Understanding Item Types (Silent, Sellable etc. ) and when to use each

There are 8 different Item Types   The Type selected determines:

  • where an item can be sold (gala auction, online, during ticket purchase, POS etc.)
  • how FMV and tax deductability are reported
  • whether the item is displayed in the online catalog
  • what printed materials are available/produced (ie bid, signup, tracking sheets etc)

Spending a few moments to understand the purpose and limits of each type is a good investment - data entry of items will be easier, recording sales during your event will be easier, and your guests will receive accurate tax reporting information at check-out.

 

TYPES BY FEATURES AND PURPOSE

TYPES BY FEATURES AND PURPOSE

The Item Type dropdown menu has the following possible choices:

Ad Sales

  • Use to track ad sales for your printed material.
  • Ad Sales items will not be assigned an Item number (NA) when created, nor will they appear in the online catalog.
  • Note that entering the text of the ad in the New Item will only make the sales data available to the reporting engine. It will not create the ad for your print catalog.
  • Ad Sales will be reported as Non-Order Revenue, these items are not included in tallies of FMV of Donated items.

Gift

  • Use to track cash donations  that come in in lieu of item donations, prior to the event.
  • Gift items will not be assigned an Item number (NA) when created, nor will they appear in the online catalog.
  • Gift items will not generate an order or a receipt.  If you want to generate a receipt, generate an internal order.
  • Do not use this for paddle raise pledges, or for event-night cash donations from your guests.
  • Gift Items will be reported as Non-Order Revenue, these items are not included in tallies of FMV of Donated items.

Live

  • Use for items that will be sold during the Live Auction portion of your gala event.
  • By default Live items will initially be assigned Item Numbers starting at 1.

Paddle Raise

  • Use for promoting and recording your Direct Appeal/Paddle Raise/Special Appeal pledges at your gala event.
  • You do not need to create a different Paddle Raise item for each bidding level.
  • Paddle Raise is the only Type that provides 100% tax or donation credit when recorded on Receipts. (Other types can do the same but only if the FMV is set at $0.)
  • By default,  Paddle Raise items will initially be assigned the next available Item Number starting at 1000.

Raffle

  • Use for Raffle Tickets for each raffle game (Golden Ticket, Heads-or-Tails, Door Prize raffles, etc)
  • Raffle Type items have FMV = Price because games of chance are never tax deductible.  
  • Raffle Prizes should be set up as type Silent (with FMV) to be sold to winner for $0 (because raffle prizes are considered taxable income)
  • By default, Raffle items will initially be assigned the next available Item Number starting at 975.

Sellable Item

  • Items with a fixed price, usually with a quantity larger than one.
  • Selection of  Sellable Item type will cause the menu to change to allow choice(s) of venues available to sell at:  Gala Auction (T-shirts, drinks,etc.), Online Auction, and/or POS.
  • By default, Sellable Items will initially be assigned  the next available Item Number starting at 800.

Signup

  • Use for Easel Parties (a.k.a. Pay-To-Play, Signup Parties, etc.) Same as "Buy-in."
  • Selection of Signup Item type will cause the menu to change to allow choice(s) of available to sell at:  Gala Auction and/or Online Auction.
  • By default, Signup items will initially be assigned the next available Item Number starting at 900.

Silent

  • Use for items that will be sold by competitive bidding and/or buy now price during the Silent Auction portion of the event.
  • Selection of Silent Type will cause the menu to change to allow choice of Gala Auction and/or Online Auction.
  • If you have a Super Silent auction, you should also use this type.
  • By default, Silent items will initially be assigned the next available Item Number starting at 100.

Frequently asked, "Which Type should be used for. . . .:"

 

Wine Wall  (Wine sold without buyer knowing the quality but among the wine offered are bottles more valuable than the price being asked)

  • Enter as:  Sellable item: Fixed price, multiple Quantity, FMV can be the average cost of the bottles of wine

Drinks, tchotchkes,  decorations (Random items sold during the event)

  • Enter as:  Sellable item:  Fixed price, multiple Quantity, FMV can be the actual cost.

Dessert Dash,  Giving Tree, Fund A Need, Special Appeal, Cash Donation at Ticket Purchase, Cash donation at checkout = Anything that can be seen as pure donation and should be reported as a charitable contribution:

  • Enter as:  Paddle Raise, multiple quantity, donation amount will be entered when "sale' is entered.

Tickets/Chances for Balloon Pop, Head or Tails, Golden Ticket  (A ticket with a fixed price to buy a chance with a chance winner:

  • Enter TICKETS as:  Raffle:  fixed price, multiple quantity, no FMV field.    Remember to create separate SIlent Type item for Raffle Prize to award to winner for $0 (example, an IPad Raffle has a  Silent type Item IPad Prize) with a FMV of $350 and a quantity of 1 PLUS a Raffle type Item with price =  $20, qty =- 50 (IPad Raffle Tickets)
  • (The Winner is "sold" the prize for $0 to track the winner and provide them the fmv for tax reporting AND  still have an item that can be attributed to a donor.)