Still looking for ideas to boost your golf tournament’s fundraising revenue? In this installment of the “golf tournament ideas that raise more money” blog series (check out the posts that focused on the pros at BackSwing Golf Events, hole-in-one contests, and in-kind donations), we’ll discuss how adding on-course games bring fun and fundraising to your tournament.

What is an on-course golf tournament game?

An on-course game is an addition to your tournament that involves an activity on one or more holes on the golf course that golfers pay to participate in. The games can have a variety of outcomes, like improving the team’s score, providing a better tee off location, removing an obstacle, winning a prize, or just to add an element of fun.

The Credit Unions for Kids Golf Classic adds extra fun to its tournament with on-course games, like kicking soccer balls onto an inflatable dartboard.

How Do on-course golf tournament games Work?

Games can be added to your tournament at any time, well in advance or right before the event. You can opt to have golfers pay to play when they register or pay the day of the tournament. Make sure you have an easy way to collect credit card payments in case golfers don’t carry cash. Your GolfStatus event website is a great option for this! An all-in games package is the easiest option—folks pay one flat fee to participate in all the games. Use wristbands or something similar to signal to the volunteers working the games on the course that those golfers have already paid.

Keep pace of play in mind when choosing the number of on-course games and their corresponding locations for your event. You don’t want teams piling up on a hole with a time-consuming game. Keep them easy to explain and quick to play to keep the round moving and golfers happy.

You’ll need to recruit volunteers to run each of the games. These can be staff or board members, other volunteers, or even sponsors. Depending on the length of the round, you might want to have two shifts of volunteers. They need to be comfortable explaining the rules and procedures, how to pay online via your event website, or collect cash payments.

how can we boost revenue with on-course golf tournament games?

Sell a games sponsorship! There are a few ways to structure a games sponsorship for your golf fundraiser. It’s up to you and what works best for your tournament!

Individual Games Sponsorships

Sell a sponsorship for each individual game on the course and encourage the purchasing business to run the game the day of the event. This gives them great brand exposure and ample opportunity to connect with golfers.

Overall Games Sponsorship

You might consider offering an overall games sponsorship that encompasses every game on the course. This sponsorship would sell for more than the individual game sponsorships and provide premium exposure for the sponsoring business.

Front & Back Nine Games Sponsorships

Alternatively, you could offer two separate games sponsorships, one for the front nine and one for the back nine.

What Are the Benefits of Having on-course golf tournament games?

• Fun, fun, and more fun! Golfers of all skill levels can participate in on-course games and enjoy the extra entertainment.

• You’ll raise more money. Games bring in additional revenue, whether you sell one or more game sponsorships or just rely on golfers paying to play.

• They’re memorable. Golfers are guaranteed to remember the tournament where they shot the ball down the course with an air cannon or had to tee off or putt wearing Mickey Mouse gloves. Games add to a more enjoyable overall tournament experience.

• Cause connection. Tying a game to your cause in some way helps golfers better understand and connect with what they’re helping raise money for.

Outlook Enrichment uses sleep shades for a blind putt hole to help golfers better understand vision loss.

What are some ideas for golf tournament games?

The possibilities are endless, so gather your planning team to brainstorm ideas. Reach out to the Pro at the host golf facility, who might also have ideas for games that have been popular at other tournaments. These ideas can help get you started.

Connect Golfers to Your Mission

Games that connect golfers to your mission in some way have double the impact—they get a deeper appreciation for your cause and are more likely to chip in addition money. For example, Outlook Enrichment, a nonprofit that serves the visually-impaired, had a blind putt hole to help golfers better understand the struggles of vision loss. Golfers wore a sleep shade and relied on their teammates to help them line up their shot through audio cues. If a team made it, they could replace any score from the tournament with a hole in one.

Another example is Habitat for Humanity of Columbus, which helps provide affordable housing and homeowner education, had a game on the practice green where golfers putted with building tools, like sledgehammers and levels, instead of their putters. They also had a hole where golfers teed off using work gloves, and golfers could pay to opt out if they didn’t want to chance the gloves affecting their shot and corresponding score.

Golfers at Habitat for Humanity of Columbus putted with building tools as part of a golf tournament game.

beat the pro

Groups like BackSwing Golf Events will send a pro to your golf event to engage golfers with contests like beat the pro, long drive pro, glass break challenge, and more—and raise a ton more money in the process. There’s no upfront charge to adding a BackSwing pro to your tournament, and they take care of all the logistics.

A spin on a beat the pro contest, if you’ve got a willing sponsor or other golfer, is a beat the amateur” contest. It could work like this: The amateur goes head-to-head with golfers on their tee shot; if the amateur hits it further, the money paid to participate becomes a donation. If the golfer wins, they get double their money back.

Golf ball cannon

Give golfers the chance to shoot their ball down the fairway using an air gun or golf ball cannon, instead of hitting a tee shot.

hole of fortune

Choose one hole that’s dubbed the “hole of fortune.” Golfers pick a card, play Plinko, or spin a wheel to determine the club they’ll use to tee off or play the entire hole with or the tee boxes they’ll start from. Prizes could also include an extra mulligan, an automatic hole-in-one, or a free drink. Alternatively, some slots or cards could result in something not as rewarding, such as teeing off while blindfolded or getting a penalty stroke.

Roll-a-score

Have golfers roll a set of dice and give them the option to replace any score from the event with whatever they rolled.

marshmallow drive

Have golfers tee off with a marshmallow. The golfer with the longest “drive” wins a prize. You could change this up to have golfers chip with a marshmallow, and the golfer with the closest chip to the hole gets the prize.

How Can We Level up Our Golf Tournament games?

