Partner Snapshot

Named one of the top residential golf courses in the U.S. and top 10 courses in Georgia by Golfweek, Bear’s Best Atlanta is comprised of iconic holes designed by Jack Nicklaus from around the world. As such, the semi-private club in Suwanee, Georgia offers a unique playing experience, with hole designs from famous golf courses designed by Nicklaus, including Castle Pines, Muirfield Village, PGA National Championship Course, Sherwood Country Club, Shoal Creek, and Glenagles, all in one place.

“It’s a course that has something for every golfer, and that is part of the appeal,” says Jenni Tyler, Event Sales Director at Bear’s Best Atlanta. Recent renovations of the pro shop, clubhouse, and course bunkers give the high-end club even more appeal to members and other golfers in the Atlanta metro area.

The Challenge

Bear’s Best regularly hosts charity golf tournaments at its facility. Its unique course offering, attentive staff, and top-notch event experience make it a great choice for local organizations holding golf events. “At Bear’s Best, we’re all about enriching lives and building relationships, and charity tournaments are a big part of that,” Jenni says.

With so many onsite events to manage and execute, Jenni’s sales team and the golf staff needed a tool to streamline outside outings to maximize efficiency but still provide top-notch support for event organizers.

The Solution

Bear’s Best is part of the Invited Clubs family of clubs across the U.S. For years, Invited has worked with GolfStatus for each of the club’s Charity Classic events. At Jenni’s previous club, she worked with several event organizers who used GolfStatus to collect registrations, manage golfer and sponsor information, and pass off hole assignments to the club’s golf staff. When Jenni came to Bear’s Best, Invited’s existing relationship with GolfStatus and her previous experience with the platform made it the tool of choice for outside charity tournaments at Bear’s Best.

The Results

Efficiency & Organization

Outside events are key to golf facilities’ bottom line; but they tend to take a lot of staff time, both on the front end, educating organizers and helping with best practices, and in the days leading up to a tournament, collecting golfer information and creating printouts. “GolfStatus gives us more time,” says Jenni. Instead of spending hours tracking down and inputting golfer names, assigning holes, designing cart signs, and creating reports, “we just log in and are ready to go in about 20 minutes since everything is in one spot.” The platform auto-generates alpha lists, cart signs, and reports, so all golf staff have to do is hit “print” when they’re making their final preparations.

Jenni says the biggest value GolfStatus brings to Bear’s Best is saving time and creating efficiencies. A big part of that is having the golfer information available to the golf staff ahead of time. Because golfers register via an event website where they submit their information and payment, staff don’t have to take that information over the phone or bounce between PDFs and spreadsheets. Everything is tracked and organized in one accessible place. Online registration is great for organizers, too—they can spend their time attracting golfers and selling sponsorships instead of dealing with paper forms, checks, and receipts. “They don’t have to figure out how to get a website set up, set up a Venmo or other way to take credit cards, or deal with payments the day of,” Jenni says.

All tournament-related staff at Bear’s Best, from the General Manager, to Jenni, to the golf pro, and assistant pro, all have logins to GolfStatus so they can make changes and adjustments up until the last minute.

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“GolfStatus is such a timesaver for managing names, hole assignments, knowing how many guests to expect and carts needed. It lets us prepare for the tournament and have staff ready to provide a great experience all around.”

— Jenni Tyler, Event Sales Director at Bear’s Best Atlanta

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Live-scoring is another piece of the puzzle for golf tournaments at Bear’s Best. Golfers submit their scores in the free GolfStatus mobile app, which syncs to live leaderboards. Golfers can see current standings, use the app’s free hole-by-hole GPS to get accurate yardage to the pin, and even engage with the tournament’s host organization by making a donation to their cause. On the golf facility side, live-scoring helps staff track the round’s progress so they can be prepared for awards, a banquet, or other activity, and makes finalizing the tournament’s results a breeze. “Live-scoring is so much more efficient in finalizing scoring and getting things ready for awards,” Jenni says.

