Whether you're importing constituent data into CollegeVine so your Agent can personalize communications, or exporting insights from your Agent to your CRM/SIS, you'll need to map your data properties. This mapping is critical — it ensures your Agent has the data it needs and that you're receiving the data you want in return.

This article walks you through how to map properties on both import and export, across automated integrations and manual imports/exports. It also includes details on available properties.

Automated integrations (SFTP/API)

Imports

⚠️ Before you map your fields: You must first create the properties you want to map to.

Once you have set up your SFTP/API integration, you will be prompted to map the properties you are importing.
Select the ⚙️ icon under import
[For SFTP] Select Refresh under Uploaded file, to ensure your most recent file is loaded
Adjust the the provenance and import schedule as needed
Map columns in your file to the available CollegeVine properties. If you do not see a property available that you require, you will need to create the property first.
Select Next when complete
Choose your unique identifier of choice. By default, CollegeVine uses Email. We recommend using a unique identifier that aligns with your system (CRM ID, SIS ID, etc.)
Select Next when complete

Exports

You can choose to export a specific segment of records, and any of the fields from CollegeVine that you previously imported, new properties that your Agent is writing to, or AI Engagement properties that are automatically populated. Here are the steps out:

Either continued from step #8 above, or select the ⚙️ icon under Export.
Adjust your export schedule as needed
Set your export Segment (the population your want to export from this integration). By default, CollegeVine selects All Constituents. You may choose to only export a specific subset of records.
Map columns from CollegeVine to generate a CSV output [for SFTP] or to write back to your Salesforce object data properties directly [for API].
The available CollegeVine Properties are those previously configured on the Constituents tab
The available Export Column properties are those previously imported to CollegeVine. NOTE: you can create a custom export property for new fields sourced from CollegeVine. Type in the property name you want, and select "+ Custom Column"
The available AI Fields (optional) are automatically mapped by default. If you do not want these properties, simply unmap them.
Select Save configuration when done.

Manual Imports/Exports

Imports

⚠️ Before you map your fields: You must first create the properties you want to map to.

Under constituents, select + New to import a new CSV
Adjust the the provenance as needed
Select Upload file
Select I confirm that all contacts in this import file are expecting to hear from my organization.
Map columns in your file to the available CollegeVine properties. If you do not see a property available that you require, you will need to create the property first.
Select Next when complete
Choose your unique identifier of choice. By default, CollegeVine uses Email. We recommend using a unique identifier that aligns with your system (CRM ID, SIS ID, etc.)
Optional: You can create a segment from the individual CSV upload
Select Next when complete
Note: You will need to map imports each time you manually load a new CSV

Exports

You do not need to map properties when manually exporting constituents. By default, all CollegeVine Properties and AI Fields will be included. You can adjust the segment if you only need a subset of constituents.

Under constituents, select Export
Update Segment as needed to refine which constituents you want to export
Default - CollegeVine exports all properties available

CollegeVine properties vs. custom properties

When mapping a field, you'll choose whether to map it to a CollegeVine property or a custom property.

CollegeVine property

A built-in field with a specific purpose in the platform. Certain CollegeVine properties are used directly by the system — for example, to contact constituents or process records correctly. Only data mapped to the correct CollegeVine property will be used for those functions.

Custom property

A free-form field you define yourself. Custom properties are stored on the constituent record, and your AI agent can reference them to personalize messaging. You can also use custom properties to define segments or target specific audiences in workflows.

Required CollegeVine properties

The following three fields must be mapped to their corresponding CollegeVine property for the import to process correctly:

Field	Type	Why it matters
First name	Text	Used by the AI agent in communications with constituents
Last name	Text	Required for record processing
Email	Text	Only the email mapped to the CollegeVine property is used to contact constituents. A secondary email mapped to a custom property will be stored but not used for outreach.

Available CollegeVine properties

The following fields are not required, but should be mapped to their CollegeVine property if included in your data — each has a specific function in the platform:

Field	Type	Function
Phone	Text	Only the CollegeVine-mapped phone field is used for calls and SMS. E.164 is the preferred format (+1XXXXXXXXXX), but can be accepted without country code for US numbers (XXXXXXXXXX)
Date of Birth	Date	Prevents constituents under 13 from receiving communications. Accepted formats: YYYY-MM-DD MM/DD/YYYY MM-DD-YYYY YYYY/MM/DD DD-MM-YYYY DD/MM/YYYY
Admission year	Text	Used internally to identify and reach the right cohort. Must be a 4-digit year (e.g. `2029` — not `Fall 29`)
Consents to AI phone calls	Boolean	Opts constituents out of AI communications when set to false
Partner SMS opt out	Boolean	Proactively suppresses the student from AI SMS outreach
Partner phone opt out	Boolean	Proactively suppresses the student from AI phone outreach
Partner email opt out	Boolean	Proactively suppresses the student from AI email outreach
Partner global comms opt out	Boolean	Proactively suppresses the student from all AI outreach

All other fields

Any additional fields you send can be mapped to a custom property. When creating a custom property, select the field type that matches your data:

Type	Use for
Text	Names, free-form values, IDs, most things
Number	Numeric values (scores, counts)
Boolean	True/false fields (opt-outs, checkboxes)
Date	Date fields
Phone number	Additional phone numbers stored on the constituent record (e.g., a guardian's phone number). The agent can reference these for context, but only the Phone CollegeVine property is used for calls and SMS — custom phone number properties are not used for outreach.

When in doubt, use Text.

Setting your unique identifier

After mapping your fields, you'll have the option to select which field CollegeVine uses as the unique identifier for each constituent record. This determines how CollegeVine matches incoming records to existing ones — and how it avoids creating duplicates.

The default is email address, but you may want to change this — constituents sometimes change their email, and a new email on an incoming record can result in a duplicate instead of an update.

If your CRM uses a stable, permanent ID for each constituent (such as a student ID), we recommend mapping that field and setting it as your unique identifier instead.

💡 Best practice: If you have multiple integrations running concurrently, the unique ID should be the same for all of them to ensure consistent matching rules.

💡 Best practice: It is a best practice to change your unique ID to another field to help prevent duplicate data. Partners will generally use another type of ID — Person/Student/Contact ID, Application ID, School ID, or SIS ID are all common choices.

⚠️ Removing a field from your import doesn't remove it from CollegeVine. If you stop sending a field, the last synced value stays on the constituent record. To remove the field and its data from CollegeVine entirely, contact your CollegeVine team.

⚠️ You can't edit a field type once it's been mapped. If you need to make a change, create a new custom property with the type, and ask your CollegeVine team to archive the old one. You can then remap on your next import. You can edit field name.

⚠️ If a mapped property is deleted or renamed after your mapping is saved, the key becomes invalid and will be flagged in your integration settings for both import and export mappings. Click Clear next to the invalid key and save to remove it. You can then remap the field if needed.