Before you start
Zoho One is a family of separate apps, and each one exports its own files. This guide covers the four nonprofits use most: Zoho CRM for people and gifts, Zoho Books for the money, Zoho Campaigns for the email list and Zoho People for staff. Move them one at a time, in that order.
Everything below uses plain CSV exports you already have the right to run. Nothing needs an API key, a connection, or help from Zoho.
Step 1. Zoho CRM: people, organizations and gifts
Run the exports
- In Zoho CRM, go to Setup, then Data Administration, then Export, and click Start an Export.
- Choose the module, pick CSV as the format, and click Export.
- When the status shows Completed, hover over the entry and click Download. Zoho keeps the link for seven days.
You need the Export permission for each module. Run three exports:
- Contacts, your people. Keep Record Id, First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone and the mailing address.
- The module where you record gifts, often Deals or a custom module such as Donations. If you use Deals, add a criteria filter so only Closed Won deals are exported. Zoho lets one export include fields from lookup modules, so add the contact's Record Id from the Contacts lookup: that column is what links each gift to the right person.
- Accounts, if you keep organizations there: businesses, foundations, churches and partners.
Bring them in
- In Donor Management, open "Import from another CRM" and pick "Zoho CRM". Upload the Contacts export as the donor file and the gift export as the gift file, then check the mapping screen.
- In the Contact Manager, open "Import contacts (CSV)" and upload the Accounts export. Rename Zoho's "Account Name" column to Name first. The import recognizes headers such as Name, Organization or Company, Contact Person, Email, Phone, Type, Notes, Address, City, State, ZIP, Website and Tags, and matches rows to existing contacts by email.
Step 2. Zoho Books: your transactions
Run the exports
- Open a module where money moves, such as Expenses or Customer Payments.
- On its list page, click the More icon in the top right corner and choose Export.
- Set the date range, choose CSV, and click Export. Repeat for each module you want to bring.
Bring them in
In Financial Management, open Transactions and use the "Import from CSV" card, then click "Import transactions". Before you upload, rename the headers in a spreadsheet:
| Header | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Date | Required. The transaction date. |
| Amount | Required. The dollar amount. |
| Type | Write income or expense on every row. Without it, a positive amount counts as income and a negative one as expense, so an expense export with positive amounts would land as income. |
| Category | Your Zoho Books account name works here (a column named Account is read the same way). |
| Description | Optional. A memo or note. |
| Paid to | Optional, for expenses. A column named Vendor or Payee is read the same way, and it feeds the year-end Form 1099 report. |
| Fund | Optional. Restricted, Unrestricted, or the name of a fund. |
Zoho Books is full double-entry accounting. Financial Management keeps income and expenses by category and fund. Invoices, bills, journal entries and balance sheet accounts do not import, so run your year-end reports in Zoho Books for your accountant before you close it.
Step 3. Zoho Campaigns: your email list
Run the export
- Open the Contacts tab and go to All Contacts.
- Open the More menu and choose to export contacts.
- Pick the mailing list to export, choose the name and email fields, pick .csv, and export.
Bring it in
In Newsletters, open Members and use "Paste a list". Put the name and email side by side in a spreadsheet, copy the two columns, paste them in so each line reads "Name, email", and click "Add these members". Emails already on your list are skipped.
Step 4. Zoho People: your staff directory
Export your employee records from Zoho People as a CSV file. Zoho People only lets people with export permission do this, so ask your Zoho People administrator if you do not see the option.
In HR Management, open Employees and click "Import CSV". You map your columns to employee fields on the next step, and rows are matched to existing employees by email, so importing again updates people instead of duplicating them. "Download a sample CSV" on the same screen shows every column the import uses. HR Management is part of AIONP Complete.
What lands where
| Your Zoho export | Where it goes | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Zoho CRM, Contacts | Donor Management, "Import from another CRM", "Zoho CRM" | Your people as donor records, so giving history has somewhere to attach. |
| Zoho CRM, Deals or your gifts module | Donor Management, the same wizard | Giving history linked to each person by the contact's Record Id. |
| Zoho CRM, Accounts | Contact Manager, "Import contacts (CSV)" | Businesses, foundations, churches and partners as organization contacts. |
| Zoho Books, each module where money moves | Financial Management, Transactions, "Import from CSV" | Income and expenses by category, fund and payee, rolling up to your budget. |
| Zoho Campaigns, subscribed contacts | Newsletters, Members, "Paste a list" | The email list your newsletters go to. |
| Zoho People, employees | HR Management, Employees, "Import CSV" | Your staff directory. |
What stays behind
CSV exports carry rows and columns, not everything around them. Keep your Zoho backups for these:
- Attachments and files on CRM records, Books transactions and People profiles.
- Email history logged in Zoho CRM, and campaign history and reports in Zoho Campaigns.
- Notes. Zoho CRM can export Notes as their own module. Keep that file for reference; it does not import.
- Invoices, bills and journal entries in Zoho Books.
- Leave, attendance and documents in Zoho People.
- Workflows, automations and custom functions. These are set up again here, and most of what they did for a nonprofit (thank-you letters, renewal reminders, follow-ups) is already built into the apps above.
Start with a small batch
In Donor Management, the Contact Manager and HR Management, records are matched by email address, so running an import again updates the people already there. Bring a small test batch first, check it, then bring the rest.
Cost
Zoho prices each app and each user separately. Ours is public on the pricing page, with two plans for the whole organization.
Try it with your own export first
Run the Zoho CRM Contacts export, upload it, and look at the mapping screen before you commit to anything.
See pricing Open the demo