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success story: North Gwinnett Dugout Club

The annual North Gwinnett Baseball Golf Tournament has been held at Bear’s Best for years. Organizers signed on with GolfStatus for the 2023 event, and Jenni says they had tremendous success. The previous year, prior to using GolfStatus, only about five teams prepaid when registering for the tournament, which left organizers hunting down teams for payment the day of the event and dealing with no-shows. After signing on with GolfStatus (and qualifying to use it at no cost through the Golf for Good program), they increased their field size to 144, collected all payments ahead of time, and brought even more sponsors on board. “Overall, they raised double what they had in years prior!” Jenni says.

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best-in-class service

The organizations who host events at Bear’s Best run the gamut in terms of planning experience. “Some come to us and don’t know a thing about golf tournaments, some have been doing events for years,” Jenni says. The great thing, she points out, is that GolfStatus can help both types of events streamline planning from start to finish, stay organized, and seamlessly work with Jenni and Bear’s Best’s golf staff. “Being able to refer people to GolfStatus, who I know will be able to answer questions and provide the same level of service and support that we expect at Bear’s Best, takes so much off of my plate,” Jenni says, adding that GolfStatus also takes some of the pressure off of the organizer.

“We use GolfStatus as a selling point, quite honestly,” says Jenni. “Particularly for brand new event organizers who don’t think they can pull a tournament off, I tell them, ‘Go talk to GolfStatus, they’ll be your backup on things that are tedious so you can focus on networking and marketing the tournament.’” In fact, Jenni says several tournaments have booked with Bear’s Best and come on board with GolfStatus on the same day.

GolfStatus’ in-house support team provides backup to golf facility staff, helping guide tournament organizers as they make important decisions about event format, dates, add-ons, sponsorships, and pricing, with the ultimate goal to have a successful, lucrative tournament. “Both our team and GolfStatus are focused on making every event the best it can be.”

invited clubs charity classic

Each club under the Invited Clubs umbrella hosts an annual Charity Classic event, which raises money for Invited Clubs’ Employee Care Foundation and a local charity. Bear’s Best Charity Classic benefits the ECF and First Tee of Metro Atlanta. “We get really excited about the Charity Classic event,” says Jenni. She has personally benefited from the ECF, which supports Invited Clubs’ employees in the midst of crisis such as home loss, death, illness, or domestic situations, so the cause hits home for her. “It’s an amazing resource for employees, but we also want to help youth through First Tee as they’re going through life and learning about golf,” Jenni says.

Running Bear’s Best Charity Classic event through GolfStatus puts Jenni in organizers’ shoes, and she continues to see the value in the platform. “We’re able to be efficient and stay organized while we raise money for great causes,” she says.

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golf facilities & event planners save time with golfstatus

Golf facilities like Bear’s Best benefit as much from GolfStatus’ tournament management tech as event organizers. Facility staff and the planning team can share access in GolfStatus’ backend to manage golfer and sponsor information, finalize team pairings and hole assignments, and save time from start to finish. Want to learn more about how your organization or golf facility can save time and raise more money with GolfStatus? Hit the button below to get in touch!

A corporate golf outing is an especially attractive option for companies looking for a way to engage employees, clients, and even the community. It’s an opportunity to raise awareness about your brand in a unique and meaningful way, while also advancing important business relationships and even raising money for a nonprofit or cause. 

But if you’ve been tasked with planning such an event, you know that there are a number of moving parts and important aspects to consider to ensure the outing delivers a positive return on your company’s investment. Here are five keys to a great corporate golf event:

1. Use Tools That Save Time

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.

Online registration is a must-have—golfers seamlessly submit their information and payment online, saving hours of dealing with spreadsheets, checks, and receipts. Plus, all 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. Need to quickly communicate with all registrants? Look for built-in communication tools like emails and push notifications. Want to print branded score cards and cart signs? Use a platform that comes with pre-formatted, professional printouts.

A golf-specific event management platform lets you easily make hole assignments and team pairings while handling flighting, handicaps, and other golf-related details.