On-course games definitely boost golfer engagement throughout the tournament, but if you’re looking for ways to supercharge that engagement, try these ideas that level up golf tournament games:

• Leverage social media. Go live from one of the games, create a specific hashtag for a new game, and assign someone to share photos from each game throughout the tournament to get more people excited about participating in the games.

• Hype it up. Ask a volunteer, a staff or board member, or recruit a local celebrity to announce or emcee a game to hype golfers up to participate (and make extra donations!). 

• Incorporate team-based challenges. Create ways for teams to compete against each other in the games. For example, if you use the marshmallow drive game, you can keep track of distance across all teams and award a special prize to the ultimate winner.

• Use real-time leaderboards. When you use a software solution that provides hassle-free live-scoring, you can use real-time standings as part of your games. Perhaps teams that are under par at a certain game hole get a free extra wheel spin or Plinko drop, or teams that are more than a few strokes over par get an additional try at the marshmallow drive.

• Take online payments. Whether you’re selling supertickets, wristbands, or individual game entries or collecting donations, the ability to collect payments online via your event website helps bring in more dollars and makes post-tournament accounting easier. Post a sign with a QR code that links directly to the packages page to make it super simple for golfers and your planning team, and you won’t have to deal with keeping track of cash payments.

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Golf for Good

Nonprofits, charities, and third parties planning charity golf tournaments can get started with GolfStatus at no upfront cost through the Golf for Good program! Get access to GolfStatus’ golf event management platform—with a robust event website, time-saving automations and built-in fundraising tools, premium sponsorships, trusted partners, and an A+ in-house support team—to make your next golf event the best one yet. Click below to connect with our team!

Ready to get started?

Click here to book a demo today!

Your event website functions as the home base for your golf tournament, where folks can find out more about the event, learn about your organization, and register or purchase a sponsorship. Your event website also has a secret weapon—the donate button.

It’s a more-powerful-than-you-think tool that you can use to do far more than simply accept donations. You can collect payments for a number of tournament add-ons via the donation button. This keeps all payments and event revenue in one spot, making it easy to track income, simplify accounting, and run robust event reports.

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How Does It Work?

Simply send folks right to the donate page on your event website. If you’re sending information to participants electronically (via email or push notifications), include a clickable direct link. If you’re using any printed materials (like flyers or signage), add a QR code golfers can scan on their phone that takes them right to the donation page. Use the page to:

1. Collect Donations

Build strategic donation asks into your tournament day using emails, push notifications, social media, and in-person appeals. Challenge golfers to donate their final score or the score of the winning team or set up a donation station to collect gifts. You’ll onboard new donors you can further steward after the tournament!

2. Show Progress Toward Your Fundraising Goal

Donors love seeing the impact their gift is making. A quick and easy way to do that is having a bar that tracks progress toward your donation goal. Make sure donors can see it during checkout so they can instantly see how their gift has helped move the needle.

Event websites powered by GolfStatus make it easy for you to track your event day fundraising goal.

3. Collect Auction Payments

Particularly if you’re not using a standalone online auction platform or one that doesn’t process payments, you need an easy way for winning bidders to pay for their items. Simply direct folks to the donate page and make a note of the item or items they won for reporting purposes.

4. Pay for On-Course Games & Contests 

On-course games and contests are a great way to raise additional dollars the day of the tournament. Golfers can pay to have a pro take the tee shot for them, enter a putting contest, or participate in any other fun on-course competition right from the event website. Alternatively, you could set up specific packages for games and contests and direct folks to the registration page if you’re interested in separating those out for accounting purposes.

Golfers participate in a “blind putt hole” on-course game at a golf fundraiser.

5. Track Matching Donations

If you have a donor willing to match donations made the day of the tournament, sending everything through the event site makes it super simple to track the match. Highlight how donors’ gifts will be matched (if it’s a 1:1 match or other ratio plus the maximum match amount) and recognize the generous donor (if they want to be publicly recognized, that is).

6. Sell Mulligans or Raffle Tickets 

Allow golfers to buy these when they check in on tournament day, or consider setting up a station or stations on the golf course where folks can buy mulligans or raffle tickets. Setting up a station before a particularly difficult hole might boost your mulligan sales! You also have the option to build out mulligan or raffle tickets packages, like mentioned under on-course games and contests.

Golfers can make a payment or donation right from their mobile phone before, during, or after the golf tournament.

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Final Thoughts

The last thing you want to worry about on tournament day is hanging on to a wad of cash, manually entering credit card numbers, or reconciling Venmo payments. Instead, direct golfers to your event website and keep everything in one, unified place to simplify your post-tournament accounting.

GolfStatus’ tournament management software makes it simple. It starts with a professional event website, is powered by an industry-leading support team and an intuitive backend that’s easy for avid golfers and non-golfers alike, and ends with robust reporting and printouts. Best of all, nonprofits (and third parties holding golf tournaments to benefit a nonprofit or charity) can qualify to use GolfStatus’ platform at no upfront cost through the Golf for Good program. It’s not too good to be true! Click the button to find out more and get qualified.

Surfing is part of the fabric of life in Palm Beach County, Florida. The Surfing Florida Museum was created to preserve and share the history of surfing in Florida. Its collection highlights the area’s rich surfing history through rare archive photos, club jerseys and memorabilia, a collection of historic surfboards, and curated local art.

As a completely volunteer-driven organization, the Surfing Florida Museum relies on donations and events to fund its pop-up exhibits and long-term goal of opening a permanent location. Several board members had been pushing the idea of a golf tournament fundraiser for several years, and finally decided it was time to make it happen.

