Golf provides a unique opportunity for military veterans to connect with each other in an outdoor, healthy environment. PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere), a program of the Professional Golfers Association, does just that, providing an outlet for veterans to boost their physical, mental, social, and emotional wellbeing.

PGA HOPE is a free golf program for veterans and active-duty military personnel, led and taught by PGA Professionals. When they complete the program, the veterans are considered “graduates” and remain engaged with the program, and more importantly, with each other.

Seth Scollard, Assistant Executive Director of the Nebraska Section PGA, says the program has become about more than just golf. “Golf has almost become secondary. It’s camaraderie and takes their minds off of everything else for a couple hours each week,” he says. “As the program has grown, it’s really created a veteran community.” Graduates come together for a variety of activities centered around golf and more, including golf leagues, baseball games, and serving food at homeless shelters.

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“Golf has almost become secondary. It’s camaraderie and takes their minds off of everything else for a couple hours each week.”

— Seth Scollard, Assistant Executive Director of the Nebraska Section PGA

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The PGA HOPE Classic falls under the umbrella of PGA REACH Nebraska. It’s one of the section’s flagship programs, with over 250 active participants in its sixth year. PGA REACH Nebraska runs several golf events over the course of the year, with Seth as the point person for organization and execution. In the past, they offered a nine-hole event for PGA HOPE program graduates, but with more veterans involved than ever, Seth and his team decided to up the ante and create the 18-hole PGA HOPE Classic. The Classic added another tournament under the purview of the PGA REACH Foundation, and another need for a golf event-specific tool to manage and execute such events.

“There are a lot of software options out there that cater to PGA Professionals and golf facilities, but when you look at charity events, there’s a different set of needs,” Seth says.

Read the full case study to find out how a partnership with GolfStatus bridges the gap between PGA Professionals and other golf facility staff and nonprofit tournament organizers, and helps PGA HOPE support veterans through golf.

Every one of the 35 schools in the Millard Public School (MPS) District has benefited in one way or another from the Millard Public Schools Foundation (MPSF). MPS is located in Omaha, Nebraska and serves 23,000 students with 3,000 staff in kindergarten through high school. The Foundation gives roughly $1,000,000 back to the schools on an annual basis to allow Millard’s schools to work beyond their regular operating budget.

MPSF has funded programs like after school childcare, advanced placement scholarships, food pantries at district high schools, support for Millard families in need, educator awards, and much more for over 40 years, helping students and educators thrive and the district become a district of choice for area families. “Ultimately our main mission is to support the district and make a difference in the community,” says Marilyn Chollett, Director of Development and Communications for MPSF.

One way the Foundation drives revenue is through an annual golf fundraiser. Marilyn has been part of the golf tournament for 15 of the event’s 30+ year existence and serves as the MPSF liaison to the event’s planning committee. “Golf is a great way to have fun and raise money for our work,” she says. “We want the tournament to be something where people can come and have a lot of fun and support our mission.”

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“Golf is a great way to have fun and raise money for our work.”

— Marilyn Chollet, Director of Development and Communications for MPSF

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The tournament’s planning team changes every year, with Marilyn remaining a steady presence. She’s not a golfer, but keeps the committee on task and on track. It’s a significant investment of everyone’s time, so Marilyn has kept her eyes open for ways to streamline the tournament from start to finish.

When she came across GolfStatus’ booth at the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) conference in New Orleans in April of 2023, she was intrigued by the user-friendliness of the platform, and the promise to save organizers time and help raise more money from golf events.

Read the full case study to learn how the MPSF worked with GolfStatus to identify new sponsorship opportunities and streamline the tournament’s operations to help raise over $90,000 for their mission.

Coalition 4 Kids, a Tennessee-based nonprofit that serves vulnerable youth in low-income, high crime areas, has been chosen as the winner of a $10,000 donation as part of GolfStatus’ 2024 Play it Forward giveaway.