2. Raise Money for Charity

Golf has an undeniable tie to philanthropy—the sport contributes nearly $4 billion to charity annually. Its capacity for fundraising is unmatched and provides high visibility for the benefiting organization to raise awareness about its work. So whether it’s a corporate foundation, partner charity, or favorite nonprofit, raising money as part of a corporate golf event not only provides a ton of brand lift, but fosters goodwill among your company’s employees, the community at large, and your client base.

More and more, people want to work for and do business with organizations that prioritize community impact, which makes a charitable golf event a banner addition to your company’s corporate social responsibility portfolio. An event website is the perfect place to share the charity’s story, why you’ve committed to raising money for it, and even collect donations from folks that may not be able to participate in the golf event.

Golf outings not only provide high visibility for the benefiting charity, but a ton of positive brand lift and fosters goodwill among your company’s employees, the community at large, and your client base.

3. Promote the Outing

Particularly if your golf outing has a charitable component, drum 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. Focus on a Great 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. 

Beyond a well-run event, add-ons and extras like contests, auctions, on-course entertainment, and custom player gifts make for a top-notch experience and one participants won’t soon forget! Live scoring adds an element of professionalism unlike any other and lets 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.

Above all, your corporate golf outing should offer a top-notch experience that provides a positive return on your company’s investment.

5. Use the Day Wisely

As most corporate professionals can attest to, a ton of business happens on the golf course. Unlike other events, a golf outing gives you three to four dedicated, focused hours on the course to engage with clients, partners, and vendors. What’s more, think about ways to connect with employees, whether it’s 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. Make sure any event management system you use has the capability to easily assign holes and pairings.

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Technology Makes the Difference

The right technology streamlines your company’s golf outing. GolfStatus provides an event website for your tournament where golfers and sponsors can register (complete with secure payment processing), find more information about the benefiting organization, see details about the course, and even make a donation to the charity. The platform’s reliable live scoring gives any event a professional feel and keeps golfers engaged throughout the round and even lets spectators follow along with the progress.

Through the Golf for Good program, nonprofit organizations and individuals, businesses, corporate entities, or other partners holding a golf event that benefits a nonprofit, can qualify for no-cost access to GolfStatus’s technology. It offers solutions to all things golf tournaments—flighting, hole assignments, mobile scoring, and much more. Click 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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ORGANIZATION SNAPSHOT

For over 40 years, Christian Adoption Services (CAS) has placed children in need of a home with their forever families. Through domestic and international adoption, as well as foster-to-adopt programs, CAS cares for kids, birth families, and adoptive families throughout the adoption process. 

“People don’t always understand why we need to fundraise,” says Sonia Livingston, Events Coordinator for CAS. “Because adoptive families pay a fee to our agency to adopt, people assume we don’t have fundraising needs, but those fees don’t cover all of the expenses or outreach programs.” CAS makes caring for birth mothers a priority, whether it’s coordinating doctor’s appointments, assisting with groceries or living expenses, or offering post-adoption counseling services. Much of this ministry is not covered by adoption fees, so the funds necessary to care for 200 birth mothers each year must come from outside fundraising efforts.

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, the agency works throughout North Carolina and has expanded into South Carolina. This growth and expansion in programming allows the agency to serve more kids and families, but also requires raising additional funds.

THE CHALLENGE

CAS has relied on golf tournament fundraisers for several years. “They’re fun and a great chance for fellowship,” says Sonia, noting that proceeds from the golf events benefit the agency’s general operating fund to support services for birth mothers, adoption fee assistance, and overhead. Golf tournaments also present an important outreach opportunity for the agency. Because regular supporters tend to fill teams with people from their personal and professional networks, Sonia and her team are able to share more about their work and its impact with potential donors and sponsors. CAS also relies on banquets for fundraising, and while they certainly have value, golf has allowed CAS to do more than just raise money. Golf tournaments give staff the chance to interact with supporters, building relationships and networking. “During a banquet you don’t get to interact with people the same way you do at a golf tournament,” says Sonia. 

