Fundraising Fundamentals #2: To Golf Tournament or Not Golf Tournament

Every year more and more non profit organizations consider taking the leap and hosting a golf tournament. It is, in my opinion, one of the hardest and most detailed events you can put on, but can end up making major fundraising dollars for an organization. I have known organizations that have raised $20,000 from their tournament and others that only brought in $2500.

In this issue of "Fundraising Fundamentals," I am not going to list the pros and cons per say, but rather address some of the elements to consider before deciding on creating your own golf tournament.

1. Do you have a strong Board of Directors or group of volunteers to help organize and work on the event? No matter the size of the event, you will need committees to make it successful. For example: Golfer Committee, their mission is to help get golfers signed up, pair foursomes together and send follow up emails prior to the event, Sponsor Committee, they will help create and bring in "Hole Sponsors" and other sponsorships that will be crucial to your fundraising; Promotions Committee, dedicated to spreading the word about your event through the media; if you are having any type of auction at your event you will need without a shadow of a doubt, The Auction Committee, their job will be to secure auction items and packages for the event, create the auction program, decide on opening bids, etc., and the Program Committee, dedicated to helping sell ads in the program, collecting ads from all sponsors, finding a good deal on the program design and printing. These are just a few of the important elements that have to be covered to make your event successful. Point blank if you do not have a strong team of individuals to work with you on putting the event together, golf tournaments may not be for you.

If you can get one, I suggest trying to bring a "Golf Consultant" on board. They may require a fee or get a portion of what you make. Whatever deal you can agree on, bringing in a consultant if you can get one, can help make your job much easier. Golf Consultants bring a lot of ideas and information to the table. I have worked with LTS Leaderboard in Orlando and found them very helpful.

2. Find a golf course that will give you a good deal on the pricing of golf and lunch. I suggest visiting no less then 3 golf courses before making your decision. Again, this is where a Golf Consultant can be very helpful and often they have relationships with particular golf courses that will help get you a good deal. Different golf courses will offer you different perks, the key is deciding what works best for your organization.

Be aware that pricing is lower during the "off season" and may help put extra dollars in your fundraising bank. Be careful not to pick a course that is too far off the beaten path, or a course that golfers frequent on a regular basis. They will be more likely to sign up if its easy to find, has good proximity , and if its a course they do not play regularly. Keep in mind as well that during "in season," a plethora of golf tournaments take place and the competition if fierce. Golfers will only participate in so many tournaments per season. So.....

3. Determine who your target golfers are. Are you hoping to attract businessmen who will take a Friday off to come participate and network?

Or you focussing on the "weekend" golfer who will come out on a Saturday? Are you hoping both male and female golfers will participate?

Who your target group is will not only determine what day of the week is best for your tournament but also the structure of the event itself. If you are hoping to attract a lot of female golfers you may want to include a fashion show during your lunch program or include a lot of Spa related items in your auction.

4. Does your organization have at least 6 months or more to plan and promote the event? This IS an event that requires a lot of attention to detail and requires a lot of organization. Give your organization that time it needs to make it successful. Also by giving yourself a lot of time to promote, this offers more promotion for your sponsors. Two months out, offer golfer discounts for those who sign up early. If you do not have enough "planning time," a golf tournament may not be the best choice right now.

5. Can you find a media sponsor? Newspaper, magazines and or radio stations, are great ways to spread the word about the tournament and offer your major sponsors promotion. Sad but true, many sponsors that are considering donating money to your event will want to know what's in it for them.
This brings us to ...

6. What can you offer your sponsors? This is why having a media sponsor is so important. Being able to offer sponsors the opportunity to have company name, logos and website in your ads or their names mentioned on radio commercials can be very appealing.

Consider including a foursome of golf and lunches in some of your higher end sponsorships. This is also a great way to help fill your course with golfers.

7. Do you have perks to draw your golfers? Golfers get hit with so many tournament offers, you will need yours to stand out in the crowd. Come up with a theme for your tournament, offer a perk or major discount for signing up early, offer a great golfer gift to each participant at your event. How do you this? In creating the price of your golf ticket, work in $10-20 dollars for the golfer gift. An impressive golfer gift will make your golfers want to return to your tournament the following year. There are golf companies that do nothing but deal with golf tournament related items and have some wonderful golfer gifts available at a discounted rate for purchasing in bulk. You can also create the golfer "goodie bag."
Put your title sponsors logos, along with yours on the bag. Then approach companies to place "freebies, and gift certificates" in the bag. Great promotion for them.

8. Can you offer some great hole in one prizes? Generally you will have 3-4 holes you designate as hole in one prizes. Approach car dealerships, and boat sellers, ask them to place a car or boat at the hole. They then pay for the "insurance," that covers the cost of the car should a golfer nail the hole in one. Instead of donating money to the organization, they are bringing a great prize to your event and picking up the cost of the insurance. There are also several companies that have hole in one prizes. Jet Blue is one of them. It costs roughly $800 to participate but they bring amazing trips as the hole prizes and offer a shoot out opportunity for one golfer to walk away with 2 round trip tickets from Jet Blue that day. This is just one of several programs out there.

The $800 does NOT have to come out of your organizations pocket, instead build it into one of your sponsorships. You might charge $2000 for a company to have signage on all of the hole in ones, include a foursome of golf and lunches, an ad in the program, a link on your website, after your costs you will still have roughly $1000 towards fundraising.

9. Can you create a superticket? What is a superticket you cry?

It is a ticket golfers can purchase in the morning during registration that gives them a package of perks. The perks might include: soft drink and beer tickets, chances for mulligan, game of chance tickets to win prizes, and door prize tickets. You will have to check with the golf course to check their polices on bringing in donated beer or soft drinks, but if they allow it, this helps add to your superticket. Superticket prices vary depending on what they include but generally can go for anywhere from $15-$30 dollars. Do the math...if you have 100 golfers and even 70 of them purchase a $25 superticket, that is an extra $1750 in the bank!!!

10. A final word about golf tournaments, before you begin, create a golf tournament budget. This will help you determine if doing a tournament is worth your time and effort. If months of work will only generate $2,500 dollars you may want to reconsider working so hard for little return. If your budget shows you can bring in $10,000 or more, then in my opinion, its worth the gamble, and moving ahead. Remember, you MUST have a strong team working on the event or without a doubt you will become overwhelmed the closer the event gets. Make sure you have commitments from team members. If enough people take on small tasks, nobody will end up feeling swamped and things will get done.

Check back soon for more great information from "Fundraising Fundamentals".