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How do I complete the custom fields bulk upload template?

This article shows group managers how to complete the bulk upload template when importing data to a group's custom fields.

Custom fields are available only to Be Collective Pro and Full Platform subscribers. See Be Collective's product plans & pricing.

Download the template

  1. Open your group management page

  2. Open Settings → Custom fields

  3. Click Download template (available only when custom fields are configured)

  4. Click Download template in the pop-up

The template includes First Name, Last Name, and Email columns — do not delete these. Columns from the fourth onwards represent your custom fields.

Leave a cell blank to skip importing data for that field. Blank cells do not remove existing data.

Accented characters in Excel

Mangled characters in name columns (e.g. P√°ramos instead of Páramos) are an Excel quirk and do not need changing — the import converts them back correctly.

Custom field types and acceptable formats

Short answer — any characters up to 128 characters.

Long answer — any characters up to 4096 characters.

Number — numerical characters and decimal points only. Up to seven digits on each side of the decimal point.

Date — DD/MM/YYYY only (e.g. 31/12/2001). Other formats are not accepted.

If Excel converts dates to short format (e.g. 31/12/01):

  1. Select the affected cell(s)

  2. Right-click → Format cells

  3. Select Custom from Category

  4. Enter dd/mm/yyyy under Type

  5. Click OK

Phone number — +XXXXXXXXXXX with no spaces (e.g. +61312345678).

If Excel removes the leading +:

  1. Select the affected cell(s)

  2. Right-click → Format cells

  3. Select Custom → enter +# under Type

  4. Click OK

Alternatively, if numbers lack the international code, use +xx# as the custom format (where xx is your country code), after removing leading zeros and spaces.

Question types (case-sensitive)

Entries must match answer options exactly (including case).

Yes/no questions — Yes or No only.

Single choice — text matching one answer option exactly.

Multiple choice — text matching one or more answer options. Separate multiple answers in one cell with \ (e.g. Car\Train\Bus). This allows / within an answer (e.g. They/them).

Dropdown — same as single or multiple choice depending on field configuration. For multi-select dropdowns, separate answers with \ as for multiple choice.