The expansion into South Carolina has led the agency to kick off additional golf tournaments in its new service areas. Now with four golf tournaments to plan and execute, it was imperative to keep everything organized in one place and streamline the logistics to maximize organizers’ time as well as opportunities to bring in funds for the agency’s work. 

THE SOLUTION

Sonia and CAS adopted GolfStatus for their 2020 golf events, after looking for an option that allowed online registration and add-on purchases ahead of the event to streamline registration and check-in and maintain social distancing to protect staff members and golfers in the wake of COVID-19.

The 2021 golf tournament series marked CAS’s second year using GolfStatus as a solution. Sonia says the support of GolfStatus’s in-house customer success team was invaluable. GolfStatus’s team built CAS’s first event registration website, and Sonia was able to make changes as necessary and copy events for easy set up. “Having one place to keep track of everything is a huge benefit of using GolfStatus,” Sonia says.

Highlighted Platform Features:

• Event website

• Online registration and secure payment processing

• Fundraising add-ons (raffle tickets and mulligans)

• Sponsor management

• Drag-and-drop hole assignments

• Pre-formatted professional event printouts with sponsor logos

• Detailed reporting

• Live scoring and leaderboards

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“Having one place to keep track of everything is a huge benefit of using GolfStatus.”

— Sonia Livingston, Events Coordinator for Christian Adoption Services

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THE RESULTS

Thus far in 2021, the golf events have hit their fundraising goals and Sonia hopes each golf event continues to grow as their service area grows. Their biggest event takes place in September, and Sonia is all in on using GolfStatus to keep things organized, professional, and running smoothly.

Online Registration & Add-Ons 

GolfStatus’s event website with secure online registration allowed golfers to purchase add-ons like mulligans and raffle tickets with their golfer package, rather than having to wait until the day of the event and buying them separately. “Letting golfers buy those when they registered made it so much easier, and we sold more mulligans and raffle tickets!” Sonia says, noting that they communicated with supporters the tournament, encouraging them to purchase those pieces in advance.

Tournament Format

Holding tournaments during COVID-19 led CAS to switch to tee time starts rather than the traditional shotgun start to stagger the number of people at the golf course at the same time. It turned out to be a positive change—more golfers were able to participate, bringing in additional funds, and it gave staff a chance to connect and talk with each team as they teed off on the first hole. Teams used GolfStatus’s mobile app to record their scores for the tournament’s scramble, which automatically synced to the event leaderboards. Not only did this add a competitive element to the tournament as teams could check live standings, but it made it easy for organizers to see how the tournament was progressing as scores were posted.

Sponsor Retention & Stewardship

CAS has retained the majority of their sponsors year-over-year, thanks to a combination of digital and traditional sponsorship exposure. The digital exposure specifically offered by GolfStatus has been appealing all around for organizers and sponsors. “I really like that we can put all of our sponsors’ logos on the event website and they show up in the app,” Sonia says. Golfers see sponsor logos every time they check the live leaderboards, get event information, or add scores for a hole, adding tremendous value to a sponsor’s investment. Sonia explains that their golf events are also a great chance to further steward sponsors for additional asks and donations. “Once they’ve sponsored a golf event, they tend to be more engaged with us and often attend a banquet or even give an additional business or personal gift,” she says.

Data Collection & Management

CAS recently became part of the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, which necessitated a change in donor databases. In the past, CAS had used their CRM for online registration for all of their fundraising events. But the merger meant a new donor database, which didn’t have the capability for online registration or event management. GolfStatus filled this gap, collecting golfer information at the time of registration, ensuring that no information is missed. Following each event, the information is seamlessly imported into the organization’s new donor CRM.

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“Keeping track of golfer contact information, handicap, hole assignments, and payment details was so much easier with GolfStatus.”

