Universal CSV Importer

The Universal CSV Importer plugin enables you to import sponsors and contacts from your existing CRM system (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, etc.) or custom CSV files with intelligent auto-mapping.

Accessing the Importer

Navigate to Sponsorships → Sponsors and click the Import from CSV button.

Plan Required: Professional or Enterprise plan Permission Required: Sponsors permission (write access)

Supported Source Systems

The importer automatically detects your CRM system and maps fields accordingly:

Salesforce - Auto-detects Salesforce CSV exports
HubSpot - Auto-detects HubSpot CSV exports
Pipedrive - Auto-detects Pipedrive CSV exports
Microsoft Dynamics - Auto-detects Dynamics CSV exports
Zoho CRM - Auto-detects Zoho CRM exports
Excel/Manual CSV - Manual CSV files with custom field mapping
Other - Generic CSV import with manual field mapping

Import Workflow

Step 1: Select Source System

Choose your CRM system from the list. The importer will use this to automatically map fields in the next steps.

Step 2: Upload CSV Files

Upload one or both CSV files:

Sponsors CSV (Account/Company data)
Contacts CSV (Contact Person data)

You can import sponsors only, contacts only, or both. If importing both, contacts will be automatically linked to sponsors by matching the account/company name.

Step 3: Review Field Mapping

The importer automatically maps CSV columns to Valiyou fields based on your source system. Confidence Levels:

🟢 High - Exact column name match
🟡 Medium - Partial column name match
🔴 Low - No match, please verify manually

You can adjust any mapping by clicking the dropdown and selecting a different CSV column.

Step 4: Preview Data

Preview the first 5 rows to ensure data looks correct before importing.

Step 5: Import & Review Results

The import process shows:

✅ Created - New sponsors/contacts successfully imported
⚠️ Skipped - Duplicates or invalid data skipped
❌ Errors - Failed imports with error details

Salesforce Export & Field Mapping

Exporting from Salesforce

Navigate to Reports in Salesforce
Create or open a report for Accounts (for sponsors) or Contacts
Click Export and select Export Details Only
Choose Comma Delimited (.csv) format
Download the CSV file

Salesforce Account (Sponsors) Fields

Salesforce exports 48 columns for Accounts. The Universal Importer uses the following fields:

Salesforce Field	Valiyou Field	Imported	Notes
`Name`	`name`	✅ Yes	Required - Sponsor name
`Website`	`website`	✅ Yes	Company website URL
`Phone`	`phone`	✅ Yes	Organization phone number
`Industry`	`industry`	✅ Yes	Industry category
`Type`	`account_type`	✅ Yes	Account type/category
`AnnualRevenue`	`annual_revenue`	✅ Yes	Annual revenue amount
`NumberOfEmployees`	`number_of_employees`	✅ Yes	Number of employees
`AccountNumber`	`account_number`	✅ Yes	Account reference number
`BillingStreet`	`street`	✅ Yes	Street address
`BillingCity`	`city`	✅ Yes	City
`BillingState`	`state`	✅ Yes	State/Province name
`BillingStateCode`	`state_code`	✅ Yes	State/Province code
`BillingPostalCode`	`postal_code`	✅ Yes	Postal/ZIP code
`BillingCountry`	`country`	✅ Yes	Country
`Id`	`external_reference_id`	✅ Yes	Salesforce Account ID (for sync)
`SystemModstamp`	`last_synced_at`	✅ Yes	Last modified timestamp

Not Imported (Salesforce Internal Fields):

IsDeleted, MasterRecordId - Salesforce system IDs
ParentId - Parent account relationships
Sic, SicDesc - Standard Industrial Classification
Ownership, TickerSymbol - Company details
Rating, Site, AccountSource, Description - Account metadata
OwnerId, CreatedDate, CreatedById, LastModifiedDate, LastModifiedById - Salesforce audit fields
LastActivityDate, Jigsaw, JigsawCompanyId - Activity tracking
ShippingStreet, ShippingCity, ShippingState, ShippingPostalCode, ShippingCountry - Shipping address (use billing instead)
BillingCountryCode, BillingLatitude, BillingLongitude, BillingGeocodeAccuracy - Geocoding metadata
ShippingStateCode, ShippingCountryCode, ShippingLatitude, ShippingLongitude, ShippingGeocodeAccuracy - Shipping metadata
Fax - Legacy contact method

Salesforce Contact Fields

Salesforce exports 56 columns for Contacts. The Universal Importer uses the following fields:

