Skip to main content

How to Import Donations via PayPal

  • Someone with access to the PayPal account needs to log into the PayPal web site
  • Click in Activity/All Reports
  • Click on Activites
  • Click on Activity Report
  • Click on Activity download
  • Select "Balance affecting"
  • Select a date range for the data. 
    • I would suggest doing this on a monthly basis and import the prior 2 months.  The range doesn't matter as the system keeps track of the last transaction that it downloaded and will only import data after that date. 
  • Select CSV format
  • Click on Create Report
  • Under Activity reports you'll see see your requested report showing a status of something like "Requested".  It will change to "Download" when it completes.
  • Click on the Download button once it has completed. 
  • You should find a file named Download.CSV in your Downloads folder.
  • Double-click on the Download.CSV file
    • This will cause it to open in Excel
  • In Excel:
    • Change the name of the sheet to "Download" if necessary.
    • File/Save As
      • Change the name to "PayPal"
      • Change the "Save as type" to "XLXS"
      • Click on Save

  • Start the Access database
  • Go into the Administrative Tasks tab
  • If you want to change the thank-you letter which will be e-mailed, click on the "Edit External Messages" button.
    • The interface to this is pretty clunky. 
    • Use the Record buttons at the bottom of the screen to advance through the various messages. 
    • The message that you want has a "messageType" of "DTY19"
    • Edit the text & when you're happy with it, press the "<" or ">" Record buttons to move to another record.
  • Press the "Import PayPal" button
    • You'll see a pop-up message stating how many records it imported
    • It will ask if you want to delete the PayPal.XLS and PayPal.CSV file.  Answer yes if everything worked as expected.
  • The donation reports and thank-you letters will be e-mailed
  • In Word:
    • Run the mail merge and print any hardcopy thank-you letters.