns:

1. Save the file as CSV format.

Tip: If you leave the membership_status column empty, imported people will default to "Visitor." If a row is missing a first name or last name, it will be skipped.

Option B: Import Directly from Another Church App

TimelyChurch automatically recognizes CSV people exports from these church apps and maps their columns for you:

• Planning Center
• Realm (ACS)
• Breeze ChMS
• ChurchTrac
• Elvanto
• Tithely
• Pushpay ChMS (CCB)
• Servant Keeper
• Church Windows

Even if your system is not listed, you can still upload any CSV. TimelyChurch will fall back to a generic import that reads standard column names like first_name, last_name, email, and so on.

To import from one of these apps:

1. In your current church app, export your people list as a CSV file.
2. In TimelyChurch, open People > Add Person ▾ > Import from File.
3. Upload the CSV file directly. No reformatting is needed.
4. TimelyChurch detects the source format and notes it in the result message (e.g., "Detected Planning Center format").
5. Click Import People to finish.

Tip: If your export includes household or family data, TimelyChurch will automatically create family records and link people to their families. You do not need to set up families separately.

Uploading and Importing

1. Open People > Add Person ▾ > Import from File.
2. Drag your CSV onto the upload area, or click it to browse and select your file (CSV up to 10 MB).
3. Review the import options:
   • Skip duplicates (recommended, on by default): If a person with the same name or email already exists in your directory, that row will be skipped instead of creating a duplicate record.
4. Click Import People.
5. Wait for the import to process. For large files, this may take a moment.

Understanding the Import Results

After the import completes, TimelyChurch shows a summary message at the top of the page describing what happened. Depending on your file, that message can include:

If some rows were skipped due to errors, fix the data in your spreadsheet and re-import just those rows.

Skipped rows are listed. After an import, the rows that were skipped are listed with the row number, name and reason, and you can dismiss the list. This covers rows with missing or invalid data (including invalid emails and future birth dates) and rows skipped as duplicates, which show "Already in People (same email)" or "Already in People (same name)". A CSV that is too large shows a notice with the real size limit.

Exporting People to CSV

Export your people data when you need to:

• Create a spreadsheet for an event or ministry team
• Share a member list with leadership
• Generate a mailing list
• Back up your data
• Migrate to another system

Where to Find Export

There are two places to export, and both download the same file:

• On the People page: Click Export CSV at the top of the page. On the People tab it downloads your people; on the Families tab it downloads your families.
• In Church Setting: Click Church Setting at the bottom of the left sidebar and open the Export tab. You will see separate Export People and Export Families cards, each with an Export CSV button.

Exporting needs the People & Families Export permission (included in Full Access). If your role's reach is set to Their teams, the file contains only the people (or families) in the teams you lead.

Exporting All People

1. Click Export CSV on the People page (People tab), or on the Export People card in Church Setting → Export.
2. A CSV file containing all of your people records will be downloaded to your computer.

The export includes everyone in your directory, not just the people currently shown by your search or filters. If you need a filtered subset (for example, only a single class or only members), export the full file and filter it in your spreadsheet application.

What is Included in a People Export

The exported CSV file has 20 columns, in this exact order:

Custom field values are not part of this file.

Exporting Families to CSV

You can also export your family records as a separate file.

1. On the People page, switch to the Families tab and click Export CSV. Or open Church Setting → Export and click Export CSV on the Export Families card.
2. A CSV file with your families is downloaded.

What is Included in a Families Export

Note: The Address, Address 2, Zip, Primary Phone and Primary Email columns are filled in from each family's record.

Tips for a Successful Import

1. Clean your data first: Before importing, review your spreadsheet for empty rows, misspelled names, and inconsistent formatting.
2. Use consistent formats: For dates, use YYYY-MM-DD. For phone numbers, any format works (TimelyChurch will normalize them). For gender, use "male" or "female."
3. Start with a test import: If you have a large file (hundreds or thousands of people), try importing just the first 10-20 rows to verify everything maps correctly.
4. Keep Skip duplicates on: This prevents accidental double entries. You can add people manually later if they were incorrectly flagged as duplicates.
5. Check the results: After importing, browse through the People directory and spot-check a few records to make sure the data came through correctly.
6. Import families too: If your CSV includes household data (from Planning Center, Breeze, ChurchTrac, etc.), TimelyChurch will create families automatically. Check the Families page to verify.

Troubleshooting Common Import Issues

Related Articles

• Adding People
• Managing Your People Directory
• Family Management
• Duplicate Detection and Merge

Last updated: 2026-10-21 (8.205.306).

Verified against TimelyChurch 8.205.308 on 2026-10-23.