Salesforce Field	Valiyou Field	Imported	Notes
`Salutation`	`salutation`	✅ Yes	Name prefix (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.)
`FirstName`	`name` (combined)	✅ Yes	Combined with LastName
`LastName`	`name` (combined)	✅ Yes	Combined with FirstName
`Email`	`email`	✅ Yes	Required - Contact email
`Phone`	`phone`	✅ Yes	Office/home phone
`MobilePhone`	`phone`	✅ Yes	Prioritized over Phone field
`Title`	`position`	✅ Yes	Job title/position
`Department`	`department`	✅ Yes	Department name
`AccountId`	`sponsor_id`	✅ Yes	Auto-linked to sponsor by Salesforce Account ID
`Id`	`external_reference_id`	✅ Yes	Salesforce Contact ID (for sync)
`SystemModstamp`	`last_synced_at`	✅ Yes	Last modified timestamp

Phone Number PriorityIf both Phone and MobilePhone are present, MobilePhone is prioritized and imported to the phone field (mobile is more common in 2025!).

Primary Contact DetectionThe importer automatically marks the first contact for each sponsor as the primary contact. You can change this later by editing contacts in the Sponsors page.

Not Imported (Salesforce Internal Fields):

IsDeleted, MasterRecordId - Salesforce system IDs
ReportsToId - Manager relationships
AssistantName, AssistantPhone - Assistant details
HomePhone, OtherPhone, Fax - Additional phone numbers (use MobilePhone/Phone instead)
LeadSource, Birthdate - Lead tracking
Description - Contact description (use sponsor notes instead)
OwnerId, CreatedDate, CreatedById, LastModifiedDate, LastModifiedById - Salesforce audit fields
LastActivityDate, LastCURequestDate, LastCUUpdateDate - Activity tracking
HasOptedOutOfEmail, HasOptedOutOfFax, DoNotCall - Communication preferences
EmailBouncedReason, EmailBouncedDate - Email validation
Jigsaw, JigsawContactId - Data enrichment
IndividualId, Pronouns, GenderIdentity, ContactSource - Extended profile
OtherStreet, OtherCity, OtherState, OtherPostalCode, OtherCountry - Other address
OtherStateCode, OtherCountryCode, OtherLatitude, OtherLongitude, OtherGeocodeAccuracy - Address metadata
MailingStreet, MailingCity, MailingState, MailingPostalCode, MailingCountry - Mailing address (personal, not imported)
MailingStateCode, MailingCountryCode, MailingLatitude, MailingLongitude, MailingGeocodeAccuracy - Mailing metadata

Example: Salesforce CSV Structure

Account.csv (Sponsors):

"Id","Name","Website","Phone","Industry","Type","AnnualRevenue","NumberOfEmployees","AccountNumber","BillingStreet","BillingCity","BillingState","BillingStateCode","BillingPostalCode","BillingCountry","SystemModstamp"
"001xx000003DH0Q","Acme Corporation","https://acme.com","+1-415-555-0100","Technology","Customer","5000000","250","ACC-001","123 Market Street","San Francisco","California","CA","94105","United States","2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"
"001xx000003DH0R","TechCorp","https://techcorp.com","+1-408-555-0200","Software","Prospect","2500000","100","ACC-002","456 Tech Drive","San Jose","California","CA","95110","United States","2025-01-14T15:45:00Z"

Contact.csv (Contacts):

"Id","Salutation","FirstName","LastName","Email","Phone","MobilePhone","Title","Department","AccountId","SystemModstamp"
"003xx000001R0Z1","Mr.","John","Doe","john@acme.com","+1-415-555-0101","+1-415-555-9999","CEO","Executive","001xx000003DH0Q","2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"
"003xx000001R0Z2","Ms.","Jane","Smith","jane@techcorp.com","+1-408-555-0201","+1-408-555-8888","CTO","Engineering","001xx000003DH0R","2025-01-14T15:45:00Z"

The AccountId column in the Contact CSV (e.g., 001xx000003DH0Q) matches the Id column in the Account CSV for automatic sponsor linking. The importer resolves these Salesforce IDs internally.

Other CRM Systems

HubSpot

HubSpot uses similar field names with slight variations:

HubSpot Field	Valiyou Field	Imported
`Company name`	`name`	✅ Yes
`Company domain name`	`website`	✅ Yes
`Industry`	`industry`	✅ Yes
`Annual Revenue`	`sponsorship_value`	✅ Yes
`Description`	`notes`	✅ Yes

Pipedrive

Pipedrive exports with these field names:

Pipedrive Field	Valiyou Field	Imported
`Organization name`	`name`	✅ Yes
`Website`	`website`	✅ Yes
`Industry`	`industry`	✅ Yes
`Value`	`sponsorship_value`	✅ Yes
`Notes`	`notes`	✅ Yes

Microsoft Dynamics

Dynamics uses these field names:

Dynamics Field	Valiyou Field	Imported
`Account Name`	`name`	✅ Yes
`Website URL`	`website`	✅ Yes
`Industry`	`industry`	✅ Yes
`Annual Revenue`	`sponsorship_value`	✅ Yes
`Description`	`notes`	✅ Yes

Validation & Error Handling

Required Fields

Sponsors:

✅ Name - Sponsor name is required

Contacts:

✅ Name - Contact name (FirstName + LastName) is required
✅ Email - Contact email is required

Duplicate Detection

The importer automatically detects duplicates:

Sponsors - Duplicate sponsor names (case-insensitive) are skipped
Contacts - Duplicate email addresses are skipped

Skipped vs Error

Skipped - Record already exists (duplicate), intentionally not imported
Error - Record failed validation (missing required fields, invalid format, etc.)

