Getting Started

Insert People

TouchPoint can import your data for a fee of $250 per spreadsheet, if you fill out our spreadsheet as follows:

Notice that there are 3 tabs:

  1. The People tab is where you will enter your data.

  2. The Notes tab has explanations for some of the columns.

  3. The SampleData tab has some sample data included as a reference.
    See the Sample Data explanations below.

TouchPoint reads only the People tab, so keep that tab name as it is.

Follow these steps:

Step 1

Fill out the spreadsheet with your data. (See important message below before starting this step.)

Step 2

Review your data. (This is a very important step.)

Step 3

Save the spreadsheet using the name of your church in the document name.

Step 4

Email the spreadsheet as an attachment to support@TouchPointSoftware.com.

Important

Please read and note the following information before beginning to complete the spreadsheet.

Also, for married couples, the Position for both husband and wife is Primary.

Column Headings

Use the same column headings, spelled the same way as on our spreadsheet; otherwise, the import will not work. Each heading may be used only once. The FamilyId heading is case sensitive and must be typed exactly as FamilyId.

Family ID

Give each member of a family the same FamilyId number. It does not matter what numbers you use. You can use 1 for the first family, 2 for the second, and so on. Everyone with the same FamilyId is placed in the same family, and everyone with an empty FamilyId is placed together in one family.

Titles

These are not necessary unless they are something like Dr. or Rev. When you print labels in TouchPoint and select Use Titles, TouchPoint will automatically select the appropriate Title, if none is entered, based on age, gender, and marital status. When you combine couples for the output, the default is Mr. and Mrs., but other titles, such as Dr. will be used if they are on the person’s record.

Gender

Use the words Male or Female, or M or F. Leave the field empty if gender is unknown.

Position

If the family has a husband and a wife, make the Position for both of them Primary. Anyone else in the family should have a Position of Child. If the Position is empty or not recognized, the person is added as a Primary Adult.

Exception

The only exception would be an adult family member for whom the family is the caregiver – such as an elderly, invalid parent. This person can be given the Position of Secondary, or he can be placed in his own family unit.

See also

Position in Family

Contact Information

Copy and paste the same Address, City, State, Zip and Home Phone on the records for everyone in the same family.

Goes By

This field is for nicknames such as Jim for James. If the person goes by the name you enter in the First name field, do not enter anything in the Goes By field.

AltName

Do not use the AltName field unless your congregation is non-English (Chinese, for example). This is where you can put the Chinese characters.

Extra Columns

If you have extra data you want us to capture, you can add extra columns for things such as LifeGroup, Committees, or Classifications. Include those as additional columns on the right, and put the name of the field in the heading with NoSpacesLikeThis (see the SampleData tab of the spreadsheet). These columns are stored as Extra Values on each person’s record.

Warning

If you do not have certain pieces of information about a person, leave the cell empty. Do not put a dash or NA in the cell.

If you are copying this data from an existing spreadsheet, just move the columns over individually, but obey all the rules above.

Sample Data Examples - Explanations

Open the InsertPeople spreadsheet and click the SampleData tab. Notice the following information about the data.

Family ID 1

Both the husband and the wife have the Position Primary Adult. Both the children have the Position Child. Everyone has the same family ID #, Address and Home Phone #.

Family ID 2

This is a family with only one person - a Primary Adult. He has a nickname in the GoesBy field. He has no Home Phone, so that field is left empty.

Family ID 3

Two Primary adults and one Secondary adult. The Secondary adult is an elderly parent for whom they are responsible and who lives in their household.

Family ID 4

There are no adults in this family (this is a scenario in which a child visits and the church does not have the parents in the database). The child should still have the Position Child, even though he is the only person in the family.

Existing Clients

You can add people to your database yourself using the same Insert People Spreadsheet on the Upload People page (/UploadPeople). This page requires the UploadPeople role, which only a user with the Developer role can assign, so TouchPoint support assigns it on request.

This process only adds new records; it does not update existing ones. If a row matches a person who is already in your database, TouchPoint still adds a new record and gives both the new and the existing record an Extra Value named FoundDup, so you can find and merge the duplicates. Every record added this way also receives an Extra Value named InsertPeopleAdded.

If you choose to use this free option for inserting people into your database from a spreadsheet, it is your responsibility to handle any duplicates that are created.

Warning

When using the Insert People process with an established database, it is extremely important that you give careful attention to the Family ID column. If you do not include data in this column, all of those records will be placed in the same new family.

To use this process yourself, submit a normal Support Request and ask for the UploadPeople role.



Latest Update

10/21/2026

Documented the UploadPeople role and Upload People page, how duplicates are flagged, how empty FamilyId and Position values are handled, and the case-sensitive FamilyId heading.