— Sonia Livingston, Events Coordinator for Christian Adoption Services

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Time & Resource Savings

GolfStatus’s online platform made it easy for Sonia and her team to stay organized and save time. When golfers and sponsors registered online, their information dropped into the back-end of the software, keeping everything organized in one easy-to-access place. “Keeping track of golfer contact information, handicap, hole assignments, and payment details was so much easier with GolfStatus,” Sonia explains. “Plus it makes the event and our organization look so much more professional.” CAS qualified for GolfStatus’s Golf for Good program, which provides 501(c) organizations with no-cost access to its golf event management software and a free event website. “The fact that GolfStatus offers this at no cost for nonprofits is unbelievable!” says Sonia.

For more information about Christian Adoption Services, visit https://www.christianadopt.org. 

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Need help with your next golf tournament? GolfStatus is here to help with user-friendly technology that streamlines the process to save time and help you raise more money, plus a responsive in-house customer success team to guide you every step of the way. Nonprofits can qualify for no-cost technology through the Golf for Good program. Click the button below to get qualified or email us directly at [email protected].

From opportunities to engage with vendors, partners, and clients to positive public relations and community outreach, a corporate golf event offers tons of benefits. It’s also an especially ideal way to gather as restrictions loosen, but social distancing and crowd limitations linger. But if you’ve ever put on a tournament—a first-year event or an established outing—you know there are a number of component parts to manage, and they don’t always function in sync. Here are some upgrades that can save you time, cast your brand in a positive and professional light, and make the experience all-around better for players and sponsors.

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1. Launch a website for the tournament.

An online presence for your event makes it easier to spread the word across all your marketing channels. The site should feature all pertinent information about your golf event, including available team packages and sponsorships. It should also show off sponsors, include a place for leaderboards during the event (and final results after), and pull in information about the course (namely its location and scorecard). In fact, a well-comprised event website can even typically replace most printed materials (mailers, paper registration packets, and other collateral that must be designed and managed). Instead, simply link directly to the site in event communications and invites, so potential participants can quickly and easily find the information they need and commit to participating in the tournament.

2. Process registrations online.

The registration process is one of the most important touchpoints for any event. A clunky process soaks up your time, increases the likelihood of embarrassing errors, and can be especially frustrating. Having an event website sets you up to upgrade your registration platform and side-step issues. Be sure to choose a platform that functions seamlessly with the website, securely processes payments, and can accommodate needs specific to the golf event (such as the ability to collect handicaps and apparel sizes and the option for registrants to purchase add-ons like raffle tickets and mulligans). As the organizer, you’ll need to be able to access player and sponsor registrations in real-time, and you’ll want a platform that makes it easy to pass that information to the golf facility in the day or so leading up to the event. There’s bound to be last-minute changes, so you’ll want something that makes it easy for staff at the facility to track those and swap out names on cart signs and other materials so every player has a premier experience. 

3. Display your brand professionally. 

When it comes to showcasing your brand, think beyond tee gifts and goodie bags. Display your company logo (or the event’s logo, if it has one) across materials—starting with your event website and including the leaderboards, scorecards, cart signs, and other on-site materials. These subtle and professional impressions continuously associate your company and brand with the great experience of participating in a fun, well-run event.

4. Put the benefitting charity on display. 

Be sure to include information about the charity your event is supporting on your event website. This should include impact imagery and information that tells the story of the cause and the organization. Take a page from the nonprofit sector’s playbook and look for ways to quantify the impact of specific purchases so supporters know how their dollars make a difference. For example: The purchase of one team provides three meals per day for a child in need for three months. This shows people what they’re supporting and, more importantly, why it matters, and encourages them to give generously.

5. Include on-course contests. 

Adding the opportunity to win prizes is a fun and easy way to make a tournament more memorable. A putting contest is a simple addition. Players simply putt for a chance to enter the contest, where they win an exclusive prize if they ultimately sink the final putt. Hole-in-one contests are also worth considering. For these, one or more holes is designated for the contest, giving players the chance to win a prize if they ace that hole. If your event will be hosting vendors, partners, or B2B clients, consider offering a contest sponsorship that covers the costs of facilitating the package. Be sure to take the opportunity to recognize sponsors as well as folks who qualified for the putting contest, and look for opportunities to acknowledge them with on-course signage and other exposure. 

