The thought of moving years of records stops many churches from changing systems. It should not. Most of the work is tidying a list you already have.
Before you import
Open your spreadsheet and look for the common problems: the same person on two rows, phone numbers written three different ways, and a column that mixes names and titles. Fixing a few of them now saves time later, but you do not need perfection.
Upload and match columns
Export from Excel or Google Sheets and upload the file. ChurchBright matches the columns automatically, so "Phone", "Mobile" and "Tel" land in the right field, and you can correct any it gets wrong.
Duplicate checks
Before anything is saved, the import looks for people who already exist so you do not create a second John Adeyemi. You see the result and choose what to do.
Families stay together
Members who share a household can be grouped into families, which makes it easier to write one letter per household and to see a whole family's involvement.
After the import
- Set statuses and tags: first-timer, new convert, member, worker, leader, plus your own for choir or ushers.
- Check birthdays and anniversaries for the coming week.
- Give branch pastors access to their own people only.
Giving history too
If you also keep giving records in a spreadsheet, you can import those, with a preview first, duplicate gifts skipped and a one-step undo.
A sensible plan
- Import fifty rows as a test.
- Check them on the member profiles.
- Import the rest.
- Ask each department head to review their people.
Your records are always yours: you can export everything as CSV at any time.