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Donor Levels Import (LGL)

Required Role

Administrator or Box Office can run donor level imports.

Navigation: Options > Imports > Donor Levels Import

Purpose

This import updates existing customer records with donor tier information from Little Green Light (LGL) or other donor management systems. It sets current and previous fiscal year donation levels, which are then used in house management reports and donor recognition.

Use this import to synchronize donor status from your fundraising platform into Stagemgr, so that box office and house management staff can see patron giving levels alongside ticketing data.

User Options

Option Required Description
File Upload Yes CSV file containing donor tier data from an LGL export

No Theater or Production Selection

Unlike other imports, the donor levels import does not require a theater or production selection. It operates solely on customer record matching.

Required CSV Headers

Header Description
External constituent ID Stagemgr customer ID for direct matching (optional)
Pref. Email Customer's preferred email address for matching (optional)
First Name Customer's first name for record matching
Last Name Customer's last name for record matching
TG Tier Last Fiscal Donor tier level from previous fiscal year
TG Tier This Fiscal Donor tier level for current fiscal year

Headers Include Spaces and Periods

Note that these header names contain spaces and periods (e.g., Pref. Email, First Name). They must match exactly as shown above. This format corresponds to the standard LGL export.

How It Works

Three-Tier Customer Matching

The import uses a cascading approach to find the correct customer record:

Priority Method Description
1st Direct ID match Uses External constituent ID as a Stagemgr address ID for exact lookup
2nd Email match Searches for a customer with a matching Pref. Email address
3rd Name + email match Uses first name, last name, and email together for duplicate detection

If none of these methods finds a match, a new customer record is created from the available data.

What Gets Updated

For each matched or created customer record, the import sets:

Field Source Column Purpose
Previous fiscal year donor tier TG Tier Last Fiscal Historical donor recognition
Current fiscal year donor tier TG Tier This Fiscal Active donor recognition
Donor tier updated timestamp (automatic) Tracks when donor info was last refreshed

Processing Rules

  • Only records that have donor tier information in at least one fiscal year are processed. Rows where both tier fields are empty are skipped.
  • Duplicate customer records found during processing are automatically merged.
  • The donor_tier_updated_on timestamp is set automatically, allowing you to determine when donor information was last refreshed.

Where Donor Tiers Appear

Once imported, donor tier information is used throughout Stagemgr:

Feature Usage
House Management Reports Donor level appears alongside patron name in seating charts and check-in lists
Customer Record Donor tier is visible on the customer detail page
Reports Donor tiers can be included in attendee and customer exports
Marketing Donor status can inform targeted communications and special offers

Expected Outcome

  • Customer records are updated with current donor tier information
  • The donor_tier_updated_on timestamp records when the update occurred
  • Duplicate customer records are consolidated during processing
  • A result file (donor_import_results_<your-file-name>.csv) listing every row, with an Error column populated for any that failed, is emailed to you when one or more rows could not be processed. See Result File for the full naming rules and retry workflow.

Example CSV

External constituent ID,Pref. Email,First Name,Last Name,TG Tier Last Fiscal,TG Tier This Fiscal
4523,jane@example.com,Jane,Smith,Gold,Platinum
,mchen@example.com,Michael,Chen,,Silver
,,Sarah,Johnson,Bronze,Bronze

In this example:

  • Jane Smith is matched by her Stagemgr ID (4523), then her tier is updated from Gold to Platinum
  • Michael Chen is matched by email, with no previous tier and a new Silver tier
  • Sarah Johnson is matched by name, with Bronze tier in both years

Best Practices

  1. Run periodically. Import donor levels at the start of each fiscal year and after major fundraising campaigns to keep Stagemgr in sync with LGL.

  2. Include the Stagemgr ID when possible. The External constituent ID provides the most reliable match. If your LGL export includes the Stagemgr customer ID, always populate this field.

  3. Verify after import. Spot-check a few patron records in Stagemgr to confirm their donor tiers updated correctly, especially for patrons matched by name rather than ID.

  4. Check the timestamp. The donor_tier_updated_on field on customer records lets you quickly see whether a patron's donor data is current or stale.