Import Utility: Importing Auction Purchases Part I - Overview

Import Utility: Importing Auction Purchases Part I - Overview

1. Auction Purchases are a type of donation record; as such, the import of auction purchases is similar to importing donations. Generally, the main difference between an auction purchase and a donation is the tax deductibility - auction purchases are never 100% tax deductible. Only the amount paid above the item's "Fair Market Value" is tax deductible.
2. Importing Auction Purchases into Fundly CRM is done in one of two ways: either by arranging the data to be imported in a spreadsheet and then using our Import Utility to self import or by arranging the data in a spreadsheet and sending us the data to import ("migrate") for you.
3. It is STRONGLY recommended that you review the Donation-related tutorials in the support library prior to importing donations and auction purchases. It is particularly important for you to be familiar with the Fund field and what it tracks prior to importing auction purchases. This field (as well as Event Name if linking the purchases to an event) MUST be configured in our CRM prior to the import (you cannot create Fund or Event Name "on the fly" as part of the import) and it's important you understand what this field is meant to track before creating funds. Please see this tutorial in particular about the difference between Funds and Chart of Accounts/General Ledger codes. See also our tutorials on configuring and entering donations in the support library.
4. Please Note: You cannot link auction purchases to Campaigns or Programs through the import utility. If you need to link your purchases to either, contact us to have us conduct the import for you (this is a chargeable service).
5. Please make sure, also, that you understand that our CRM uses cash-accrual accounting principles for donations; as such, only paid donations/auction purchases can be recorded via the import utility (payment amount, mode, and date are required fields in the import utility for auction purchases).
6. You can self-import the following information for auction purchases:
   • Donor/Purchaser First and Last Name (if individual) or Donor/Purchaser Organization Name (if organization)
   • Purchaser Email Address
   • Purchaser Phone Number
   • Purchaser Mailing Address
   • Item Name
   • Purchase/Transaction Date
   • Amount Paid
   • Quantity Purchased
   • Mode of Payment
   • Payment Reference Number
   • Event Name (if auction is part of or related to an event)
   • Fair Market Value of Each Item Purchased
   • Soft Credit Donor First and Last Name
   • Soft Credit Donor Email Address
   • Soft Credit Donor Address
7. The Fund assigned to the auction purchase records is assigned PER BATCH (not per record) - you will set the Fund Name to be assigned to each purchase in your batch on the import utility screen (NOT in your spreadsheet). Additionally, the Gift Source will automatically be set to "Auction Purchase" by the Import Utility and cannot be changed.
8. To learn more about any of the above fields, please see the Add Gift and Fundraising Configuration tutorials in the Fundraising section of the support library.
9. Gifts Additional Information / Custom Data Set information cannot be imported via the Import Utility - contact CRM Support Migration Services to have us import such data for you. See the Import Utility Limitations tutorial for a list of all data that cannot be imported via the Import Utility.
10. Donor information beyond name, email address, and address cannot be imported via the Auction Purchase Import. Instead, you would need to do two separate imports - one for contacts with the additional information (spouse/partner, birth date, gender, etc.) and then a second for the auction purchase information.
11. You CANNOT use the import utility to update existing donation/auction purchase records. Re-importing the same purchases will create duplicate auction purchase records. Only contacts/contact data can be updated via the import utility. If you need to batch update donation/auction purchase records (such as update the Fund tied to the purchases) our technical team can do that for you, but it is a chargeable service. Send us the list of records (transaction date, amount, item name, and donor name) along with information on what you want to update and we will provide a quote for bulk updating the records.
12. Broadly speaking, importing data is a three step process: a) organize and prepare your spreadsheet of data, b) create the import batch including linking the fields in your spreadsheet to the correct fields in our CRM, and c) reviewing the data once it imports and correct any mistakes.
13. To get started importing auction purchases, proceed to the Import Utility: Importing Auction Purchases Part II - Preparing Your Data Tutorial.