We recommend that you start with a cohort of people you are interested in learning more about. An example question is something like: "Is the class of 2003 lapsed?" Create a csv file that has three columns: an ID from your system, then Date, then Amount. A little more about these data points:
Your ID
An alphanumeric, unique identifer of the person or organization. Typically this is the constituent or donor ID from your database. For example: 123 or 456 or 7890123. Please label the ID column "My ID" or something similar. Just naming it "ID" causes problems in Excel.
Date
The date of donation, in month/day/Year format. Year must be 4 digits. For example: 12/13/2016 or 12-13-2016.
Contribution Amount
The amount of a constituent's contribution. Any denomination, but no symbols. For example: 1234.12 or 1234. Include hard or soft credit - whatever your campaign or appeal is hoping to achieve (pledges, outright gifts, shared credit from spouses, etc.)