For the fourth year, the giveaway was presented in partnership with Dormie Network, a collection of luxury, private destination golf clubs, and its charitable arm, Dormie Network Foundation. The goal of Play It Forward is to celebrate those who use golf for good. Golfers, nonprofits, and the general public were asked to nominate a golf tournament fundraiser for a $10,000 donation, and the nominator was entered to win a Stay and Play package from Dormie Network.

Empowering Kids

Coalition 4 Kids began in 1998, offering after school and evening activities for vulnerable children in one of the lowest-income and highest crime areas in Johnson City, Tennessee. Since then, the organization has expanded into all Washington County and Bristol, Tennessee schools, providing a nurturing environment for over 1,200 students every day to achieve academic, physical, spiritual, and social growth. Its annual golf fundraiser, The C4K Golf Classic, helps raise operational costs for their programming.

The annual C4K Golf Classic helps raise funds for the organization's after school and summer programming.

Executive Director Randy Hensley says the $10,000 donation will immediately be put towards supporting and serving under-resourced children after-school. “We are the safety net for these kids—their family, their education system, their mentor,” he says about their program that provides help with homework, math, reading, character building, spiritual guidance, healthy extra-curricular activities, afternoon snack, and a hot supper—all at no cost to families. “You can change somebody’s whole life if you simply love them where they are and walk with them,” he says.

Golfing for good

Over 700 organizations and golf events were nominated for Play It Forward in 2024. The runner-up, Idaho Golf Fellowship’s Hope House Shamble, received a complimentary hole-in-one contest insurance package from GolfStatus to be used as an additional fundraising opportunity.

Since its inaugural campaign in 2021, Play It Forward has been a hallmark of GolfStatus and Dormie Network’s commitment to give back to those who use golf for good. Past winners include:

• 2023: Avery’s Hope

• 2022: Sisters Across America and Make-A-Wish Foundation

• 2021: Cameron Steinberg Foundation

Nonprofits like Coalition 4 Kids can qualify to use GolfStatus’ golf event management platform at no upfront cost through the Golf for Good program. It’s built just for golf events, with baked-in tools and automations to save busy tournament organizers an average of 40 hours per event and help raise an extra $10,000 or more. There’s no risk and a ton of reward. Click below to learn more and get qualified.

Maxwell Tyeryar served six years in the U.S. Army National Guard, including a nine-month tour in Kuwait. He earned a Sergeant’s ranking and numerous service medals, including the distinguished Army Achievement Medal.

But like many veterans, Max masked his internal struggle, and took his own life on January 29, 2022 at just 25 years old. Max’s father, Wes, launched Max Well for Life to honor Max and help support those who struggle with their path in life, along with the families and friends who have been impacted by the loss of a loved one through suicide.

Michele Mikk’s two sons were good friends with Max and he spent a lot of time with her family, so it was devastating to learn that he had taken his own life. After Wes organized a walk dedicated to Max, Michele’s sons approached her with the idea of a golf tournament. She immediately said yes, and the Max Well For Life Charity Golf Tournament was born.

Beyond raising money, Michele knew they wanted the golf tournament to bring people together and raise awareness about the struggles veterans often face. “Even if we’re able to help one person, it’s enough,” she says. Michele isn’t a golfer, but knew she didn’t have to be one to raise money with golf. Her two sons played golf with Max in high school, so as a golf mom, she knew enough to get started.

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“I don’t have to know how to play golf to raise money with it!”

— Michele Mikk, Tournament Organizer

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She’s good at handling details, but wanted an easy way to collect golfer registrations, sell sponsorships, and handle the bookkeeping side of the tournament—without being mired down with spreadsheets, checks, and emails.

A friend of Michele’s told her about GolfStatus, a software platform built specifically for golf fundraisers. She looked further into GolfStatus and found that it checked all the boxes—easy to use, attractive website, online registration, payment processing and golf-specific features.

Read the full case study to find out how the tournament brought people together in Max’ memory, and how GolfStatus helped establish processes, give the event much-needed infrastructure, and raise thousands of extra dollars.