6. Offer live-scoring and leaderboards. 

At a typical golf event, players and/or teams tally their round, turn paper scorecards in at the end, and then congregate around the clubhouse until the final team finishes and scores can be tallied. Live-scoring improves this flow, allowing teams to input their score into a mobile app in real-time on the course; meanwhile, leaderboards display live scores. The upgrade makes the event more engaging; players check their standings and enjoy poking fun at other teams. Be cognizant that the live-scoring platform you choose is clean, sleek, and easy to use, so inputting a score is simple and not distracting for players. Leaderboards should provide an opportunity to showcase your branding as well as the benefitting charity’s branding—tying everything together professionally. It’s also a good idea to inform staff at the golf facility so they can plan to set up scrolling leaderboards on clubhouse TVs and at the on-course comfort station or halfway house.

7. Add the option to participate remotely. 

With social distancing lingering, it’s a good idea to continue to provide options for folk to support your event in both the traditional format and virtually. Essentially, you’ll plan your traditional in-person, one-day outing at the course, then tack on a virtual option that extends over the week, two weeks, or the whole month in which the traditional event occurs. Folks who aren’t comfortable coming out for the one-day event can register for the virtual round and come out to the course on their own time with their own group or alone. This way, they’re still able to participate, experience the outing, and support the cause, while also feeling safe and comfortable. You’ll need to employ some technology here, but—with the right platform—adding a virtual round is very simple and costs nothing. A hybrid event is also a nice option if you’re wanting to allow more participants, but traditionally have a sold-out field.

8. Collect and manage player information.

It’s often the case that the person who is tasked with running the golf event gets to know the people who attend over the years. When the event has been handed off to someone new, or there’s an effort to expand or evolve it in a more intentional and organized fashion, player and sponsor information becomes especially crucial. Who has supported the event in the past and how can they be contacted? The right technology helps you securely and responsibility collect player and sponsor information, so you know exactly who attends and in what capacity. After the event, that information should be imported back into your company’s CRM.

9. Follow up. 

Knowing who is participating and how allows you to follow up and continue to steward meaningful business relationships: thank employees for joining and supporting the event and the cause it supports; reach out to partners with follow-up communications and gifts; leverage the experience to advance and steward relationships with clients. When the time comes to plan next year’s event, the information you need is at your fingertips, and everything is infinitely easier.

Get Started 

GolfStatus provides all the above and more, making it especially easy to upgrade corporate events from start to finish. This includes a professional event website (that can seamlessly be integrated into your business’s site), secure online registration, the ability to manage teams and sponsors, premier branding opportunities, ways to showcase a cause, live-scoring and leaderboards, secure data collection, and much more. It also includes options for virtual events and rounds—so you’re ready for anything.

Best of all, if your event benefits a nonprofit, your business likely qualifies for no-cost access to GolfStatus through GolfStatus.org and the Golf for Good program.

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A Timeline & Checklist for the First-Timer or the Veteran Event Organizer

Maybe you’ve been tasked with organizing a golf fundraiser for the first time, or you’re thinking about pitching the idea. You’ve heard horror stories, but you know the benefits—the fact that golf events are an ideal way to reach new donors, that they’re a great way to get face time with key supporters and connect with corporate partners and sponsors, and that the funds raised can be huge. In fact, for many organizations, the golf tournament is one of two or three key annual fundraising events. Even so, the thought of planning and executing a successful charity golf outing can be a bit intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s a breakdown of considerations to make, and an outline to help you kick-start a game plan.

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1. Outline your goals.

Start by considering your goals, which might include: raising funds, raising awareness, attracting prospective donors, engaging or stewarding current donors, forging or strengthening sponsor relationships, connecting your donor and sponsor networks, teeing up larger initiatives and outreach efforts, or others. Your goals will dictate key details like the type of event you hold, the committee or volunteer help you’ll need, the event schedule, who you invite, your budget and revenue projections, and the facility you choose.

