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Most congregations arrive with a yahrzeit list already: a spreadsheet, a card index someone typed up, an export from an older system. You can bring it across in one pass. Go to Yahrzeits and choose Import.

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Do your members first

Import your members and households before your yahrzeits. Yahrzeit records link to the member who is being reminded, and that link can only be made if the member already exists. If you import yahrzeits first, you end up doing the linking by hand afterwards, one record at a time. See Importing members and households.

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What your file should contain

The import reads your spreadsheet as it is and works out what the columns mean. Useful columns to have:
  • Name of the person who died, and their Hebrew name if you have it
  • Date of death, either secular or Hebrew
  • Relationship, such as Mother or Father
  • Who is remembering them, ideally with an email address
  • Notes
CSV and Excel files both work.

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Hebrew dates in a spreadsheet

Hebrew dates come in many written forms, and the import handles the common ones. A column reading “12 Cheshvan” or “Cheshvan 12” is understood.
Check the Adar records specifically. If your source data says only “Adar”, you will want to decide whether those should be Adar I or Adar II in leap years before or shortly after importing. See Leap years and Adar.

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The steps

1

Upload

The file is read and analysed. Nothing is saved yet.
2

Confirm the column mapping

Check what each column has been matched to and correct anything wrong. This is where import quality is decided, so do not rush it.
3

Review

See how records will be created, including which member each one has been matched to.
4

Commit

Records are created, and you get a report of what actually happened, including anything that did not import.

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Matching to members

The import tries to connect each yahrzeit to the right member. Check these in the review step, especially where a congregation has several families sharing a surname. Where no match is found, the record can still be created with a remembrance contact entered directly, as long as you have a name and email in your file.

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After importing

Before you turn reminders on, do these three checks:
1

Filter by No email

These records cannot send. Chase the addresses, or accept that those families will be contacted another way.
2

Check the calendar choice

Confirm records meant to follow the Hebrew calendar are set to Hebrew. Getting this wrong means dates that drift further off every year.
3

Spot-check the linked recipients

Open a handful and confirm the reminder is going to the person who should receive it.
Then switch reminders on. See Reminder emails.
Importing does not send anything. Reminders only start once you turn them on in Settings, so you can import, review, and correct at your own pace.