Golf Fundraising Ideas

Golf Fundraising Ideas outlines some creative ways for your organization to make the most of your charity golf tournament or fundraising golf outing. Of course, the player registration fee provides a baseline for obtaining funds; however, the opportunity to raise dollars should not end there. There are plenty of exciting fundraising opportunities before, during and after the tournament takes place. We've outlined some golf fundraising ideas to provide you with interesting ways to help you exceed your fundraising goals.

Fundraising Before the Event

Sponsorships

Reach out to the community for event sponsorships. What a great way to start out on the right financial footing. By hosting a large charity golf tournament that draws in businesses and influential community members, selling cash and in-kind sponsorship packages should be easy.

Golf Marathons

In addition to tournament sponsorship opportunities, don't forget to engage players in recruiting sponsorships. One way to do this is by hosting a golf marathon or "golf-a-thon" - a new initiative in fundraising golf tournaments. Golf marathons allow organizations to increase fundraising dollars raised by having Golf participants commit to raising a certain amount of money through pledges. Ask your golfers to contact friends, colleagues, and family members to solicit donations for their participation in your golf tournament. Each golfer can easily raise $250 or $500 by tapping into their friends and family. Often, the golfer is not charged to play in your fundraising golf tournament if they meet your minimum pledge standards. Free golf - that will really give your golfers an incentive to raise funds for your organization! Pledges can be made easily and securely online using our golf fundraising software.

Ticket Sales & Greens Fees

All golf tournaments typically have a set registration fee, which covers greens fees, golf cart, etc. Make sure to discuss a discounted rate with the hosting course. They'll likely accommodate you since you'll be driving traffic to their course which will help raise your profit margin.

Sell lots of tickets! The bigger the crowd, the better you'll do with your tournament. Promote your fundraising golf tournament with posters at golf stores, your own offices, and other high-traffic, high-visibility locations. Use your newsletter and email lists, as well as sponsor databases to help spread the word. To increase sales, you may want to consider selling tickets to the general public and not just to your group of supporters by targeting sales at high-traffic locations.

Fundraising Raffle

One way to make great use of your prizes is to host a Fundraising Raffle. Reach out to the local community months before the actual tournament to get a variety of prizes donated. Showcase the items before the tournament starts so people can see the items they could win and sell the raffle tickets before they hit the course. Have raffle ticket sales also available at the awards ceremony following the tournament.

Sell Merchandise

If your organization created apparel for the tournament with collared golf shirts, hats, visors, golf balls, etc. (with sponsor logos), this is a great time to sell them! If you don't have your own items to sell, see if the course gift shop can set up special pricing for tournament attendees and give a percentage of sales back to your cause. If you are sending customers into their gift shop and encouraging sales, they will likely be interested in giving you a kick-back.

On the Course Fundraising

Cash-bar Golf Cart

A great way to raise additional dollars is by hitting up golfers while they are on the course. The best way to do this is with a fully-stocked cash-bar cart! Load up the back of a golf cart with snacks, ice and cold drinks, then drive the course and sell your golfers what they want. Cold beer and sodas are the best sellers, but don't forget to include snack foods like pretzels and chips. You may also want to add items like small bottles of sunscreen or hats and visors in case people forgot the essentials. And, don't forget to send extra raffle tickets, just in case someone is in the "buying mood" after a great drive.

Contests

Another way to raise more money on the course is through hosting contests at different holes on the course. Here are some examples:

• Beat the Pro: For this contest, a "golf pro" is stationed at a par 3 hole. The golf pro will tee off first and then individual players can wager an amount that they can hit closer to the pin than the pro. When implementing this type of contest, be sure to have a volunteer with a measuring device to ensure accuracy. You'll want to make sure you have a good "pro" working for you in order to make money from this contest.


• Pro-for Hire: In this contest, instead of competing against the golf pro, individual players or teams can choose to "hire" the pro to hit their drive on a very difficult hole, which could end up saving them a couple strokes, and could be important in a heated competition. Of course, the pro should have a skill for hitting long drives, and therefore charging a fee for the service makes sense.


• Closest to the Pin: This contest typically takes place on a par-3 hole and the drive(s) that lands closest to the pin wins! A volunteer will inform players that if they'd like to participate, there will be an entry fee of $5-$20, and they will be eligible to win a variety of great prizes such as free golf balls, rounds of golf, gift certificates, golf shirts, etc. These prizes are typically donated by sponsors and the hosting course. A second volunteer will be stationed on the green near the hole to measure and keep record of distances. The winners will be announced at the end of the tournament.

Often tournament planners will have one on-course contest on the front-nine and the back-nine. This adds a little excitement to the typical 18-hole golf game, and provides an opportunity to make some extra money while teams are on the course.

After the Tournament Fundraising

Golf Tournament Dinner or Banquet

Since golf outings usually attract a large number of people from your community, this is a fantastic time to host a dinner or banquet in conjunction with the tournament. The banquet can be a completely separate fundraising event that is easily executed with DoJiggy event management software. For people not interested in the game of golf itself, the banquet provides another opportunity to raise additional dollars by selling separate tickets for this event. Including entertainment, excellent food, a silent auction, and an awards ceremony could attract people to the banquet itself.

For the golfers, a banquet is a perfect time to wind down from the long day of playing golf. People are hungry, thirsty and happy. They will actually enjoy the time to decompress and share the experiences of the day with friends and other co-workers. And, all are likely anticipating the results of the on-course contests, and the prizes distributed through the fundraising raffle or auctions. This is also a great time to make any announcements about what your organization is trying to accomplish helping you spread awareness for your cause. If you have a general idea about how much money has been raised at the event, make sure to inform attendees and thank everyone who has contributed to your success. Be sure to also thank any sponsors and highlight specific contributions they've made at this time.

Silent auction

Solicit items from local businesses that will bring in high-dollar bids. Include some popular items that will attract serious bidding from people interested in golf, such as golf lessons from the club pro or a set of new irons. Also include items of interest to the general public. Some popular choices include: weekend get-a-ways, spa services, electronic equipment, unique art and gift certificates.

On the day of your golf fundraiser, set up tables full of donated goods and services that are "up for bid". We recommend conducting the silent auction as part of the award ceremony so you don't have to transport valuable items from registration to the banquet hall. However, a good idea is to start the bidding online! When sending email confirmation to golf participants and dinner attendees, include a link to the online silent auction. People can begin reading about the items up for bid, look at photos, and place secure bids online. The day of the event, the organizer prints up bid sheets, where the last bid left-off and the bidding continues at the actual event. Make sure to have a volunteer monitor the table and answer any questions. Do a last call for bids at the banquet when everyone is gathering for the awards ceremony. Announce the winners, collect the funds, and disperse the merchandise. Visit our Charity Auction Resources if you are looking for more detailed information on hosting a silent auction.

Managing Your Golf Fundraising Tournament

Golf Registrations provides golf tournament planners with a complete set of free resources to help make your fundraising golf tournament a success. These fundraising golf tournament resources include a tournament planner/checklist, a Microsoft Excel based budget, and a set of 5 standard letter templates which can be easily modified for your tournament needs. DoJiggy also provides online golf tournament software to help you manage every detail for your event including:

• Online registration
• Sponsorship and product sales management
• Detailed financial reporting
• Free technical support and training

Whether you are planning a small or large fundraising golf tournament, we hope that our experience and services will assist you with the important tournament details, allowing you to focus on a more successful event that raises more money for your organization. Good Luck!

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