If you’re looking for a fresh idea to engage employees, clients, and the community at large while raising awareness about your brand in a unique and meaningful way, a corporate golf event is the perfect answer. Corporate golf outings—especially when they’re well-managed and organized—offer a variety of positive outcomes for a company.

What Are Corporate Golf Events?

A corporate golf event is a tournament or outing planned and hosted by a business. Corporate events often raise money for a corporate foundation or favorite nonprofit, but don’t have to include a charitable component. Such events are used as an opportunity for team-building across departments, to entertain clients or prospects, or as a give-back initiative. 

For example, a credit union is looking for a new way to support the children’s hospital in its community. The credit union organizes a corporate golf event targeted at credit union employees, partners, and vendors, and hospital personnel. The event connects people across organizations while raising money for the hospital.

Learn How to Plan a Corporate Golf Event

What Are the Benefits of Corporate Golf Events?

Enhance Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly important to employees, partners, and clients who want to work and spend their dollars with businesses that prioritize community impact. Consider these CSR statistics:

• 93% of employees think companies should lead with purpose

• 77% of consumers want to purchase from socially-responsible companies

• 94% of major US corporations plan to increase or maintain their corporate giving over the next few years

CSR initiatives should be strategic, genuine, and multifaceted. A corporate golf outing that benefits a charity or cause is a great addition to your company’s CSR portfolio, providing not only a philanthropic opportunity, but the brand lift and awareness that comes from a fun community fundraiser. 

As a business, this could mean connecting with an existing golf event to support it as a sponsor. Or, if you choose to take it a step further by hosting your own corporate event, you can be strategic in choosing nonprofit beneficiaries while also reaping a reputational boost.

Connect With Your Community

Golf events are unique in that they can be designed as communal activities. If community engagement and outreach are among your goals for the outing, you’ll want to ask and answer a few questions as you get started:

• Who would we like to attend the outing?

• What’s our goal for turnout?

• What do we want our attendees to take away from this event?

• Does it make sense to open the tournament up to the broader community?

You may invite specific community members to participate, such as the mayor, community outreach group leaders, school administrators, or other stakeholders. Or invite staff or beneficiaries from the charity the outing will raise money for. Either way, be thoughtful about how the event might be a win-win for your business and the community.

No matter the audience you choose or the objective at hand for your business, having an easy way to register and track interested participants and sponsorships is crucial. Online registration with secure payment processing as part of a broader golf event management platform makes it easy to collect participant information, manage it in real time, and facilitate communications before, during, and after the event.

Provide a Competitive Edge

Creating positive social impact has increasingly become a competitive advantage for businesses. As a community event that tends to attract attention in addition to raising dollars, a corporate golf event that’s dedicated to supporting a cause helps set your brand apart from your competitors and attract socially responsible customers. 

An event website makes it simple to spread the word about your event while also getting more support from the community. A professional event site also elevates your brand, cause, and case for support. A website provider like GolfStatus, that’s powered by a golf-specific software platform, lets you manage players, teams, and hole assignments with just a few clicks.

Build & Foster Relationships

Golf outings are unique in that they give participants four or five focused hours on the golf course—a rarity in today’s busy world. That means several hours of facetime with colleagues, vendors, clients, prospects, or others to network and advance important business relationships. This also means that your business development team gets quality time to engage with current and prospective clients and partners to thank them for their continued involvement or advance a new relationship. 

If fostering business relationships is among your goals for the event, you’ll want to ensure a smooth and seamless experience for participants from the time they hear about your event to the thank you they receive for supporting it. Every touchpoint should be seamless and professional, including online registration, clear communication in the time leading up to the event, high quality branded cart signs and scorecards, and TOUR-caliber live leaderboards.

Boost Employee Engagement

In today’s competitive job market, businesses need to find ways to attract and retain top talent, which means demonstrating that business priorities include more than just the bottom line. Studies show that team bonding events can boost employee retention and performance at work. A golf outing can be used to engage employees, reward them for a job well done, build morale, and encourage team retention. Best of all, holding a charity event satisfies the 71% of employees who think it’s important to work at a company that gives back.

