Exporting Data from the Program

There are several ways to export data from the program. You might wish to export the data in order to process it in some way in Excel or another spreadsheet program, or because you are switching to a different software program and you want to import the data that you currently have in DONATION into that other program. You may also want to export the data from reports, in order to format it differently or use it in some other way.

Ultimately the only way to export data is to be on a Report output window, and click the Save As button. For details, see Saving Reports to Files.

However, there are several ways to get to a Report output window. The most obvious is by running a report from the Reports menu. Please note, however, that certain complex reports do not export any data, or only export a portion of their data. Other reports actually export additional data that is not visible on the report!

The next way to generate a report is with the Reports à Custom Report menu option.

Finally, you can generate a report with the Database à SQL Select menu option. That allows you to export any data that you want to export, whether there is a report that includes it or not, but it does require some minor use of SQL, the internal language used with the database to retrieve data. Read the help page about that for more details.

For exporting to Excel, you will want to select one of the Excel options that are on the Save as Type drop-down in the dialog that comes up when you click Save As. For importing into other programs, often the correct Save as Type will be either CSV (comma-separated value) or Text, which generates tab-separated text files.

See also: Saving Reports, Receipts and Letters as PDF Files