First annual golf fundraiser

Susan French has a long history in the surfing industry, owning and working in surf shops before becoming the accountant at the Surfing Florida Museum. She worked closely with Scott McCranels, an orthodontist, legendary surfer, and a major backer of the museum, to make the golf tournament a reality. While Scott had played in several golf tournaments, he’d never planned one from the ground up, so they needed some guidance and infrastructure to plan the event.

The Surfing Florida Museum Golf Fundraiser was nominated for Play It Forward, a give-back campaign from GolfStatus and Dormie Network Foundation. Scott and Susan connected with the GolfStatus team and liked what they heard—particularly that the event qualified to use GolfStatus’ software at no cost through the Golf for Good program. They got set up with an event website where people could learn more about the organization, register to play in the event, or become a sponsor, plus access to GolfStatus’ entire golf-specific tournament management platform to handle all the golf details.

Getting a new fundraiser off the ground presented some challenges for the planning team, in terms of creating processes, building a base of golfers and sponsoring businesses, and finding effective ways to promote the event. “Next year will be easier in several ways, especially because people will have heard about it or already played in the tournament and had a great time,” says Susan. She and Scott reached out to companies in the surfing community to sponsor the event, and had a good response, both in terms of purchased sponsorships, playing in the event, or making a monetary or in-kind donation.

Overall, the first-year event raised over $28,000, a great haul for a small, inaugural event. With several team spots still open about a month before the tournament, the planning team decided to switch things up and open registration to single golfers or twosomes, which were then grouped together to create foursomes. “We found that some people didn’t want to commit to a foursome, so this was a good option to get more golfers involved,” Susan says.

Backswing golf events

Scott had chatted with a friend who had played in a golf tournament where they had a “beat the pro” contest featuring a pro from BackSwing Golf Events. BackSwing Golf Events is a group of lady professional golfers who provide on-course activities, contests, and additional fundraising. At the same time, BackSwing helps support female golfers trying to make it on the LPGA tour

The pros at BackSwing Golf Events

The museum board met with BackSwing and were impressed with what they had to offer, so they got on board to have them at the tournament. Pro Michaela Linn, who also plays on the Epson tour, was stationed on one of the course’s holes for a “beat the pro” contest. Golfers essentially bet on whether or not they could hit a better tee-shot than Michaela.

“Michaela was super professional and made the tournament more than just the usual 18 holes of golf,” Susan says. “We were really impressed. It was a fun addition to the event.” Susan says the BackSwing pro helped them raise over $2,000 extra dollars for the museum. BackSwing’s business model is a 50/50 split of whatever is raised through their presence on the golf course.

GolfStatus has partnered with BackSwing Golf Events as a vendor in its Marketplace. Susan says GolfStatus’ backing was a plus in making the decision to use BackSwing. “Knowing that GolfStatus has teamed up with BackSwing lets us know they’re a legitimate option to raise more money.”

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“Knowing that GolfStatus has teamed up with BackSwing lets us know they’re a legitimate option to raise more money.”

— Susan French, accountant at the Surfing Florida Museum

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leveraging technology

Susan and the museum’s CPA used GolfStatus’ reporting feature to track registrations, sponsorships, payments, and donations. Once golfers or sponsors registered via the event website, their information dropped into the software’s backend, where the planning team could see real-time participant information and quickly export reports for financial purposes.

GolfStatus’ in-house support team was available to help Susan, as well as golfers, with any questions or issues. “A couple people reached out with questions about registration and the guys at GolfStatus were there to help right away. The support team was great!” Susan says. She worked closely with her dedicated rep to update sponsor logos and event site content. “I had a million questions, but the support team was so helpful and responsive! GolfStatus was definitely a plus for our golf tournament.”

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“I had a million questions, but the support team was so helpful and responsive! GolfStatus was definitely a plus for our golf tournament.”

— Susan French, accountant at the Surfing Florida Museum

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The Surfing Florida Museum’s golf event was held in late October, with the holidays just around the corner. Because the museum’s website doesn’t have the capabilities to collect donations, Susan worked with the Client Success team at GolfStatus to tweak its event website to help a donation push around the holidays. “That was nice to use since we were already set up to process payments through GolfStatus and the site was there,” Susan says.

Surfing Florida Museum shifted the focus of their GolfStatus event website to collect donations over the holidays.

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Golf for good

GolfStatus’ Golf for Good program gives qualifying nonprofits, charities, and those planning golf fundraisers on their behalf access to its golf event management platform at no cost. GolfStatus streamlines prep and planning to save busy organizers a ton of time and its built-in fundraising tools and exclusive sponsorships help raise thousands more dollars. Whether you’re kicking off a new event or looking for ways to improve a decades old event, GolfStatus can help. Plus, our in-house support team has your back every step of the way. Ready to get started? Click below to get qualified!

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].

Sam and Melissa Steinberg’s journey from expectant parents to ICU veterans to creating a foundation to honor their daughter started at a routine ultrasound when Melissa was 20 weeks pregnant. They received a devastating diagnosis—Cameron had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart does not develop properly and cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs.

Not only did they have to cope with this unexpected diagnosis, but try to understand the complexities, treatment options, and prognosis of the condition at the same time. “You have this bomb dropped on you and then have to try to make sense of what’s happening,” Sam says. He explains that a heart doctor brought out a piece of paper with a diagram to explain how Cameron’s heart worked, but with all the emotions of the moment, “It didn’t make sense or help us understand.”

Cameron was diagnosed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, near where the Steinbergs lived, but she was transferred to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor after she was born, where a plan was in place to treat and correct the defect. But in addition to her heart issues, Cameron also battled a lung disease that ultimately claimed her life at just nine weeks old.

