Handbid Glossary

The Handbid glossary is chalk full of Handbid terminology and definitions of our platform features. Use this as a comprehensive tool to help you learn and understand more about Handbid!

Handbid Glossary Overview

Learn our Handbid lingo! Follow along as we explain our terminology as you create your event in Handbid. To help you better understand our content, this is article is organized based on the order of the Handbid Manager Dashboard and not in alphabetical order. If you are looking for a specific word, press Ctrl + F (Windows PC) or Command + F (Mac) to search specific terms faster or utilize our Glossary index below - all titles are linked to the corresponding section. 

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Glossary Index

To skip ahead, click a section title below :

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1.   Event Types

Event: Umbrella term for all three Event Fundraising types: Auction, Fundraiser (Peer-to-Peer), and Campaign.

• Auction: An Event that allows guests to bid on silent auction items online or on our mobile App. This event also includes setting up For Sale, Live Auction, Donation, Puzzle items, and Ticketing (Sponsorships and Event Admission). 
  More information: How to Create an Auction and Update Auction Settings 
• Test Auction: Test Auctions allow auction managers to test, troubleshoot and learn the Handbid software without notifying guests and making a public event site. 
  More information: How to Create a Test Auction
• Peer to Peer Fundraiser: A peer-to-peer (P2P) event where an organization can create a fundraising website and their supporters can create their own fundraising website for the organization’s cause. Revenue from these pages will directly go toward the organization as a whole. Includes team pages and individual pages with For Sale items, Donations and Ticketing. 
  More information: How to Create New Fundraiser, Fundraising Page & Update Settings
• Campaign: An event, or ongoing event that offers an organization to provide Live Auction items, For Sale items, donations, and recurring donations. A Campaign does not include silent auction items. Ticketing included upon add-on purchase per contract. DO NOT SET UP A CAMPAIGN IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE SILENT AUCTION ITEMS.
  More information: How to Create a New Event & Update Settings
  

 

2.   Handbid Interfaces 

Event Page, Handbid Manager, Apps

• Handbid App

  • Handbid Smartphone App: The Handbid App is compatible with smartphones (Android and iPhone) and is where your bidders can engage with your event and bid in your auction. You can download the app from the Google Play Store or App Store for free.
    More information: How to Download the Handbid App
  • Handbid iPad App: The Handbid iPad App is designed specifically for Auction Manager use and includes Auctioneer Dashboard
    More information: Handbid iPad App Setup & Instructions
    
    

• Event Page

  • Handbid Event Page: Your customized website/landing page for your event. This page is where your guests will go to bid/donate and interact with your fundraiser. This is the interface your donors will interact with for your AuctionS, Events, and Fundraisers.

Manager Dashboard (Admin Use)

• • Main Dashboard: Displays all event type portals (Auction, Fundraiser, and Campaigns). Allows Organization Contacts to access organization settings and the Event Managers can edit all aspects of their respective dashboards.
  • Auction Dashboard: Displays all areas that relate to your auction events, such as silent auction items, guests, and reports.
  • Fundraiser Dashboard: Displays all areas of your peer-to-peer fundraiser and your reports.
  • Campaign Dashboard: Displays all areas of your Campaign events and your reports.
    
    
    

3.   Managers and Contact Types

• Contact List: Any individual who is listed on the main organization overview dashboard. They may be associated with an event or not, or are new to your organization.  A contact can be added individually or imported from a list or your CRM. Your contact list will organically grow as people register for any of your events in Handbid. 
  More Information: Pre-registration and Contact List and Managing Contacts in Handbid

Internal Contacts

• Organization Contact: This person is the organization's account owner. Found on the main dashboard in your organization settings. 
• Event Manager Contact: This/These person(s) is the main point of contact(s) for a specific Auction, Fundraiser, or Event and will be the primary contact(s) for guest questions that come through Handbid Service. An example would be the individual who is the Chairperson of this event or a volunteer who is in charge of all Handbid questions for your organization. 

External Contacts

• Invitees: Curated list of people you would like to attend or participate in your event. They can be added individually, from the Contacts List, or in bulk with our Importing tool in the Invite List. 
• Guests: People who plan to attend your event. Purchasers of sponsorship tickets are listed as a guest
• Donor: Anyone who has donated (item donations and monetary donations) to any Event, or a registered user in a Fundraiser or Campaign event. 
• Bidder: A registered user in an Auction. These people have registered and/or purchased a ticket to your event and may bid in your Auction or Campaign events.