Allow Your Company to Do Good In Your Community

Golf has deep ties to the nonprofit sector, evidenced by the $4.6 billion that the sport raises for charity annually. It’s a game that brings people together in a memorable way to raise funds for a good cause. Golf’s popularity continues to grow, making it a great time to use it to give back—to your employees, your community, and an important cause.

For instance, in the example mentioned above, a credit union hosted a golf tournament that raised money for the local children’s hospital. Organizers sold sponsorships to the credit union’s partners, vendors, and industry associations who share an interest in advancing children’s healthcare. Golfers represented sponsors, employees from the host credit union and competing credit unions, members of the city council, and hospital staff. Hospital patients and administrators attended the event and helped run on-course games that allowed participants to connect with the “why” behind the event. The event raised $50,000 which provided financial assistance to patients and their families and built strong connections within the community.

How to Host a Corporate Golf Event

If you’ve never planned a golf tournament before or don’t know much about the sport, don’t worry—you can still hold a professional, memorable event that engages employees and the community. Here’s how:

1. Use the Right Tools

It’s likely that planning a company golf outing isn’t your full-time job, or even something you do on a regular basis, so you might not know where to start or how to maximize efficiencies that save your precious time. Most event management systems aren’t able to intuitively manage the intricacies of a golf outing (hole assignments, player pairings, scoring and leaderboards, flighting, handicaps, etc.) so look for one that’s built specifically for golf tournaments and includes:

Online registration is non-negotiable when planning a corporate golf event. It gives the event and your brand a professional feel and is a time-saver for tournament planners.

• Online Registration. This is a must-have—golfers seamlessly submit their information and payment online, saving hours of dealing with spreadsheets, checks, and receipts. 

• Customizable Event Website. The site should present your event in a professional light and make it simple to promote the event, provide digital sponsor exposure, and share detailed information about the event.

• Shared Access. All registration information should populate into the platform’s back end, which means all the event’s information is stored and accessible in one place by organizers and even staff at the golf facility. 

• Communication Tools. Need an easy way to quickly communicate with all registrants? Your platform should have built-in communication tools like emails and push notifications. 

• Pre-formatted Printouts. Want to print branded scorecards and cart signs? Use a platform that comes with pre-formatted, professional printouts.

• Live-scoring & Leaderboards. Golfers submit their scores with an easy-to-use, reliable live-scoring app that syncs to live leaderboards. Live leaderboards give the tournament an even more professional look and feel and allow teams to track current standings.

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Ready to start planning?

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2. Set Goals & Outline the Specifics

Once you have your management tool in place, you can determine goals and specifics. The goals for the event will help other key details fall into place, so start by thinking through what you hope to accomplish. Keep in mind that goals don’t have to be mutually exclusive—you can engage employees while also raising money for charity. 

If you are planning to include a fundraising component in the outing, work directly with the chosen nonprofit partner from the beginning to ensure everyone is on the same page and to collect logos and messaging.

Once you’ve determined the outing’s goals, it’s time to think through event specifics, including:

• Target audience (employees, clients, partners, community members, etc.)

• Tournament budget

• Host golf facility

• Planning team roles and responsibilities

• Marketing and communications strategy

• Sponsorship packages (if applicable)

• Contingency plan for inclement weather

• Prizes and awards

• Add-on activities and contests, such as on-course games, hole-in-one contests, raffle drawings, or a silent auction

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Step-by-Step Golf Tournament Planning Guide

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3. Promote the Corporate Golf Event

It’s time to get the word out about the event! How you do this is dependent on the target audience for your outing. For instance, if the tournament is open to employees, you might include a link to the event website in internal newsletters or mention it in company meetings. If the event is open to the community at large, send promotional emails, include in client newsletters, and mention on your social media channels. And if you’re raising money for a nonprofit, work with them to promote the tournament to their supporter base.