Sam, Cameron, and Melissa Steinberg

Sharing Their Experience

It was during the weeks the family spent at Mott that the Steinbergs learned about the relative lack of funding devoted to research into congenital heart defects. And it was then that the family decided to do something to help other families affected by these heart conditions.

Sam and Melissa received a care package from a family that had spent time in the cardiac ICU. “It was filled with simple things—a soft blanket, water bottles, gum, puzzles,” Sam says. “But it came from someone else who had lived in the ICU and knew what would be helpful.” That inspired them to think about how they could use their experience to help families going through the same ordeal.

They started small. While Cameron was still in the hospital, they had t-shirts made with the #CamiStrong logo to raise money that bought books and stuffed animals for kids undergoing open heart surgery. After Cami’s death, they wanted to do even more, and settled on a golf tournament as a way to bring people together in her memory and raise a significant amount of money for the newly established Cameron Steinberg Foundation.

“Our mission doesn’t stop even without her,” Sam says. “We will carry on her legacy to help other heart patients and families.”

Proceeds from selling t-shirts with the #CamiStrong logo were used to purchase books and stuffed animals for kids undergoing open heart surgery.

Play It Forward & The Cameron Steinberg Foundation Golf Classic

Dr. Michael Gaies was one of Cameron’s cardiologists when she was in the cardiac ICU at Mott Children’s Hospital. The family formed a strong bond with Dr. Gaies, who, as Sam says, really took them under his wing and made them feel like they were part of his family. “He had to deliver some really tough news to us but never left a stone unturned and went out of his way to get additional opinions about her treatment,” Sam says.

Sam and Melissa had many conversations with Dr. Gaies about the lack of funding for congenital heart defects in children and resources for families while at Mott, and he was a staunch advocate for the creation of the Cameron Steinberg Foundation and believer in its mission. They also talked a great deal about their love of golf and the sport’s capacity to rally support and raise money for a cause. Sam’s dad’s experience running a series of golf tournaments made it a natural choice for a fundraiser. “People tend to be willing to open up their wallets and donate at a golf tournament,” Sam says.

Dr. Michael Gaeis was one of Cameron’s cardiologists at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. He is a staunch supporter of the Foundation and has participated in both golf fundraisers.

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“People tend to be willing to open up their wallets and donate at a golf tournament.”

— Sam Steinberg, Cameron's Father & Co-Founder of Cameron Steinberg Foundation

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The inaugural Cameron Steinberg Foundation Golf Classic was held in May of 2021 and raised about $30,000 for a research fund in Cameron’s name at Mott Children’s Hospital. 

A few months after the golf tournament, Dr. Gaies came across an Instagram post for Play It Forward, a joint campaign of GolfStatus and Dormie Network, which asked people to nominate a golf fundraiser to receive a $10,000 donation. Dr. Gaies believed so strongly in the Steinberg’s work through the Foundation that he submitted a nomination to Play It Forward: “This donation could really elevate the possibilities for next year’s tournament and I have no doubt that the Steinberg family could give a huge return in that investment. They are special people and so passionate about making Cameron’s life meaningful and everlasting.”

Proceeds from the 2022 fundraiser were split between C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Year Two: Half the Administrative Work & Double the Proceeds

In the tournament’s first year, Sam relied on Venmo to collect credit card payments, processed cash and checks, then had to reconcile all payments on multiple spreadsheets, send receipts, and manually make pairings and hole assignments. “It was truly a headache,” Sam says.

After the tournament was nominated for Play It Forward following the 2021 event, Sam decided to come online with GolfStatus for the 2022 fundraiser to help reduce the administrative load. As a nonprofit, the Foundation qualified for the Golf for Good program, which provided access to GolfStatus’s entire golf event management tech at no cost. “Obviously, our goal is to raise as much money as possible, so hearing that we get all the benefits of using GolfStatus without losing a chunk of our proceeds was huge,” Sam says.

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“Obviously, our goal is to raise as much money as possible, so hearing that we get all the benefits of using GolfStatus without losing a chunk of our proceeds was huge.”

— Sam Steinberg, Cameron's Father & Co-Founder of Cameron Steinberg Foundation

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Working closely with Sam, the GolfStatus team built an event website for the golf tournament, along with custom registration packages. Golfers and sponsors could view and purchase available packages on the site, submit payment, and even make a direct donation to the Foundation. “The website was great—I didn’t have to create a site from scratch and it was a one-stop shop for people to register, become a sponsor, or make a donation,” Sam says. What’s more, sponsors could upload their logos to instantly appear on the sponsor page of the website, not only saving Sam time in collecting and posting those assets, but providing the sponsor more exposure and more return on their investment.

The 2nd Annual Cameron Steinberg Foundation Golf Classic event website.

The golf tournament software includes a number of golf-specific features to make handling those details easy and efficient, including live scoring and leaderboards, drag and drop hole assignments, and pre-formatted printouts. “I loved the printouts,” Sam says. “It was so cool to see Cameron’s logo on them.” With just a few clicks, the software generates professionally formatted score cards, cart signs, and alpha lists with the tournament or organization logo plus the Technology Sponsor logo, saving organizers a ton of time and hassle (and providing the Technology Sponsor even more bang for their buck).

Sam says the biggest benefit of upgrading to GolfStatus was having everything in one place. “Being able to see who registered or made a donation and not having to try to reconcile a bunch of different payments was so helpful,” Sam says. “Using GolfStatus cut my administrative work in half.”

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“Using GolfStatus cut my administrative time in half.”

— Sam Steinberg, Cameron's Father & Co-Founder of Cameron Steinberg Foundation

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Thanks to Dr. Gaies’s nomination, the Cameron Steinberg Foundation Golf Classic was chosen as the winner of Play It Forward. The $10,000 donation gave them a headstart in their fundraising efforts, helping crush the tournament’s 2022 goal of $50,000 and raising more than $64,000.