Common Import Errors

Error Message	Cause	Solution
”Sponsor name is required”	Missing `Name` column or empty values	Ensure all sponsors have a name
”Contact email is required”	Missing `Email` column or empty values	Ensure all contacts have an email
”Duplicate sponsor name”	Sponsor with same name already exists	Update existing sponsor or use different name
”Invalid email format”	Email format is incorrect	Fix email addresses in CSV
”Cannot link contact to sponsor”	AccountId/Account Name doesn’t match any sponsor	Ensure account names match exactly

Best Practices

1. Clean Your Data First

Before importing, review your CSV files:

✅ Remove test/dummy data
✅ Fix invalid email addresses
✅ Ensure sponsor names are unique
✅ Check that account names match between files

2. Import Sponsors First

When importing both sponsors and contacts:

Import sponsors CSV first
Wait for completion
Then import contacts CSV

This ensures contacts can be properly linked to sponsors.

3. Review Field Mappings

Always review the auto-mapped fields before importing:

🟢 High confidence mappings are usually correct
🟡 Medium confidence mappings should be verified
🔴 Low confidence mappings must be manually confirmed

4. Start Small

For large imports:

Test with a small CSV file (5-10 records) first
Verify results look correct
Then import the full dataset

5. Backup Your Data

Before large imports, export your existing sponsors/contacts as a backup:

Navigate to Sponsorships → Sponsors
Click Export to download current data
Keep the backup until you verify the import succeeded

Troubleshooting

”No matches found for CSV columns”

Cause: The CSV column names don’t match any known CRM system patterns. Solution:

Select “Other” or “Excel/Manual CSV” as source system
Manually map each CSV column to the correct Valiyou field
Use the dropdown to select the appropriate source column

”Contacts not linked to sponsors”

Cause: The account name in the Contact CSV doesn’t exactly match the sponsor name. Solution:

Ensure account names match exactly (case-sensitive)
Check for extra spaces or special characters
Import sponsors first, then contacts

”Import failed with validation errors”

Cause: CSV data doesn’t meet validation requirements. Solution:

Review the error details in the import results
Fix the issues in your CSV file
Re-import the corrected file

FAQ

Can I import sponsors and contacts at the same time?

Yes! The importer supports multi-file upload. Upload both the sponsors CSV and contacts CSV in Step 2, and the importer will:

Import all sponsors first
Automatically link contacts to sponsors by matching account names
Import all contacts with proper relationships

What happens to duplicate sponsors/contacts?

Duplicates are automatically detected and skipped (not imported). The importer checks:

Sponsors: Name (case-insensitive)
Contacts: Email address

You’ll see the skipped count in the import results.

Can I update existing sponsors/contacts via import?

Currently, the importer only creates new records. It does not update existing records. Duplicates are skipped.To update existing records, edit them manually in the Sponsors page.

Which CRM systems are supported?

The importer auto-detects and maps fields for:

Salesforce
HubSpot
Pipedrive
Microsoft Dynamics
Zoho CRM

You can also import from Excel or any custom CSV file by selecting “Excel/Manual CSV” and mapping fields manually.

How do I export data from Salesforce?

Navigate to Reports in Salesforce
Create or open a report for Accounts (sponsors) or Contacts
Click Export → Export Details Only
Choose Comma Delimited (.csv) format
Download and upload to Valiyou

What if my CSV has different column names?

Select “Other” or “Excel/Manual CSV” as the source system, and you can manually map your CSV columns to Valiyou fields using the dropdowns in Step 3.

Can I import logos with sponsors?

Not yet. Logo import is planned for a future update. Currently, you need to upload sponsor logos manually after importing by editing each sponsor.

What's the maximum file size for CSV import?

The importer supports CSV files up to 10 MB and 10,000 rows per file. For larger imports, split your CSV into multiple smaller files.

Sponsors Management - Learn how to manage sponsors after importing
Packages - Create sponsorship packages using imported sponsors
Proposals - Send proposals to imported sponsors
Plugins - Overview of all Valiyou plugins

Getting Started

Valuations

Sponsorships

Platform

Authentication

Trust & Security

Resources

Accessing the Importer

Supported Source Systems