Prepare your spreadsheet for Bulk upload
Updated
This is for Upload a spreadsheet for bulk receipts. You can start from FreeCharityReceipts' template or upload an export you already have.
File rules
- File types: .xlsx or .csv. Plain-text files with commas, tabs or semicolons are read too.
- An old .xls file is refused with Save this as .xlsx or .csv and upload it again. Open it and use Save As.
- Up to 5 MB and 2,000 donation rows. Over that, you see This file is larger than the 5 MB upload limit. or that the file has too many rows. Split the file.
- A workbook with data on many sheets asks which sheet to read. Hidden sheets are ignored. If a workbook has too many sheets with data, upload one sheet at a time.
- Rows that are hidden or filtered out in your spreadsheet are left out by default. You see a notice and can tick them back in.
The template
On the upload step, click Download .xlsx or Download .csv, in English or French. The columns are:
| Column | Needed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| donor_name | Yes | Up to 50 characters, so the name fits on the receipt |
| donor_address | Yes | Up to 100 characters in all, at most three lines |
| gift_amount | Yes | In dollars, such as 250.00 |
| gift_date | Yes | YYYY-MM-DD |
| gift_description | No | Up to 1,000 characters |
| reference | No | Your own ID, up to 100 characters. It is used to catch duplicates and is never printed on the receipt. |
| donor_email | No | Only used if you choose to email donors. See Email receipts to donors. |
The .xlsx template has a header row that stays in view, date checks and a few example rows. Delete the examples. If you leave one in, it is flagged and left out.
Using your own file
Exports from Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and most donation systems work. Common English and French headings such as "Name", "Amount", "Date" and "Montant" are matched for you. A header row helps but isn't required. Columns you don't need are ignored. On the Map columns step you can fix any column that was matched wrong, or combine street, city, province and postal code columns into one address.
Amounts
Write a plain amount in dollars: 250, 250.00, $1,250.00 or 1 250,00. Don't use a currency other than dollars. Amounts with more than two decimals, such as 12.345, are an error, and are never rounded. If your column is in cents, tick Amounts are in cents.
Dates
Write dates as YYYY-MM-DD. If your dates use slashes, like 03/04/2026, you are asked to choose Day / Month / Year or Month / Day / Year. Real Excel dates are fine. Dates before 1990 are refused.
What you may see when you review
Errors (the row is skipped and not charged):
- A missing donor name, address, amount or date.
- A message saying the value could not be read as an amount or as a date. The message starts with the value.
- Shorten this name to 50 characters or fewer. or Shorten this address to 100 characters or fewer. A longer value would be cut off on the receipt, so it is refused instead.
- This gift date is in the future.
- A receipt cannot be dated before the gift. The gift date is after the Receipt Date.
- A reference that an earlier row already uses.
- This gift came with an advantage, followed by the amount. A gift with an advantage can't be receipted in Bulk. Receipt it on Create a receipt.
- This cell holds a formula with no value. Paste the values instead of the formulas.
Warnings (the row goes through, but look at it):
- This gift is unusually large.
- A gift more than 2 years before the receipt date.
- Rows N have the same donor, amount and date. It may be a real duplicate.
- This looks like a totals line, not a donation. It is left out.
- This row is still one of the examples from our template.
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