Proceeds from the tournament will help fund a hypoplastic left heart syndrome 3D model that uses virtual reality to help doctors, patients, and families better visualize, understand, and treat these heart conditions. “When Cameron was diagnosed, a tool like this would have been important in helping us understand the condition,” Sam says. “We’re super excited about this!”

Golf for Good Program

Qualifying nonprofit organizations, like the Cameron Steinberg Foundation, can get no-cost access to GolfStatus’s entire golf event management platform through the Golf for Good program. With solutions to streamline planning and tools to raise more money, GolfStatus helps nonprofits tap into golf’s giving power. Get qualified by clicking the link below or email us directly at [email protected].

Until recently, live scoring was something only the highest caliber golf tournaments enjoyed. But thanks to golf-specific event management technology, charity golf tournaments can employ live scoring, where players plug in their scores to a central leaderboard similar to those displayed for pro-Tour events. Live scoring lets players track and share scores in real time via a mobile app that syncs with live leaderboards, keeping players and spectators engaged, both in person and online. Organizations can leverage this tech for another premium sponsorship opportunity, and live scoring expedites finalizing the tournament’s results while increasing the event’s professionalism.

Here are six best practices for live scoring at your golf fundraiser, plus what to look for in a live scoring platform and other tips to help you maximize live leaderboards to engage supporters and drive fundraising revenue.

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1. A User-Friendly Platform is a Must.

Any mobile scoring option should have a super easy-to-use interface for players, without glitches or complications. When it’s easy to enter scores, players actually do it and aren’t distracted by having to fuss with technology. They simply enter scores with a few taps and can remain focused on their golf game and enjoying the outing. The last thing you want to do is frustrate players with a complicated platform—or worse, an unreliable one.

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2. Sell a Leaderboard Sponsorship.

The live leaderboard is the cream of the crop when it comes to sponsorships. It captures the attention of players, sponsors, and spectators during and after your tournament, making it the ideal display medium for top-tier sponsors. If your live scoring platform doesn’t accommodate a leaderboard sponsorship, you’re leaving substantial dollars on the table and missing out on a crucial opportunity for a high-capacity donor.

3. Use Live Leaderboards to Engage Spectators and Solicit Donations.

A platform with a sleek, professional leaderboard lets spectators track the overall event or even specific players online via your event website. And when these leaderboards are displayed on your website, sharing them with supporters in the context of your event is as easy as sharing a link in your organization’s newsletter, website, and social media channels. Leaderboards are also a key touchpoint and opportunity to make donation asks, so be sure your live scoring platform has a donation function built in.

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4. Add a Virtual Round or a Virtual Only Event.

Live scoring and leaderboards make it possible to hold virtual events—either a virtual only tournament or an additional round for supporters that aren’t able to participate in the in-person event—where play is extended over a period of a few days or even a month or more. Since a virtual round or tournament is held across several golf courses, you’ll need a platform that provides live scoring plus aggregate and individual leaderboards. You’ll also need the ability to post and share those leaderboards online, so you can keep participants and sponsors engaged despite the non-traditional format.

5. Share the Tournament’s Final Results.

It’s a good practice to recap your event with folks who support and are connected to your organization and its mission. Leverage the ability to post the tournament’s final results in your organization’s newsletter, website, social channels, and more. It’s also a great way to make a final donation ask from participants—send each player their score with a link to the final leaderboard along with an ask for them to match their score (or the winning team’s score) with a gift. When it comes time to send save-the-dates for next year’s event, you can also use historical results to easily re-engage participants.

6. Employ Golf-Specific Event Management Tech

Live scoring is great on its own, but when it’s combined with tools and tech that can easily handle the specific nuances of a golf event, the tournament runs seamlessly. The event’s live leaderboard lives within an event website, where folks can register for the event or purchase a sponsorship before the event and check in on the standings or even make a donation during or after the tournament. What’s more, you’ll elevate the overall event experience for golfers and sponsors so not only will they have a great time, they’ll want to come back year after year.

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Get Started—No Cost, No Risk

Ready to add live scoring to your golf outing? GolfStatus.org makes it easy with sleek, simple live scoring technology and everything you need to get the most out of it. Best of all, it’s available at no cost—along with GolfStatus’s full suite of golf event management and fundraising tools—to qualifying nonprofits through the Golf for Good program. Get qualified by clicking the button below or email us directly at [email protected].

Originally published June 2020

The benefits of a golf fundraiser are many, including being ripe with opportunities to make additional donation asks of participants, spectators, and other supporters before, during, and after the event. While teams and sponsorships will bring in the majority of the fundraiser’s revenue, there are multiple ways to bring in additional dollars by leveraging the generosity of golfers. You certainly don’t want to interrupt the fun of the day, so your asks should be strategic, well-timed, and not intrude on the golfer’s round. The key is to be equipped with a mobile-friendly event website with a simple and easy way to make a donation to the event. 

Here are six things to consider when making a donation ask at your golf tournament.

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1. Connect Attendees to Your Cause

While some attendees may be loyal supporters of your organization, they often tap into their personal and professional networks to fill a team for the golf tournament, and these folks may not know much about your organization or what you do. Share an impact story at the tournament’s kickoff or post-event gathering, have a beneficiary on site to share their experiences, and/or set up banners or posters that describe the impact of what your organization does. Follow these up with an ask that helps attendees understand how their donation makes a difference.

Pro tip: Use your event website to tell your organization’s story with text and imagery. GolfStatus event websites include donation buttons right on the site’s home page (and on live leaderboards).

