How to Export Relationships

Board meeting next week? Year-end appeal letters going out? Sooner or later, you'll want all of your supporters in a spreadsheet. Your MonkeyPod can export every relationship at once, or just the group you need, as a CSV file you can open in Excel, Google Sheets or a mail merge.

This article covers:

  • What are my options for exporting relationships?
  • How do I export all of my relationships?
  • How do I export a specific group of relationships?
  • How do I add a column showing who's a monthly donor?
  • How do I prepare a list for printed letters or mailing labels?
  • Frequently Asked Questions

What are my options for exporting relationships?

There are two ways to export, and both send you a CSV file by email:

  • Export All Relationships: every active relationship in your MonkeyPod, from the Relationships page at the top. Best for a full backup or a big cleanup project.
  • Export Details: only the relationships in your search results, with the columns you choose. Best for mailing lists, call lists and anything with a specific audience.

How do I export all of my relationships?

  1. Choose Relationships from the main menu at the top.
  2. Select Export All Relationships on the far right
  3. A field picker will appear, just like the one that the Advanced Search uses. Here you can select what detail you would like exported with all of your relationships. They will appear as columns.
  4. Check your email. MonkeyPod sends the CSV file to the email address on your MonkeyPod login.

How do I export a specific group of relationships?

Use Relationship Search to find the group first, then export it.

  1. Choose Relationships from the main menu, then select New Search.
  2. Add the criteria that describe your group, then select View Matching Relationships.
  3. Select Export Details above the results.
  4. Choose the fields you want in the file, whether standard relationship data or custom attributes
  5. Select Export in the bottom right. MonkeyPod emails you the CSV file.

For example, if your food pantry is planning a volunteer appreciation night, you could search for relationships with the Volunteer role who logged hours this year, then export just names, emails and phone numbers for your call list.

New to searching? Check out How to Search Your Relationships for building searches with AND/OR criteria.

How do I add a column showing who's a monthly donor?

Recurring giving is something you search by in your MonkeyPod (Finance > Recurring Transactions in the bottom right), not a column you can add to an export. The good news: a custom attribute fills the gap, and you only set it up once.

  1. Create the custom attribute. Add a custom attribute called Monthly Donor, using a Text (Multiple) type. See How to Use Custom Attributes for Relationship Data if you haven't made one before.
  2. Find your monthly donors. Start a new search and choose the monthly giving criterion under Giving. Select View Matching Relationships.
  3. Mark them all at once. Use the bulk action to set a custom attribute, choose Monthly Donor, set it to Yes, and confirm.
  4. Export as usual. Run the search for your mailing list, select Export Details, and include Monthly Donor from the Custom Attributes fields.

Now every row in your file shows whether that person gives monthly, and you can sort or filter by it in your spreadsheet.

One thing to know: the custom attribute doesn't update itself. Before your next export, rerun steps 2 and 3 to mark new monthly donors, and set Monthly Donor back to No for anyone who has stopped.

Tip! Save your monthly donor search so it's one click to rerun. Every bulk action also shows up in Bulk Action History, where you can undo it if you marked the wrong group.

How do I prepare a list for printed letters or mailing labels?

Your MonkeyPod gets the list ready. The printing (and the stamps) happen in Word or your label program.

Let's say Riverside Arts Center wants to mail invitations to its spring gala to everyone who gave last year:

  1. Start a new search. Under Giving, find relationships who gave last year.
  2. Add the Street address on file criterion under Location with AND, so you skip anyone without a mailing address.
  3. Under Special Settings, leave Exclude archived selected so you don't mail anyone who has passed away or moved on.
  4. Select View Matching Relationships, then Export Details.
  5. Choose the address fields, and pick the household name option so each family gets one invitation instead of two.
  6. Open the emailed CSV file in your email inbox that you use to sign in to MonkeyPod.

Sending year-end giving letters? How to Generate Printed Letters (Like a Year-End Giving Summary) walks through the Year-End Giving Summary export, which adds each donor's total for the year.

Frequently Asked Questions

I exported my relationships. Where's the file?

MonkeyPod emails it to you, usually within a few minutes. If it hasn't arrived, check your spam or promotions folder.

Does exporting change anything in my MonkeyPod?

No. An export is a copy of your data. Nothing in your MonkeyPod changes.

Can I export from a saved search?

Yes! Load the saved search with Load Saved Search, then select Export Details. Your saved column choices come along with the search.

Can I include each relationship's roles in the export?

Yes, choose Roles from the export details field list.

Can MonkeyPod print or mail my letters for me?

Not currently. MonkeyPod exports your list for a mail merge, and the printing and mailing happen outside your MonkeyPod.