Particularly if your golf outing has a charitable component, consider drumming up some positive PR for your company and what the event is raising money for. Invite members of the press and the community to participate and work together to raise awareness for a good cause (and give your brand a substantial lift). 

If you’re live scoring the event, post a link to the live leaderboards on your social media channels to get even more exposure for your company and brand, the benefiting charity, and the leaderboard sponsor (if you have one).

4. Provide a Memorable Experience

What sets a great event apart from a good event is the overall experience. Folks will remember if the event was chaotic and plagued with snafus—or if it was well executed. Using technology tools to manage the event holistically frees golf facility staff up to assist and cater to golfers instead of scrambling to handle last-minute tasks like hole assignments, scorecards, cart signs, and alpha lists. It also streamlines prep and planning so event planners stay organized and can execute a seamless event. 

Yes, your event needs to be well-run, but it should also offer a memorable, top-notch experience that advances business goals: 

• Include add-ons and extras like contests, on-course games and entertainment, auctions, and custom player gifts.

• Live score the event to add an element of professionalism that’s unlike any other and let spectators (as well as event organizers who are keeping an eye on the round’s progress to facilitate an awards ceremony, banquet, reception, or other post-round gathering) follow along on live leaderboards. 

• Build in ways to connect with employees and/or clients, such as through a pre- or post-round meal or reception, on-course interactions, the opportunity to volunteer, or informal networking. 

• Be strategic when making hole assignments and how they might further business objectives. For example, you may want to pair your company’s top executives with their counterparts from a major partner or prospective client to spend the day on the course talking business and potentially even closing deals. Or group staff or board members from the benefiting charity with potential partners or donors to help advance their mission and open doors for additional support.
  

5. Track Data & Gauge Success

It’s important to demonstrate the overall success and impact of the event, both to prove its value to decision makers in your company and demonstrate your commitment to giving back if your tournament includes a fundraising component. Your golf event management platform should include robust reporting that helps you see at a glance:

• The number of teams or individual golfers

• The number of sponsors that signed on to support the event

• The dollars that were processed through online registration and donations

You might also gather further information to gauge the event’s success by:

• Sending surveys to participants to garner impressions and feedback, and the event’s impact on employee satisfaction

• Having informal conversations with golfers to see what they like and how you can improve in the future

• Meeting with the benefiting nonprofit to determine fundraising outcomes and next steps for donor stewardship

If your corporate golf event becomes an annual tradition, consider tracking and analyzing long-term trends, such as employee retention and the event’s impact on the company’s culture.

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Powering Corporate Golf Events with GolfStatus

Whether you’re at a Fortune 500 company, a socially-responsible local business, or a corporate foundation raising money for a dedicated cause, GolfStatus’ golf event management and fundraising platform is the solution for the best event possible.  

GolfStatus’ powerful, user-friendly tech saves organizers time and effort, helps raise more money, boosts your brand, and ensures a professionally planned and executed tournament from start to finish. Plus, if you’re planning an outing that benefits a nonprofit or cause, you can qualify for no-cost access through the Golf for Good program. Not only do you get an attractive, professional event website, but you also get golf-specific tools and features, access to sponsorships and add-ons only available to GolfStatus clients, and a dedicated client success rep to coach you along the way. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Use the Tech That’s Built for Golf events

Click Here to Book a GolfStatus Demo!

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End-of-year giving is crucial for nonprofits looking to boost their bottom line and meet the year’s financial goals. Motivated by the holidays and the opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation, donors give (on average) about $48 billion to nonprofits in the last two months of the year. Plus, nonprofits typically see about 30% of annual giving occur in December. Nonprofits, causes, and charities of all types and sizes have the opportunity to end the year on a high note with a targeted giving campaign.

Here are six ideas to increase your nonprofit’s year-end giving results.

1. Set a Goal and Make It Easy for Donors to Track Progress.

Donors appreciate seeing, in real ways, how they’re contributing to mission fulfillment. When you set a specific fundraising goal for your year-end giving campaign—and give supporters a way to track progress toward that goal—they can immediately see how their gift is moving the needle. You don’t have to shoot for the moon; instead, make your target realistic and achievable. 