2. Use Email, In-App & Push Notifications

You need an easy way to get in touch with donors at the right moment during the fundraiser. The right event management technology will have built-in communication tools that let you quickly and easily communicate with event registrants without having to use multiple platforms. Determine when you will send messages and set a schedule for the day. At events powered by GolfStatus, a free live-scoring mobile app is used to track each team’s round. When golfers use their phone to enter their score, they’ll see the in-app and push notifications.

Pro tip: Be strategic about when you send messages. Don’t inundate golfers with emails or notifications or they’ll tune them out. Space them out and consider coupling them with important information and announcements.

3. Set a Day-of Fundraising Goal & Keep People Updated

A day-of fundraising goal can motivate donors to make an additional contribution to your cause. A well-timed update on the progress towards this goal reminds folks what they’re playing for. What’s more, when the overall event experience is top-notch, they’re even more likely to chip in to help you reach the day’s goal.

Pro tip: Make the goal something tangible that donors can connect with. For example, set a goal to raise an extra $2000 the day of the tournament, which will provide 10 underserved schools with new books or feed 200 shelter dogs for two months.

4. Have a Donation Station

Set up a donation station at one or more locations at the golf tournament. It’s a good idea to have one in a visible (but unobtrusive) location near the registration area. Have volunteers at the station ready to talk about your organization and its mission, and help folks make a donation via the event website if they need it. You could also have a station at the turn or somewhere on the golf course. A par three hole that’s likely to get backed up is a great option—you’ll have a captive audience! If your event has a post-golf gathering, set up an additional station in the event space (near the bar is a good idea!).

Pro tip: Include a QR code on any flyers, posters, or handouts that links directly to the event’s donation page so folks can quickly make a contribution without hassle.

5. Leverage Live Leaderboards

Anyone, anywhere can follow along with a tournament via GolfStatus live leaderboards. Share these links in the days leading up to the event via email and social media and challenge spectators to make a donation. Be creative and have fun with this! If folks are following a certain team, you could ask them to donate if there’s a birdie, eagle, or even a bogey on a specific hole or offer a prize drawing specifically for online donors.

Pro tip: Give social media shoutouts to those following along that make a donation, and be sure to follow up after the tournament with a thank you.

6. Ask Golfers to Donate Their Final Score

A common appeal at the end of each team’s round is to ask for a donation that equals their final score. So if they shot a 72, they would donate $72. Another option after the scores are finalized is to ask golfers to donate an amount equal to the winning team’s score—or even the last place team’s score.

Pro tip: If your event includes an awards ceremony, it’s a great time to make this particular ask. When you announce the winning team and score (or multiple teams and scores, if your event includes different flights or divisions), challenge attendees to get out their phones and donate the amount of the winning team’s score via the leaderboard.

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Raise More Money With Your Golf Event

It’s easy to collect donations when you have the right technology for your golf fundraiser. GolfStatus’s intuitive, full-service golf event management and fundraising platform streamlines the process. Its attractive event websites include online registration, the ability to collect donations, and secure payment processing. Qualifying 501(c) organizations and those holding golf tournaments that benefit one can get full access to GolfStatus’s tech—at no cost through the Golf for Good program. Click the button below to get qualified or email [email protected].

When there are golf ball cannons, giant dartboards, air guns, and other crazy games in addition to a round of golf, it’s not your typical tournament. The annual Credit Unions for Kids Golf Classic in Nashville, which over its 12-year tenure has raised almost a half million dollars for Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has always tried to add extra fun. “We want to embody the spirit of the kids we’re supporting,” says JR Jernigan, AVP of Special Projects at US Community Credit Union. The tournament is a joint effort between US Community Credit Union and Enbright Credit Union.

Credit unions are not-for-profit financial institutions, with a motto of “People helping people.” JR says there’s really no better way to live out their purpose than to help kids through Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals. “Kids deserve the best medical care and we want to be a part of what CMN Hospitals is doing,” he says. CMN Hospitals, which encompasses 170 member hospitals across the U.S., including Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, are equipped to handle any issue a child may face, from the simple to the complex, and maintain the lowest cost ratio possible to help families that need care but are struggling financially. 

“As a financial institution, we see how money can impact people’s lives,” JR says of credit unions. He says that in raising money for the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, where both of his own kids have received care, they’re truly impacting the community where they live and work. In the past six years, funds raised by the tournament have gone to hospital expansion, including a children’s cancer wing.

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Dollars Raised

$45,000

Sponsors

43

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The CMN Hospitals Connection

Credit Unions for Kids (CU4Kids) is part of a broader partnership between credit unions nationwide and CMN Hospitals, fulfilling the industry’s charge to connect with and give back to communities. In fact, over 1,500 credit unions across the country are part of the cooperative fundraising effort that has raised $195 million in aggregate over the past 25 years.

CMN Hospitals’ work with CU4Kids is unique in that it’s a partnership with the entire industry. While it’s common for larger nonprofit organizations to forge relationships with major corporations and individual businesses, CU4Kids represents broader support from credit unions as a whole. The partnership grew organically from local efforts spearheaded by credit unions in San Antonio and Portland over 30 years ago, notes Nick Coleman, Director of Corporate Partnerships at CMN Hospitals. The idea started to spread across the country and in 1996, the CU4Kids brand was created and a formal partnership established. “The industry motto of credit unions is ‘people helping people’ and it's remarkable to see how they care about making a difference in their community,” says Nick.

Nick notes that one of the credit union industry principles is “cooperation among cooperatives” and that golf tournaments held as part of the CU4Kids initiative are a way for them to fulfill this charter. “Credit unions really love this opportunity because golf is a fun way to make a difference in the community,” he says, noting that credit unions often collaborate with other credit unions on shared goals and objectives, as was the case with the Credit Unions for Kids Golf Classic.

