Rural High School's Alumni Golf Tournament Raises Money for Underserved Initiatives
Niobrara County High School (NCHS) is located in Lusk, Wyoming, a town of about 1,500 people in the state’s Eastern plains. It’s home to open pastures, rolling hills, and a rich history in mining and cattle ranching. When Jason Wasserburger, an attorney living in Cheyenne, attended his 15-year NCHS reunion six years ago, he was disappointed by the lack of turnout.
Dollars raised
$27,000+
Annual tournament
6th year
Each NCHS class typically holds an individual reunion on Friday night of the alumni weekend each June, with an all-class banquet on Saturday night, Jason says, though he points out that recently, these events have garnered lower participation than in the past. He and a few classmates played a round of golf over the reunion weekend, and it sparked an idea to draw more alumni: provide an economic boost to the community, and raise money for the school—a golf tournament fundraiser.
Launching & Growing a Fundraiser
Jason tapped three other NCHS alumni to get the ball rolling in the tournament’s first year. While two of the four weren’t golfers, they all had a penchant for organization and getting things done. “The first year was mostly an experiment in figuring out how to make this work and getting folks on board with the idea,” Jason says. In its first year, the tournament raised about $7,500, of which $4,000 was donated the rest used as seed money to run the tournament the following year. But perhaps more importantly, the fundraiser gained momentum and buy-in from alumni.
As the years passed, the tournament steadily grew in both the number of teams and the total dollars raised. The tournament’s second year brought in $10,000 and increased to $12,000, $15,000, and over $18,000 in its third, fourth, and fifth years, respectively.
But as the sixth year of the fundraiser approached, the NCHS Alumni Golf Board wanted to find a way to modernize the tournament and reduce the manual labor required to handle registrations, hole assignments, and scoring. Enter GolfStatus, which provided a free event registration website, and—since the tournament raised money for the nonprofit alumni association—access to its golf event management and fundraising platform at no cost through its Golf for Good program.
“We wanted to automate as much of the process as possible, and GolfStatus did that,” Jason says. The switch to online registration was the biggest time-saver, collecting team information and payments via the event website instead of using multiple spreadsheets to process checks and receipts received via email, mail, and social media.
“We wanted to automate as much of the process as possible, and GolfStatus did that.”
For the 2021 tournament, the Board set an aggressive fundraising goal of $25,000, increasing the cost of team registration packages and add-ons like mulligans to help the event continue to raise more dollars. “Some of us thought we were a few years away from being able to reach that goal,” Jason says. Not only did the tournament meet the goal, it surpassed it, raising over $27,000!
Making the Experience Great
Jason says the tournament has always focused on the golfer experience. As the event grew, it was split into two rounds, with more competitive folks generally playing in the morning round but all teams handicapped and scored together. Because the tournament is played at a small nine-hole golf course, teams were limited to three people to keep a steady pace of play.
One of the ways the Board has aimed to attract teams, and keep them coming back each year, is to provide a stellar tournament experience. Working with sponsors to secure high-end hole and contest prizes like TaylorMade golf bags and clubs, putters, cash prizes, and Yeti coolers has proven effective. The addition of contests, including closest to the pin, longest putt, and longest drive competitions, keeps folks lingering at the course beyond playing their round of golf, encouraging alumni to reconnect.
A hallmark of the GolfStatus platform is simple, reliable live scoring. Teams submit their scores on each hole via the free GolfStatus app, which syncs with the event’s live leaderboards. Leaderboards can be viewed by anyone, anywhere on the event website or in the app, keeping golfers and spectators engaged and making finalizing the tournament simpler and more efficient. “It’s way better than handwriting it on a big scoreboard like we used to,” Jason says. He points out that rather than waiting until after the tournament to tabulate scores, GolfStatus provided that information in real-time, saving a tremendous amount of time.
The Board was admittedly concerned ahead of the event that there might be resistance to mobile scoring among golfers, but the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Teams reported how they liked seeing the standings throughout the event. “Everyone was really happy with the live-scoring app,” Jason says, noting that even the older generation enjoyed it.
“Everyone was really happy with the live-scoring app.”
Doing Good For the Community
As the tournament has grown and gained momentum over its six-year tenure, it’s increasingly viewed as a viable community fundraiser. Jason notes that people seek out ways to make donations because they know the money is going back to the school and benefits the community as a whole. “Most sponsors have a connection to the community and see the golf tournament as a way to give back,” Jason explains.
“Most sponsors have a connection to the community and see the golf tournament as a way to give back.”
The proceeds from the tournament go to the NCHS alumni association, donated in honor of Jerry and Lynnea Fulmer, longtime teacher, coach, school district employee, and all-around huge supporters of NCHS. The association supports scholarships for NCHS graduates and their families, ensuring the stability of the longtime scholarship fund. Additional donations are made to the NCHS Activity Fund, which supports all students and activities, and the Tiger Pride Booster Club. The Board wants current students to have access to the same activities and opportunities older alumni had when they were in school. The golf tournament helps fill the funding gap from declining enrollment, a decrease in state funding, and lower participation in historic fundraisers like the alumni banquet, providing funds for the extras that NCHS or the Booster Club may not otherwise be able to support, like hotel rooms for a state tournament, tires for a bus, new uniforms, pregame meals for sports teams, and post-prom activities. The Board also established and helped fund the Joseph K. Tully Memorial Scholarship, create in honor of a longtime teacher, principal, and coach.
The Board plans to continue to use GolfStatus to delegate some of the prep and planning tasks in the future so they can focus more on the fundraising aspect of the tournament. The web-based platform makes collaborating among teams and committees super simple; since everything is kept in one easily accessible place, everyone is working with the same up-to-the minute information, instead of relying on spreadsheets that quickly become outdated.
The Board is also training new members on best practices for running the tournament (including getting them looped into the GolfStatus platform) to keep the tournament’s planning team fresh and energized. “Overall, for the size of our event and community, we’re able to raise a ton of money and we continue to need go-getters to make the tournament happen,” Jason says. He’s excited about the future and how GolfStatus will continue to create efficiencies and pave the way to raise more money for the association.
“Overall, for the size of our event and community, we’re able to raise a ton of money.”
Through GolfStatus.org and the Golf for Good program, nonprofits and those holding golf fundraisers that benefit one can qualify for no-cost access to GolfStatus’s event management and fundraising technology. Get started with a free event registration website and a platform that keeps you organized, handles the golf-specific details, and provides time-saving automation. Click the link below to get qualified or email [email protected].