Build Your Report: The Data Construction Set (Import Guide)

Learn how to bulk import volunteers and historical hours into POINT. Download our official CSV template and follow the formatting guide for a seamless upload

Download Template here
View Google Sheets: POINT_Contacts_and_Hours_Template.csv

Use this guide to format your spreadsheet (CSV or Excel) correctly before uploading.

1. Contact Personal Information

Header	Format / Instructions
firstName	Text.
lastName	Text.
email	Critical Field. This is the unique identifier for the volunteer. • Must be a valid email format. • Important: Ensure there are no spaces (leading or trailing) or invisible characters.
birthdate	Date format (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD).
gender	Recommended values: `Male`, `Female`, `Non-Binary`.
bio	Text (Short biography).
tShirtSize	Text (e.g., S, M, L, XL).
dietaryRestrictionsAllergies	Text.
languageSkills	Format: Use standard 2-letter international codes (ISO 639-1). If a volunteer speaks multiple languages, separate them with a comma (e.g., en, es, fr, uk).
notes	Any additional information can be placed here. You can add several notes.
phone	Any valid phone number format.

2. Address Details

We highly recommend separating address elements into their own columns for 100% accuracy.

Column Header	Format / Instructions	Good Examples
addressLine1	Text. Street number and name	`2935 E Main St`
addressLine2	Text. Apartment, Suite, Floor (Optional).	`Apt 4B Floor 3`
city	City name.	`Columbus`
state	State code. Use a 2-letter code (ISO).	`OH, NY`
zipCode	Postal code.	`43209`

Can't separate the address? You can paste the full address into one column (e.g., "2935 E Main St, Columbus, OH 43209"). The system will attempt to sort the data automatically, but we cannot guarantee accuracy if elements are missing or formatted continuously.

3. Emergency Contact Info

Optional, but recommended for safety.

Column Header	Format / Instructions
emergencyContactFirstName	Text.
emergencyContacLastName	Text.
emergencyContacEmail	Valid email format.
emergencyContacPhone	Valid phone format.

4. Groups (Segmentation)

How to assign volunteers to specific Groups during import.

Column Name: groups
Exact Match: Group names must match the names in your POINT dashboard exactly.
New Groups: If you type a group name that doesn't exist yet, the system will create a new group and add the volunteer to it.
Multiple Groups: To add a person to multiple groups, separate them with a semicolon (;) in the same cell.

Example: Group A; Group B; Group C

Note: Every import automatically adds volunteers to a system group called "Import".

Formatting: If your data has groups in separate columns (e.g., Column F, G, H), the POINT team will format this for you during the import process.

5. Historical Hours (Tracked Data)

You can import a volunteer's total historical hours or specific past records.

Column Header	Format / Instructions
hours	Required. The duration of the volunteering activity. • Format: Must be a decimal number. • Correct: `2.75` (represents 2 hours 45 minutes). • Incorrect: `2h 45m` or `2:45`.
timeZone	If left blank, this defaults to your Organization's timezone setting in POINT.
hourStartDateTime	ISO 8601 Format Required: `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ` (Example: 2023-10-25T14:30:00Z)
hoursComment	Optional description of the historical work.

Note: If the Start Date and Start Time formats are recorded in different columns, this is acceptable. In this case, use the following example.
However, we recommend ISO 8601 Format Required: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ

startDate	`YYYY-MM-DDT`(Example: 2023-10-25)
startTime	`HH:mm:ssZ` (Example: 14:30:00Z)

6.How to Record Multiple Hour Entries for One Person

If you need to import multiple distinct hour records for a single volunteer (rather than just one lump sumo or duration):

Create a new row for each hour entry.
Duplicate the email address in every row. The email acts as the link to the volunteer profile.
Fill in the specific hours, startDate, and comment for that row.

Example:

email	hours	hourStartDateTime	comment
jane@example.com	5.0	2023-01-10	Event Setup
jane@example.com	2.5	2023-02-15	Cleanup Crew