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“Credit unions really love this opportunity because golf is a fun way to make a difference in the community.”

— Nick Coleman, Director of Corporate Partnerships at CMN Hospitals

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The Challenge

Over the year, JR has always looked for ways to enhance and grow the annual Credit Unions for Kids Golf Classic, and provide an even better experience for players and sponsors. This year, tapping into the national CU4Kids and CMN Hospitals brands allowed him to reap the benefits of a partnership with golf technology company GolfStatus and its social impact division, GolfStatus.org. The partnership provides individuals, businesses, and major partners such as CU4Kids with access to event management technology that helps credit unions harness the charitable giving power of golf. “The golf tournament is my favorite day to go to work every year,” says JR. “It’s hard not to find purpose in what we’re doing to give back to the community and kids.”

The Solution

CMN Hospitals’ partnership with GolfStatus, the leading event management and fundraising platform for golf fundraisers, makes it easy for programs like CU4Kids and third parties like individual credit unions to launch a first-year golf fundraiser or enhance and streamline an existing tournament. Its web-based software is incredibly powerful but easy to use, helping tournament organizers like JR save time, and providing tools and avenues to simplify registration for players and sponsors, seamlessly spread the word about the event, professionally brand and co-brand the tournament, and ultimately raise more money for children’s hospitals. More broadly, it’s a tool that ultimately makes it easier for CMN Hospitals to empower its existing supporters to grow the success of annual events in addition to making it extremely easy to grow the Play Yellow program as a whole by assisting new supporters in their endeavors to launch a first-year event. The result is a growing network or third parties large and small who hold golf fundraisers all over the country that benefit their local children’s hospital or CMN Hospitals at the national level.

To get started, JR worked with Ben Parker, Senior Director of Play Yellow at CMN Hospitals, to connect with GolfStatus’s in-house support team and build a professional event website ahead of the tournament. As an event benefiting CMN Hospitals, the Credit Unions for Kids Golf Classic was listed alongside Play Yellow tournaments and other major golf fundraisers benefiting CMN Hospitals happening all over the country and hosted and supported by third-party individuals and corporate entities, including the likes of Costco, Ace Hardware, and Marriott.

The Results

The GolfStatus platform paid dividends right away, helping JR and his team raise additional dollars by selling the premium technology sponsorship, which provides sponsor recognition on the event website and through the mobile scoring and live leaderboards the day of the tournament. A built-in donation feature opened the door for golfers, spectators, and other supporters to support the tournament via monetary donations to the hospital before, during, and after the event directly from the website and leaderboards, which JR says was a great addition to the fundraiser. In total, the event was able to reach its goal of raising $45,000 for the local children’s hospital!

Highlighted GolfStatus Features:

• Event website

• Secure online registration for players and sponsors 

• Mobile scoring with sponsor exposure 

• Live leaderboards with premium sponsor exposure 

• Additional fundraising revenue from sale of technology sponsorship

Online Registration & Secure Payment Processing

“We had never taken card payments online before, but it really saved time and made it easy for people,” JR says. What’s more, everything was organized in one place in the software’s web-based backend, making it easy to keep track of teams and sponsors without having to pull information out of one system and into another. Since the tournament attracts credit unions from around the state and vendors from all over the region, the ability to securely and responsibly collect golfer and sponsor information is important to the continued growth of the tournament. It also allows for a simpler, more modern registration experience for players and sponsors, who can browse available support opportunities and reserve their spot in the tournament with a few quick clicks or taps.

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“We had never taken card payments online before, but it really saved time and made it easy for people.”

— JR Jernigan, AVP of Special Projects at US Community Credit Union

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Easing the Administrative Burden

Switching to a central, web-based, golf-specific event management platform saved JR and the planning team a ton of time and effort by automating and streamlining most of the administrative tasks associated with the golf tournament. When it came time to print cart signs, scorecards, and alpha lists for example, JR simply used the pre-formatted professional printouts in GolfStatus. “It was really nice to hit a button and be done with it,” he says. He points out that online card payments, auto-generated receipts, and the ability to manage paid registrants in one place also eliminated the need for a lot of the usual administrative paperwork and follow up. “It was all taken care of in the GolfStatus platform,” JR says.

Sponsorships & Recognition

One major benefit of using GolfStatus is the ability to sell a technology sponsorship, a premium sponsorship opportunity that offers exposure in multiple areas, including the event website, within the live-scoring app, on the event’s live leaderboards, and on the event’s cart signs, scorecards, and other printouts. This premium exposure opportunity was an immediate draw for the state’s credit union trade association. “From a visibility standpoint, the tech sponsorship was a great way for the Tennessee Credit Union League to show that they’re standing behind what credit unions are doing across the state to support children’s hospitals,” JR says.

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“From a visibility standpoint, the tech sponsorship was a great way for the Tennessee Credit Union League to show that they’re standing behind what credit unions are doing across the state to support children’s hospitals.”

— JR Jernigan, AVP of Special Projects at US Community Credit Union

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The steady outpouring of sponsor support for Vanderbilt Children’s from vendors has been especially rewarding for JR and the planning team. “Most of our sponsors have been with us since the tournament’s beginning,” he says. He explains that in many cases, a credit union new to the event comes on board, has a great experience, and the next year gets another involved, creating a snowball effect of support. What’s more, sponsors loved the digital exposure they saw on the event website and mobile scoring app. JR and the planning team were also able to send push notifications with sponsor messages throughout the tournament, which added an extra layer of exposure to sponsorship packages.

Sponsors of the Credit Unions for Kids Golf Classic were listed on the sponsorships page of the event website, giving them digital exposure before, during, and after the tournament.

