Case Study: Volunteer Youth Hockey Organization benefits From no-cost technology for its annual Golf Fundraiser
Like many volunteer-run organizations, the Grand Rapids Hockey Golf Classic is keenly aware of the value of every second of its volunteers’ time. Hundreds of volunteer coaches, administrators, and personnel have served thousands of boys and girls through its programs. Hockey is a way of life in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and the annual golf event raises money to offset travel and equipment costs for high school teams and provide free equipment for first-year players.
“For a small community, this program has produced a lot of college and pro hockey players,” says Roger Mischke, chair of the golf committee. He volunteers his time to head up the Golf Classic, which keeps the program thriving and gives kids the best experience they can get. In search of a way to streamline the planning process for this year’s golf tournament, and safe options for the event amid COVID-19, Roger found GolfStatus’s Golf for Good program, which provides access to golf fundraising and event management tools at no cost to organizations like his.
Dollars Raised
$13,000
Golfers
220
changes, adaptations & improvements
Health and safety measures and restrictions on in-person events led the golf committee to make several adaptations to the annual tournament. In a year when most in-person events had to be canceled, its loyal participants were particularly thrilled that the Golf Classic could be held. “I think everybody was just so happy that the event could happen that they were willing to adapt,” says Roger.
Through GolfStatus.org and the Golf for Good program, the Grand Rapids Hockey Golf Classic qualified for a free event registration website, built by the GolfStatus team, and no-cost access to GolfStatus’s golf event management technology. Roger and the committee simply shared the link to the event’s website through emails, social media, and other channels so teams and sponsors could register instantly. The simple upgrade to secure online registration was a game-changer for the volunteer organizers in terms of eliminating duplicative work. “We had tried to do online registration in years prior, but it didn’t function very well,” Roger says. “Registration through the GolfStatus event website was definitely an improvement and eliminated a lot of work.”
In fact, many modifications ended up making the event even better. For example, the committee made the decision to switch from a traditional shotgun start to tee times to reduce crowding at the golf course. “Going with tee times might be the way to go moving forward because we can have more players,” Roger says, noting that this year’s tournament attracted 220 golfers, comparatively more than in previous years.
“Registration through the GolfStatus event website definitely worked out better and eliminated a lot of work.”
When a team or sponsor registered through the event website, all their information automatically populated into the GolfStatus event management platform, which meant there was no need for Roger or other volunteers to enter and re-enter information into multiple spreadsheets or systems, maximizing every volunteer’s time and effort.
Another change the committee made was the addition of live-scoring and leaderboards, effectively eliminating paper scorecards to reduce touchpoints and keep golfers, volunteers, and course staff safe. GolfStatus makes live-scoring especially simple: Each team is assigned a unique team code, then one person simply enters the group’s score for each hole into the app with a couple quick taps. Scores populate the event’s leaderboards in real-time, so they can be shared through social media to engage new and existing supporters. In the case of Grand Rapids Hockey, sponsors loved the additional digital exposure offered through the leaderboards and the in-app scorecard. “Sponsors definitely liked having their names and logos in the mobile app,” Roger says.
Left: Live Leaderboards; Right; In-App Registration
Competitive Add-Ons Bring Fun & Engagement
Many of the golfers who play in the annual tournament are program alumni, some of whom have gone on to play hockey at the NCAA Division I level and even in the NHL. Naturally, they loved the competitive aspect of the live scoring feature. Not only do these folks want to support Grand Rapids Hockey, but they also want to compete and enjoy the outing. When players know their score in real-time, it’s a better overall experience. “It was great to not have to rely on golfers turning in paper scorecards or wait on the golf professional to calculate final standings, since everything was done through GolfStatus,” Roger says.
“It was great to not have to rely on golfers turning in paper scorecards or wait on the golf professional to calculate final standings, since everything was done through GolfStatus.”
GolfStatus’s platform also facilitates skins games as a fun add-on and side competition that can easily be added to any tournament. Typically in a skins game, each hole is played separately and is won by the player with the lowest score on that particular hole. If two or more golfers tie for the low score, the skin carries over to the next hole. At the end of the round, the player with the most skins is the winner.
GolfStatus makes it easy to keep track of skins games; tournament organizers can quickly select who is in and out on any type of skins game—gross, net, team, and/or individual. For the Grand Rapids Hockey Golf Classic, Roger and the committee offered a Team Skins (Gross) option. “The skins feature worked really well,” Roger says. “It was great how the software kept track and calculated that for us.” The software instantly compares all hole-by-hole scores of golfers in the skins game against one another to give live skins results during score entry, adding more engagement, competition, and enjoyment to the round.
Maximizing Volunteer Time & Outcomes
Maximizing the time and effort of its volunteers is critical to the success of volunteer-run organizations, including many youth sports clubs and associations. Implementing GolfStatus’s technology for the annual golf tournament not only saved volunteers many hours of work, but it improved the event’s professionalism, kept sponsors happy, and further engaged golfers to maximize fundraising outcomes. Though the committee had to make the difficult choice to eliminate some of the extra components of the golf fundraiser—like the live auction, banquet, and some on-course competitions—the additional golfers and sponsors the tournament attracted raised crucial dollars for youth hockey programs.
In the end, this year’s golf fundraiser allowed program alumni to connect with current players, families, and supporters in a safe way, enjoy a round of golf, and raise money to draw—and keep—more kids in the sport.
Learn more about the Grand Rapids Hockey Golf Classic at www.grhockeygolfclassic.com.
GolfStatus.org is proud to serve youth sports organizations. To learn more about how GolfStatus’s technology can help nonprofit organizations of all sizes and types run a successful golf fundraiser—and how you can get no-cost access through the Golf for Good program—contact us or get a demo.