Importing Items and their Donors

Note:  If you are a returning user, you should be migrating data from your previous site(s):  Migrating your own data from your account management page

Items imports are generally done when the software is being introduced late in the planning process and most items have been received and recorded elsewhere.   If you have received less than 50 donations,  entering them directly into the software may be easier (and will often yield better results).

All item records must be associated with a donor, so items are imported by adding the relevant item data columns to your Donor spreadsheet.  During the import, Donor records will be created, along with the details of the items (if any) they have donated.

The spectrum for a data import of items can range from simple (allows item to be sold) to very complex (allowing items from different donors to be combined into and tracked within lots).  These instructions will focus on the most commonly imported item data fields, but will include links to documents designed for data gurus and complex imports, as well as Shortcuts for scaling an import back to the simplest format to allow basic functionality for your event.

For general information, see Importing Data.    Submit your import request and prepared spreadsheets to [email protected]

Data field names for item imports:

In addition to the Donor data fields, the most commonly imported item fields are:

  • item_name*
  • type_name* (silent, live, sellable, signup, raffle)
  • fair_market_value*
  • price (for fixed price item types:  sellable, signup, raffle)
  • quantity (will default to 1 unless specified)
  • description
  • restrictions

* required fields

Shortcut:  If the items on your spreadsheet have already been combined into lots or baskets, import the combined donors' names in the business_name field/column (eg.  "John Smith and Widmer Bros. Brewing") and leave remaining donor cells empty.

See Available Data Fields or SAMPLE SPREADSHEET FOR IMPORTING DONORS AND ITEMS  for a complete list of data fields/column headers.

Tips for importing items:

1.  Many item data fields can be easily bulk edited (data added or changed across multiple records in one action) so it is often easier to add/edit those fields once the items have been imported.  For instance, you can easily add or edit buy now prices, minimum bids, item categories, solicitor names and more after the import.

2.  User Defined fields are NOT available for Items, but you may be able to co-opt an unused field (such as misc. or notes) to import and display the data.  Some fields (such as Location and Solicitor) can be bulk edited, so co-opting one of those will also allow you to easily add or edit the data across multiple records after import.

3.  If you will be combining items into lots, import the individual items associated with their donor, then manually create the lots after the import.

4.  Fair Market Value is a required and critical value which determines potential tax deductibility and is used to calculate minimum bid/raise and buy now prices.  If you do not know the actual fair market value - use an easily identifiable placeholder ($999) rather than $0 (which is used to indicate 100% tax deductibility) to flag values which need eventual editing.