The most ideal (and best performing) fundraisers choose to bulk upload their participant name, parent email, parent email 2(optional) and group(optional). If you find that your organization cannot obtain a spreadsheet of participant info -no worries! We have other options available: Do we need parent emails?
Please note- At any time, you are always welcome to reach out to our Customer Success Team for assistance! We are happy to format and upload your spreadsheet or assist with setting up your fundraiser without an upload. Please email us at support@99pledges.com - Can You Add My Participants For Me?
Steps for Uploading Participants
Sign in to your Admin Dashboard: www.99pledges.com/users/sign_in
Navigate to the Groups & Participants Tab
Download the .CSV Template (can also be found via "Download CSV Template"
-or- you may download here: csv template.csv
Compile your participant data (you can likely export or download from your management system via .CSV or Excel Spreadsheet).
Format your participant data - Please see Tips Below⬇️
Copy your properly formatted participant data and Paste Special Values to the .CSV Template
Save your spreadsheet as a .csv file. The .csv file type is required for upload to the platform.
Navigate to Groups & Participants Tab in the Admin Dashboard.
Click the red "Reset All" button, prior to importing your participant spreadsheet, if example names and/or groups are present.
Click "Import CSV File" > Select your saved .csv file > click "open" (or double click the file name) and your upload will begin.
Please Note- Do not refresh your screen. If your progress stops at 40%, there is likely a formatting issue. Please reach out to our Customer Success team at support@99pledges.com.
Verify that the number of participants uploaded matches the number of rows of participants in your csv file. Also, it is a good practice to double-check at least 5 participants that you are familiar with against your original data for proper Participant Name, Parent Email 1, Parent Email 2, and Group.
Tips For Formatting Participant Spreadsheet
Only 4 columns are needed and allowed for uploading (Name, Email1, Email2, Group). The column header of the 4 columns must match the template exactly (no extra spaces or words). We recommend copying your info and "paste special values" into the .csv template file.
Delete any unnecessary columns of information (such as telephone number, guardian name, etc).
Format your participant name:
However your participant name is uploaded is how it will appear on their fundraiser page.
The suggested format is First Name displaying first since that is what will be displayed on the donation button and that is how most donors will search for a participant if they utilize the search box. The most common display is First Name with Last Initial. For example: Sarah H.
Avoid accented characters (umlauts) such as à, è, ñ, õ. This will cause the uploader to give an error message- please replace those characters or reach out to support@99pledges.com.
If you would like assistance with truncating the participant last name (last initial instead of full name) - please reach out to our Customer Success Team. We have fast and easy formulas for that!
Check for duplicate participant names. We have found that some data management systems export the participant multiple times (once for each guardian email address).
Example of problematic spreadsheet- participants are duplicated:
Please Note- Do not hesitate to reach out to our Customer Success team when you encounter this type of duplicate participant issue. We have formulas to easily combine the participants for you. You are welcome to email your file to: support@99pledges.com for assistance!
Check for proper email addresses. The only allowed entries in the Email1 and Email2 columns include properly formatted email addresses or a blank cell. If the cell contains unallowed characters (such as "N/A" or "-") in place of an email address or empty cell...it will reject that participant for upload.
Format your group name:
Groups are optional, but most fundraiser admins choose to add groups to encourage some fun, healthy competition.
The most common formatting for a school is "Grade - Teacher Name" .
For example "K - Smith" for 2nd Grade, Mrs. Smith's Class.
The most common formatting for youth sports groups is by Team Name. Some larger organizations opt for "Division - Team Name".
For example: "AA - Orioles".