 

4. Event Status Types

Once you have chosen the type of event you are running, you will see several event page status options. We have different status options described below. Please read them carefully: 

• Setup: This is the initial default status when an auction is created and should be used when the Event Manager is in the process of setting up their Handbid Event Page. You can use this status when adding guests, items, etc., and are not ready for the public to see the site yet. Your landing page will read “Site Under Construction.”
• Preview: This status will show a preview of items and allows Ticket Sales, Donations, and For Sale item (when marked “Sell at Presale") purchases. 
• Presale: This status allows Ticket Sales, Donations, and For Sale item purchases. However, this status will not show a preview of auction items (if applicable)
• Open: A manual setting to open your event page, you must manually change your event status to Open, the site will not automatically open your auction. This status opens bidding for all auction items. Tickets, Donations, and For Sale items are available. 
• Paused: If you need to temporarily halt bidding and purchases on the site. You can resume when ready. 
• Closed: The event is completely closed and bidding has come to a stop. Winners are notified and you can begin the checkout process. There are several close options available. You can close by category, all at once, or you can set a timer for the auction to close automatically at a specific time.
• Reconciled: When you are completely done with your event. The Event Manager will notify service@handbid.com that they are ready to reconcile. All funds from the event are issued to the client. No purchases or refunds are able to be made in this status. 

More Information: How to Change your Auction Status

5. Left-Hand Menu: Auction Dashboard

Items

All item types and categories, including admission tickets and sponsorships 

• All: Displays all items in your event
• Categories: Displays all item category types. All categories created by the Event Manager will populate under this dropdown list.
• No Category:  Items that have not been assigned a category. Items must be assigned to a category in order to be displayed on the site for bidding or purchasing. 
• No Bids: Silent auction items with no bids. This category is used as a filter to display a quick glance at items with no-bid activity. This is the only category that Handbid auto assigns. Once a bid is placed on an item it will automatically be removed from this category.
• Live Auction: Items that have been created as a Live Auction item will display in the Live Auction menu option. These items will display in your auction catalog as a Preview only item and can only be bid on at in-person events and cannot be bid on electronically or online. Note: These items will not appear in the No Bids filter.
• For Sale: Items that are available for purchase. Example: Event Merchandise such as a t-shirt, ornament, centerpiece, etc.
• Tickets: Ticketing for event admission or sponsorship tickets. 
• Appeals:  Items that have been created as a donation level or item. Example: $100 donation, $50 donation, etc. These items will appear as donation levels on the DONATE page and as items on the BROWSE ITEMS page.
• Puzzle: A donation opportunity for guests to purchase a puzzle piece, set at the cost of your choosing. The Auction Manager can assign different prices to individual puzzle pieces. As puzzle pieces are purchased, the puzzle page will begin to reveal a new photo, often of the project or cause you’re raising funds for. This is essentially a crowdfunding tool.
• Import: Use this tool to bulk import items for your event. This includes Silent/Live Auction items, For Sale, and Entrance Ticket items.
• Summary: A quick glance tool that offers an overview of all items on your site. This includes summarizing the number of items and item types, Item Status, and Item Revenue.

People

Contains all guests (those that are invited and those that purchased a ticket) and bidders.

• Guests: People who have purchased a ticket to your event and whom you expect to attend your event. They will live in the GUEST LIST.
• Invite List: Curated list of supporters you would like to invite to attend/participate in your event. An individual you would like to invite to attend/participate in your event. These people will live on the Guest List once they have purchased a ticket. 
• Guest (Guest List): People planning to attend your event. These people have been invited or purchased a ticket to the event.
• Bidders: These people are registered users in your Event (have a paddle number assigned) and have a user account with Handbid. People can be a Bidder if they have placed a bid or not.
  
  

Donations

The area where your bidders can make predetermined or customized donations.

• Recurring Donations: This is a committed donation over a period of time (that often surpasses the length of the event) at a specified frequency (yearly, quarterly, monthly). This is a full list of all recurring donations processed through the specific event.

Invoices/Receipts

This contains all paid and unpaid invoices generated from purchases, donations, and winning bids. Each user who has won, donated, or purchased an item will have an invoice in this list that shows a detailed breakdown of those purchases for tax and reporting purposes. Receipts are sent upon full payment via email unless deselected by the Manager. The Manager can choose to have Handbid automatically send invoices via text when the Event closes. 

• All: These are all of the invoices, both paid and unpaid
• Not Paid: These are invoices that are not paid 
• Paid: These are paid invoices.
• Summary: This is a summary of your invoices

Reporting

Provides options to download specific details for your records. Download reports for future events and board meetings for items, donations, bidders, and more. 

For More information on Reporting visit: Overview of Handbid's Reporting System  

• Ticketing/Registration
  • Ticket Summary: This shows the revenue performance of your ticket sales.
  • Ticket Purchases: This shows all ticket purchases by date and allows you to filter those that are paid or not paid.  

