Using the Online Team Store for Donations

Do you need to collect funds from a Swim-A-Thon or other fundraiser, or do you want parents to be able to donate an end-of-season gift for the coaches?  The online store does not allow for manual entry of a dollar amount, but you can still set up a merchandise item to collect these donations in any desired amount.

To get started, create an item called "Swim-A-Thon" in your team store (Manage Team > Merchandise > Add Merchandise Item):

We recommend naming the item the CURRENT season year and then the item name (this allows for better reporting each season) and also checking the box to allow for personalization so that parents can donate for multiple athletes:

Next you will add multiple "options" in different dollar amounts so they can purchase up to the total that they wish to donate and then drag the arrows on the left to put them in the desired order.  For example:

Once you have created the merchandise item, you will want to add it to your online store.  Navigate to your website and select your online store page.  Hover over your name and select Edit Page Content and then Add Snippet.

Drag the Merchandise Snippet onto your page (into the grey edit area) and choose your item from the dropdown menu:

Now parents can add these amounts to their cart until they total up to their donation amount. Parents can use the "Personalization" field to write in the name of the swimmer that is to be credited with the donation amount.

And check out with their total:

Team Admins can run the Online Store Orders report to see how much each swimmer has raised:

Check the box next to the order numbers and then choose Order Pick-Up Checklist from the dropdown menu to run the report for each order:

Select Download CSV:

This report will list all of the donations made, along with the amount and the swimmer. You will need to manually total the amounts (or use a spreadsheet formula to help you).

» Note: Swim-a-Thon is a registered trademark owned by the USA Swimming Foundation. Any pledge-for-length event branding that resembles a Swim-a-Thon, including lap-a-thons, aqua-thons, pool-a-thons or other similarly branded programs involving lap swimming, are a violation of this trademark.