How do I send in bulk via CSV upload?

  • Updated

Here's a guide on how to send via CSV through Sendoso. Attached at the bottom of this article are CSV templates with the preferred formatting. Using these templates may help to avoid any errors you may encounter.

Uploading a CSV for a Bulk Send

Overview: Whether you're sending a physical gift or an eGift, you can use the CSV upload function to send multiple sends at once. Here's an overview of the process, with the details below:

  1. Select your Send on the Send page
  2. Select Multiple Emails (eGifts) or To a Group of People (inventory or direct gift)
  3. Fill out Address Confirmation settings (inventory or direct gifts)
  4. Either upload your CSV or use the template provided
  5. Map the relevant fields
  6. Check for errors
  7. Build a message
  8. Preview Send
  9. Send!

Process Details

1. Find the send on the Send page

2. Click on the "To a Group of People” option when asked how you’d like to send your gift.

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3. For physical sends, select whether or not you’d like to have your recipient confirm their address or provide their address, as well as how long to wait for their response and what to do in the event that a recipient does not respond. Read more about Address Confirmation here.

For eGift sends, move to the next step.

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4. Optional: Download the CSV template to see the preferred formatting. The templates are also attached to this article.

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5. Map the relevant fields using the drop-down menu that appears after uploading the CSV that contains your recipients’ information. 

Important note for syncing to Salesforce: You will either need to map the recipient's Email Address or Salesforce Contact/Lead ID in order for Sendoso to push the activity over to the correct records in Salesforce.

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Note: Large files may experience longer loading times. However, you'll have the option to be notified via email once the file is processed.

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Once the file is processed, you can go back into the Send page to complete the remaining steps. 

 

6. On the overview page, we will let you know if any of the recipients in your CSV are invalid and what needs to be provided in order to make them valid. If left unaddressed, invalid recipients will not be sent a gift.

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7. Next, you'll build your message using the available dynamic fields that were included in your CSV upload.

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8. Lastly, you'll need to click “Preview Message” on the upper right-hand corner of the message text box to review the messages you plan to include before we execute your send.

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Once you click Send, you’ll receive a summary of your successful sends in Sendoso and via email. If there were any invalid recipients, the list will be attached to the email notification so you can update the CSV and re-upload the file.

Troubleshooting

1. Special Characters within the CSV file name

This will cause the CSV not to upload successfully. Please rename the file to not include any special characters (%, &, $, commas, etc.)

2. Missing the leading 0 in your zipcodes

You may have some addresses with a zip code that starts with a 0, due to the nature of excel and csvs, the 0 could be lost when uploading the file. Here are some common ways to check and correct your file.

Example of how it is usually input and how to correct it:

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You can always view the length of zip code with "=LEN("

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3. Missing Headers or Columns must contain a name

You may run into an error where the CSV list is missing a header name, in this case, you need to check for any columns that may be missing a header name or delete any excess columns that don't have relevant information.

 4. "Your CSV Headers Are Not Supported" OR “Your CSV File Format Is Not Supported”

This error will pop up if you have not saved the file in the correct format, or if there are special characters that are not allowed in the file. You may run into other formatting issues but to see the exact error you can visit csvlint.io to troubleshoot.

 Tip: If you copy the data from your excel file and re-upload it on to Google Sheets, then download the CSV, this will solve 90% of all issues UTF-8 issues. You can visit sheet.new to easily open up a new google sheet.

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5. Merge Variable Error Checker

If a mail merge variable is left empty and <<>>, <>, or [] are left present when sending, our system alerts that this is occurring and generates an error prior to sending.

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As you can see in the screenshot:

  • The blue arrow points to the row number, which identifies where the issue is occurring.
  • The yellow arrow points to where you can confirm whether or not this is correct.
  • The pink arrow points to the text box and where you can identify where the error is occurring and edit if necessary.  

In order to continue, you must either confirm this is correct or make an edit to this.  You will then be asked to confirm the number of recipients, and successfully send.

Additional Resources

Want more training on CSV uploads? Check out these Sendoso University courses:

Create Personalized Sends in Bulk

CSV Bulk Uploads: Get to Know

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