How to Import Donations via PayPal

• Someone with access to the PayPal account needs to log into the PayPal web site
• Click on Reports
• 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.