Importing relationship data helps you move existing organisation and contact information into Tribe quickly and accurately. This process is useful when starting with Tribe or migrating data from another system. By preparing your import files correctly and following a clear structure, you reduce errors and save time. This guide explains how to set up, perform, and, if needed, reverse a relationship import so your data is ready to use.
Table Of Contents
Background Or Context
What Does This Feature Do?
Why Or When Should You Use It?
Step By Step Instructions
Tips Or Best Practices
Troubleshooting
Background Or Context
Tribe allows you to import different types of data, including organisations, contacts, activities, and products. A relationship import focuses on organisations and people and how they are linked. Preparing your data before importing helps ensure that information is placed in the correct fields and relationships are created accurately.
What Does This Feature Do?
The relationship import lets you add organisations and contacts to Tribe in bulk using an Excel or CSV file. During the import, you link columns from your file to fields in Tribe. Tribe also checks for duplicates and can update existing records instead of creating new ones. Read more about the duplicate check.
Why Or When Should You Use It?
Use this feature when setting up Tribe for the first time or when moving data from another system. It is also useful when you need to add a large number of organisations or contacts at once. Importing helps you start working in Tribe without manual data entry.
Step By Step Instructions
Prepare Your Import File
Open your data in Excel or CSV format.
Check that each type of data is in the correct column.
Download and use the Tribe sample files if you want columns to match Tribe fields automatically.
Import One Sheet With Organisations And Contacts
Navigate to Configuration.
Select Relationships > Person Types > Contacts.
Click Import and upload your file.
Review the three columns shown during import:
Left: records from your file.
Middle: contact fields.
Right: organisation fields.
Select the organisation type in the Type field or choose a default value.
Link each column to the correct field until all rows show a green tick.
Click Start Import.
Did you know?
You can link the same column to multiple fields, such as using one address column for both visiting and postal addresses.
Import Separate Sheets For Organisations And Contacts
Import organisations first via Configuration > Relationships > the relevant organisation type.
Add a unique ID during import using Advanced settings and enable Add An ID To The New Organisation For Use In Subsequent Imports.
Import contacts via Configuration > Relationships > Contacts.
In Advanced settings, link the contact to the organisation using the organisation ID from the previous import.
Complete field linking and click Start Import.
Perform And Reverse An Import
Monitor progress on the Import Dashboard.
Review created and updated records and any errors.
Click Reverse Import if you need to undo the entire import and correct your file.
Tips Or Best Practices
Use unique IDs from your previous system when available.
Check duplicate detection settings before starting the import.
Import organisations before contacts when using separate files.
Did you know?
You can enhance your import by using duplicate detection and automatic data splitting. These features help keep your data clean and correctly structured.
Troubleshooting
If records are missing or incorrect, reverse the import and review field linking. Check that IDs and organisation types are set correctly before importing again.
Quick Summary
You can import relationship data into Tribe using Excel or CSV files. The import process supports organisations and contacts, including duplicate detection and ID-based linking. By following the steps in this guide, you can add, review, and correct imported data with confidence.
Additional Resources
If you want guided steps on several of the processes mentioned in this article, check out the videos below:
Did you know?
You can use these sample files as a basis for your own import sheets. The documents contain all standard columns per section in the application. If you have created additional fields yourself, add them to the sheet.