2. Outline cost and revenue projections and set a preliminary budget.

Consider your goals, revenue projections, and available resources to outline a budget for the event. Expenses might include: golf facility usage (green fees, cart usage, range balls, banquet space, service fees and gratuity), food and beverage, player and sponsor gifts, team prizes, marketing materials, shirts, and signage. At the same time, consider revenue sources, including entry fees, mulligans, raffle tickets, donations, and sponsorships. Note that sponsorship packages can be tiered to attract supporters large and small, or created in an a-la-cart fashion. Consider price points for sponsorship packages based on the demographic you expect to attract, the quality of the venue, past years’ price points, and the expenses you’ll need to cover. Note that using the GolfStatus.org platform opens the door for branded pin flag sponsorships (the kind you see at professional-level events) as well as a special Technology Sponsorship category that includes online and live leaderboard exposure, as well as in-app exposure opportunities.

3. Designate a point of contact, committee, or task force and delegate.

Outline available resources and consider how you’ll engage and collaborate with peers and volunteers. Whether you’re on your own, working with a team of volunteers, borrowing time from well-connected and influential board members, or a combination of all three, you’ll need to stay on the same page so it’s easy for folks to lend a hand. That’s especially easy when you use web-based tools. Take advantage of user access permissions so you can delegate the component parts of organizing a golf fundraiser (sponsor management, registration oversight and event promotion, and even details like hole assignments) to specific members of your organization or volunteers as needed. GolfStatus.org checks each of those boxes, and makes it super easy to pass information to the golf professional staff at the facility, who can use it to do hole assignments, print tee sheets and cart signs, and perform other time-consuming tasks in the days leading up to and on the day of your event. When everything is in order, staff are calm and collected, and available to provide assistance and service to event attendees.

4. Choose a date and golf facility.

Reach out to your networks to leverage connections that might make it possible to play a private facility or get in at an attractive price point. Consider the membership or customer demographic for the facility and the surrounding area and be sure it aligns with your goals. Work with the facility to coordinate a date, taking into account course conditions and scheduling, holidays (especially travel holidays), competing local events, and other factors that might affect turnout. You’ll also need to finalize the time and format, as well as pricing, sponsorship packages, and schedule so you can start promoting the outing.

5. Set up your event and registration website.

This takes about 15 minutes when you use the GolfStatus.org platform. Simply plug in event details (format, number of participants, start time, et cetera), give your event a name, and create it instantly. It’s a good idea to include campaign and outreach efforts in your event information, which provides players and sponsors with the information they need to join your cause. The key advantage of an event website—one that’s tailored specifically to the golf fundraiser—is that it provides a central platform for accepting and organizing team and individual registrations, collecting sponsorships, processing payments, and staying informed about the event. That includes details ahead of the event, live leaderboards the day of, and final results displays and keep people talking and sharing your event even after it’s over.

6. Promote the event to attract participants and sponsors.

Promote the event instantly by making it public in GolfStatus’s tournament marketplace, where players can search for and find events, then register for them from a mobile device in minutes. Also be sure to share and promote your event (linking to your event website as the call to action for player and sponsor registrations) on social media, via personal emails and blast campaigns, through texts, and even in flyers, post cards, and other print materials. Create a Facebook event page for your event and add GolfStatus.org as a co-host (click here for a step-by-step guide on how to do it); we’ll share your event across our networks to help spread the word. Be sure to connect with the golf facility and encourage cross-promotion through your social channels and theirs. It’s also a good idea to reach out to local media outlets (newspapers, local news channels, and even local blogs and influencers) to let them know that your event is in the works, and update them when a major sponsor joins your cause.

7. Leverage your networks.

Encourage staff, board members, and volunteers to reach out to their networks and share registration information. Whether you simply brainstorm prospects or segment them automatically from your database, create a list of players and corporate supporters to reach out to. Pro tip: Consider asking board members and highly engaged volunteers to each list five to 10 prospects at your monthly board meeting, then report back on their registration status at each meeting in the months leading up to the event; this provides a small but concrete and actionable list that each member can act on and a little accountability with the understanding that follow ups are impending.