Mobile Scoring & Live Leaderboards

This was the first year the tournament had used mobile scoring or live leaderboards, and from the feedback JR and his team received, it was a hit. “Everybody thought it was really cool,” he says, pointing out that the ability to see what folks were shooting also gave him an opportunity to kickstart conversations with golfers as he made the rounds throughout the course. Wrapping up the tournament and finalizing the results was also much simpler with the majority of the field using the app to score. Because scores automatically populate the live leaderboards, there’s no need to wait around for scorecards to be turned in or golf staff to tabulate final results.

Matching Dollars

The Credit Union for Kids Golf Classic raised even more money as a result of the Miracle Match program from CO-OP Financial Services. The program encourages credit unions and others to create and participate in fundraisers for local CMN Hospitals and supplements the dollars raised with additional funds. “CO-OP matched $10,000 of what we raised,” says JR, noting that they’ve donated at least $100,000 in total over the tournament’s 12-year tenure.

Tournament Extras & Cause Connection

One of JR’s goals for the tournament has always been to have fun and keep people coming back because of it. The event has grown from just 12 teams in its first year to 35 total teams, thanks in part to the event’s memorable games and extras. “We do what we can to be a different golf tournament and people love it,” says JR. In fact, 17 of the tournament’s 18 holes include some type of additional activity, like teeing off on a toilet or amid noisemakers, kicking velcro soccer balls on a giant inflatable dart board, and using an extra-long or extra-short driver. Prior to COVID-19, patients from Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital also attended the fundraiser, which created a powerful cause connection for golfers and sponsors. Hospital staff and leadership teams have also been in attendance to share the impact that the tournament has helped make.

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Nonprofits and charities—as well as individuals and businesses holding golf fundraisers that benefit them—can qualify for an event website and no-cost access to GolfStatus’s event management and fundraising technology through the Golf for Good program. Learn more and get qualified here or email [email protected].

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Born largely out of necessity, virtual golf tournament fundraisers bring donors and sponsors together to enjoy a round of golf in support of a great cause—just not all at the same place at the same time. A virtual golf event is played over an extended timeframe at one or more golf courses, leveraging technology to give golfers the flexibility to play when it’s convenient for them while supporting a great cause. Indeed, virtual golf events have kept many tournaments from being forced to cancel. But the advantages of virtual golf events go well beyond social distancing. Event organizers have found that these virtual events—whether an entirely virtual outing or an additional virtual round added to a traditional golf tournament—hold tremendous possibilities for fundraising, connecting with supporters, and further expanding your organization’s donor base. The right technology makes them lucrative—and fun! Here are a six advantages of virtual golf events.

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1. You have more options—and opportunities.

Particularly in times of uncertainty, organizations need options. Virtual events give you more options to help meet your fundraising goals. You can choose to run a completely virtual event at one course, across multiple courses throughout your city, or even across regions. You can also add a virtual round to a traditional, one-day event—which lets you choose more than one golf facility, increase the field size to an almost unlimited number of players and teams, and extend the event’s duration. A virtual round that extends over the month in which the in-person tournament is held, for example, attracts the whole community to the course to play a round in support of your cause. The best part? This is all in addition to the support your organization receives the day of your traditional event.

2. Virtual events often come with lower overhead costs and more flexibility.

Most virtual golf event formats don’t require reserved use of the golf facility, which keeps costs low for event organizers and allows golf facilities to continue business as usual. Since golfers play on their own time, there are no food and beverage contracts to negotiate, banquets or awards ceremonies to plan, or day-of details to handle last minute. This makes virtual events a low-risk, high-reward option with the flexibility to change course if needed.

3. Live scoring keeps supporters engaged.

Virtual events powered by GolfStatus benefit from its robust golf event management technology, which includes live-scoring functionality. When golfers register for the virtual event, they receive a code to live-score their round via the GolfStatus mobile app to submit their scores to the event’s aggregate online leaderboard. Golfers and spectators love keeping up with the real-time leaderboard standings throughout the event’s duration, and sponsors love the extended digital exposure to an engaged audience of golfers.

Golfers and spectators follow live leaderboards throughout the event.

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4. You can Leverage leaderboards
to Raise more money.

You’ll want to promote your virtual event heavily once it goes live and players and teams can register and submit scores—not only to keep it in front of potential players and supporters, but to attract spectators who support your cause to donate through your online leaderboards. GolfStatus’s live leaderboards have the built-in ability to accept online donations before, during, and after any event, including virtual tournaments. Get creative and leverage this feature to raise additional funds. Challenge supporters to donate an amount equal to their score or ranking, match the winning team, or give another specified amount. In addition to targeted asks, it’s also a great idea to share live leaderboards on your organization’s social media accounts and encourage supporters to help spread the word.

5. Virtual events use Digital exposure
to bring in sponsorship dollars.

Sponsors appreciate meaningful exposure to an affluent, influential demographic and they especially appreciate when their brand looks good. GolfStatus’s virtual event options provide tons of digital exposure, through professional and prominent branding across multiple channels (including online and mobile). This means not only more sponsorship options, but options with minimal overhead and value for sponsors. Event organizers can include digital exposure as part of other sponsorship packages, or list it as a standalone technology sponsorship.

6. Technology makes virtual events easy, lucrative, and fun.

Virtual golf events powered by GolfStatus start with the buildout of a free custom event registration website and include access to its full-service golf event management platform. We make every detail—from live-scoring to digital sponsorships—easy and stress-free with user-friendly technology and full access to our top-rated, in-house customer success team. What’s more, GolfStatus is available at no cost to qualifying nonprofits through our Golf for Good program. Contact us at [email protected] to get qualified, or follow the link below.

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