• Bidders
  • Bidder Summary: This will show you the overall status of your bidders with regard to participation, devices used to place bids, and a summary of the bids placed. 
  • Bidder Purchase Summary: This report will show each bidder and their revenue breakdown - Silent, Live, Purchases, Donations, and Tickets. The report will show the total value received by the bidder in exchange for their purchases or contributions and the net contribution. The total value received would be the total fair market value of any winning auction item plus the total amount of value received for any purchases.  
  • Bidder Purchase Detail: Full detailed summary of all purchases by a bidder and breakdown of the item value, sold amount, and payment type.

• • Top Bidders: This report will show the top bidders in your auction ranked by the total revenue generated by that bidder.
  • Messages: This report will show the breakdown of messages sent to each bidder through your event site. It will include the time, type, and message to each person.
  • Bids: This report will list all bidding activity across your entire auction.
• Items
  • Item Summary: This report shows you revenue performance, the status of the items, and bids by item type.
  • Live: In the live report, you will see the live auction item's name, the sale price, the Fair Market Value, and the percentage of the fair market value. 
  • Top Silent By Bids: This report is a breakdown of the top silent auction items by the number of bids they received.
  • Top Silent By Revenue: This report is a breakdown of the top silent auction items by revenue and will show the item name, the category, the number of bids on the item, starting price, ending price, and the percentage gained on the item. The items in the report will be ordered by the items with the highest ending prices.
  • Category Performance: This report shows a useful breakdown of each category and how it performed.  The key fields to review here are total bids, bids/items, and % of Fair Market Value generated. This will give you an idea of which types of items were most popular in your silent auction. 
  • Bid History: This report allows you to view the bid history by category or by item.  

• • Donor Summary: This shows the items each donor (in your contact list) contributed. This report will show items, item code, the number of bids, FMV, start and end price.
  • Item Favorites: This shows each item that has been favorited by a bidder.  You will be able to see the Item Code, Item Name, Category, Bidder First Name, Bidder Last Name, Date that the favorite item was added, and if the bidder bid on the item already.

• Financial

• • Revenue Summary: This report will show a summary of the revenue generated by each fundraising component at the event. 
  • Purchases: This report will show you every item that was sold (silent, live, For Sale, donations, tickets), who purchased it, how much, and payment status. 
  • Invoice Details: This is the information that is displayed within the Invoices tab by the bidder. 
  • Transactions: This will show bidder name, email, a timestamp, method of payment, and other related fields
  • Recurring Donations Payments: This report shows any recurring donations made to this event

CRM Exports

This is a purchase report that aligns with the same template as the CRM you integrate with.  To learn more about CRM integrations view this article. 

 

6.    Top Tool Bar

A. Items Dropdown- Three Box Icon

• Manage Categories: Allows you to create a category, delete a category, see how many items are in a category, and change the order of the categories.
• Create New Item: When you select this, a window with the different item types will appear. Click on the item type and create a new item.

B. Bidder Dropdown- People Icon

• Register New Bidder: . Allows you to quickly add a bidder without requiring them to go to the site and register themselves.
• Go to Bidder List- Quickly takes you to the Bidder list.

C. Messages- Chatbox Icon

• Send Broadcast Messages: Send SMS text messages and push notifications to bidders to notify them of event-specific information. Example: “bidding will close in 5 minutes!” or “Don't forget to pay your invoice once the auction closes.” Broadcast messages are limited to 285 characters.
• Open Live Chat Manager: If enabled in your contract this will allow you to view the event chat and support chat messages from your event.

D. Bid/ Buy- Gavel Icon

• Place a Bid: Manually place a bid for a donor. Choose the bidder, item, and confirm the bid/max bid. 
• Make a Purchase: Manually purchase an item for a donor. Choose the bidder, item, and quantity and add to their invoice. 
• Purchase a Puzzle Piece: Manually purchase a puzzle piece for a donor. Choose the bidder, puzzle piece selection, and confirm the purchase. 

E. Tickets- Ticket Icon

• Create a New Ticket: This is a shortcut to create a new ticket for your event.
• Purchase Ticket: Manually purchase an entrance ticket for a donor. Choose the ticket price, add an option discount code and either add it to their invoice or immediately charge the card on file. 
• View Ticket Sales Report: This quickly takes you to your ticket summary.

F. Donate- Dollar Sign Icon

• Add a New Donation: Manually add a donation for a donor.  Choose the donor, the donation level and either add it to their invoice or immediately charge the card on file.
• Enter Mass Appeals: Manually add multiple donation amounts at different levels of donations. This tool was created to quickly add donations during the “Ask” portion of your fundraiser. 
• View All Donations: This quickly takes you to your Donations List.

G. Theme- Paintbrush Icon

Click this to access your Theme Editor

H. Live Streaming- Radios Waves Icon

Incorporating a Livestream? Add your YouTube link here and promote items under the video for bidders to easily see during your presentation.

I. Auction Status

Click Here to Access Status Types