PRO TIP: GolfStatus event websites have a built-in progress bar feature that updates in real-time when someone makes a donation. Reactivate your event site to seamlessly collect donations and let supporters see how close you are to hitting your goal.

2. Make It Shareable.

It’s the snowball effect—perhaps someone who attended your golf fundraiser learned about your organization and completely bought into your cause. They’re excited to support you and want to ask their friends, family, and colleagues to do the same. An online donation option makes it quick and easy to share a link on their social media platforms, via text, or through an email. If you’re mailing printed appeals, include a QR code with a direct donation link for any printed pieces. It’s crucial to have a giving site that’s mobile-friendly, with an easy payment interface, so folks don’t get frustrated with the process and abandon their transactions before submission.

PRO TIP: Ask your golf event planning committee or volunteers to share the donation link with at least five people.

3. Capture Donor Data.

The importance of this can’t be understated—capturing this valuable information, at the time of donation, not only lays the foundation for additional donor stewardship and long-term support, but reduces stress on you and your staff. Just like with your golf fundraiser’s registration, relying on paper donation forms and having to process checks, cash, or hand-written credit card numbers is tedious and wastes a ton of your staff’s valuable time. Collecting this data online significantly cuts down your administrative time, making the dollars go further. Simply download this information and add batch notations or tags for tracking purposes and include it in your organization’s donor database. 

PRO TIP: Golfers are a valuable demographic to have in your donor database. They’re typically generous, affluent, and influential, with an annual household income twice the national average and a net worth of over $760,000.

4. Make It Tangible.

Help donors make a tangible connection to your end-of-year fundraising. Whether it’s a specific program or effort or unrestricted dollars, use your giving website to share how you plan to use their gift through words, photos, and even videos. Set custom giving amounts and describe what each will help your organization do, i.e. “A gift of $100 will provide books for two underserved classrooms in our community.” 

PRO TIP: Leave space for a custom donation amount if folks want to give more or less than the predetermined amounts—every gift helps.

5. Say Thank You (More Than Once!)

In the busy-ness of the close of a year, this step is easy to overlook or punt until the new year. Automate this process as much as possible, for a couple reasons: 1. Donors are thanked in a timely manner and 2. You save a ton of time. A prompt thank you reassures donors that their gift was received (and they get their donation receipt for tax purposes) and helps solidify the relationship. Think about other, additional ways to express your appreciation in the new year, whether it’s tapping your board or volunteers to make phone calls or send handwritten thank you notes.

PRO TIP: Donations made via a GolfStatus event website automatically receive a receipt via email, where you can input a custom message and images.

6. Use Giving Tuesday to Appeal to Supporters.

Giving Tuesday typically occurs the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving (following the retail-heavy days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday). The idea is to encourage people to do good, and in many cases, that means donating to their favorite nonprofit(s). It’s a great time to connect with your constituents and community members, highlighting what your organization is doing to address important issues and ask for their help in the form of a donation. Start by appealing to those that attended your golf fundraiser (those that played in it, attended as guests, or sponsored the event). 

PRO TIP: Social media is a great way to drum up support on Giving Tuesday, as well as targeted emails to your golf tournament attendees (or other donor segment) leading up to and on Giving Tuesday.

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How GolfStatus Can Help

Even if your golf event was months ago, your GolfStatus event website can help drive and easily collect end-of-year donations with the donate button. You can easily set and display progress toward your fundraising goal right on the site’s home page, as well as at checkout. You can choose to reframe the event website’s content to focus on the goals for the donation appeal or even create a new event site (that way, you retain the original golf site for future reference). 

Get in touch to find out how GolfStatus can help with your golf fundraiser from start to finish, from our powerful, user-friendly tech to industry-leading support and vast experience. Through our Golf for Good program, 501(c) organizations (and those planning golf events that benefit a charity) can qualify for no-cost access to the platform. Click below to get started or email us directly at [email protected].