You run an Altru report, it looks fine on screen, you export it to Excel, and the spreadsheet comes out full of merged cells, repeated page headers, blank spacer columns, and subtotals wedged between rows. Sorting breaks. A pivot table refuses to cooperate. The CSV version is cleaner but has odd column names you didn’t choose.
None of that means the export failed. It means the report was built to be read, not to be analyzed. The fix is usually to pick the right source for the job before you click export.
Two kinds of “export,” two different results
Altru gives you data out of the system in two broad ways, and they behave very differently.
Exporting a report
Altru’s standard reports render in a report viewer that typically offers several export formats, including Excel and CSV (along with options like PDF and Word). The export tries to reproduce the report’s printed layout. That’s why an Excel export looks like a page: titles, grouping bands, totals, and formatting all come along, often with merged cells to hold everything in place.
CSV export from the same viewer drops the visual formatting, but it flattens the report’s internal structure. Column headers may reflect how the report was designed rather than friendly labels, and reports with several sections can produce wide or repetitive rows. Whether a given report exports cleanly to CSV depends entirely on how that report was built, so test the specific one you need.
Exporting query results
A query returns one row per record with exactly the fields you selected. Exporting query results to CSV or Excel gives you a plain table: one header row, no merged cells, no subtotals. If what you want is a list to sort, filter, mail-merge, or load into another tool, this is almost always the better route.
When to use which
- Board packet, printed summary, or something to hand a director as-is: export the report to PDF, or to Excel if they want to scribble notes in it. Don’t expect to do math on it.
- Analysis, pivot tables, charts, or combining with other data: build a query with the same filters and export that.
- Uploading to another system (an email platform, a spreadsheet someone else maintains): query export to CSV, then check the columns match what the destination expects.
Rebuilding a report as a query takes some care. A report’s totals may come from logic you can’t see, such as how refunds, adjustments, or split payments are counted. Run both for the same date range and compare the grand totals before you trust the query version. If they don’t match, the difference is usually in revenue type, date field (transaction date versus posting date), or which statuses are included.
Cleaning up a report export you’re stuck with
Sometimes only the report has the number you need. A few things make the Excel version usable:
- Try CSV first. Even with awkward headers, it’s often easier to tidy than the Excel layout.
- Unmerge everything. Select all and unmerge cells, then delete empty spacer columns and repeated header rows.
- Remove subtotal rows before you sort or pivot, or they’ll be counted twice.
- Save the cleanup steps. If you do this every month, record the steps in a short note or an Excel macro so the next person gets the same result.
Excel quirks that bite on any export
These aren’t Altru problems, but they show up with Altru data constantly:
- Zip codes lose leading zeros when you double-click a CSV to open it. Import the file through Excel’s text/CSV import instead and set postal code columns to Text.
- Long ID numbers can turn into scientific notation. Same fix: import the column as Text.
- Accented names (José, Zoë) can turn into garbled characters if the file’s encoding isn’t recognized. Importing with UTF-8 selected usually fixes it.
- Dates may flip between month/day and day/month depending on your computer’s regional settings. Spot-check a date after the 12th of the month.
If you can’t change how a report exports
The export layout of a standard Altru report isn’t something an end user can redesign. Some organizations have custom reports built to export more cleanly; if that’s a path you’re considering, ask Blackbaud support what’s possible for your environment before committing time to it. For most teams, moving recurring data pulls to queries is faster and more dependable.
Skipping the export step altogether
A lot of exporting happens because someone needs the same list every week: new members for a welcome series, yesterday’s attendance for a dashboard, lapsed donors for a follow-up. If that’s your situation, Data Bridge syncs Altru query results to Google Sheets, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and other tools, so the list stays current without someone downloading and re-uploading a file each time.
Quick answers
Why does my Excel export have so many merged cells?
The report export preserves the printed layout. Use CSV, or rebuild the data as a query and export that for a clean table.
Why don’t my query totals match the report?
Usually a different date field, revenue type, or set of included statuses. Compare filters side by side and test on a short date range.
Can I change the default export format?
We aren’t aware of a user setting that changes how standard reports lay out their exports. If this matters to you, confirm with Blackbaud support for your version.