8. Coordinate with sponsors to manage assets and messaging.

As sponsorships are purchased, you’ll need to keep the brand assets for each (logos, imagery, and messaging) organized and be sure they are always displayed nicely and in the proper locations. GolfStatus.org makes this easy with a sponsorship management interface that keeps track of everything. It’s super easy to use and access, and access permissions let you delegate easily to one or more staffers or volunteers. You can pop in and check things out as needed, or let them run with it. When you’ve sold the Technology Sponsorship for your event, give GolfStatus a heads up so we can order branded pin flags and coordinate with the facility to get them up for the event.

9. Coordinate with vendors, get quotes, and fill in cost details.

Track and manage costs and details in a simple spreadsheet as you call on and finalize vendor orders. You may only need to consider a few vendors depending on the size and scope of your event: a print design company for your t-shirts; a food and beverage provider (if the clubhouse isn’t full-service), décor and signage as needed; and a tee gift provider.

10. Touch base with the golf facility.  

In the weeks and days ahead of the event, you’ll need to coordinate some final details with the golf facility—including the number of players you’re expecting, vendor deliveries, setup times, and other key details. They’ll also want to dig into team pairings and hole assignments, which can be done right from the GolfStatus.org platform. The golf professional staff can also instantly format and print all the materials they’ll need the day of the event (including cart signs, tee sheets, and alpha lists) right from the software. This time savings is huge, as it keeps staff free to assist you and your event participants—instead of tied up in a back office with paperwork.

11. Get ready for the next round.  

One key advantage of using the GolfStatus.org platform is the ability to copy a previous event, pulling in format and other specifics with the ability to edit details like date and time. This means that your next event is already set up and basically ready to go. You just login when it gets a little closer, update any details, and start spreading the word.

How to Automate with a Custom Event Website

When you’re trying to recruit players and sponsors for a golf fundraiser, the easier it is to spread the word and get folks registered, the better! An event website lets you quickly and easily promote your golf outing, while at the same time providing a central location to collect registrations, entry fees, and sponsorships.

Simple Event Promotion

Golf fundraisers powered by GolfStatus.org have the key advantage of a sleek, professional event website that simplifies the process of collecting registrations and makes it easy to seamlessly coordinate with the golf facility—all at no cost to your organization. With a simple copy-and-paste of the event link, you can instantly promote your outing on social media, through email campaigns, personal messages, and texts, or anywhere online.

Public events are accessible to avid golfers through the free GolfStatus app, where users can search for and register for events from a mobile device quickly and easily. GolfStatus also makes it easy for registrants to invite teammates, drawing more players to the tournament.

Streamline Registration

A custom event website for your fundraiser gives golfers everything they need to make a decision: complete event details, entry pricing, sponsorship package details, round information, and a list of confirmed participants and event sponsors. Sponsors can also register and pay directly on the event page, giving busy executives a hassle-free way to commit and submit payment at their convenience. With instant payment and a clear list of sponsor options, decision makers lock in sponsorships as they’re registering, at the crucial time when their interest is piqued.

Registrations and payments are easy to track and manage on the backend, so you won’t be scrambling to track down checks the day of the event or working out details on where and how funds needs to be allocated after the fact. It's all automatic with secure and reliable integrated payment processing.

Coordinate with the Golf Facility

Player information automatically populates into the GolfStatus.org platform so you can seamlessly hand it off to the golf facility. Ahead of the event, club staff can quickly and easily manage teams, drag and drop hole assignments, format and print tee sheets and cart signs, and complete other logistical tasks.

During the tournament, the event website displays live leaderboards, so players, spectators, and sponsors (both at the event and not attending) can follow and share scores in real-time.

To learn more about custom event websites and streamlined event registration (both of which are available to nonprofits through GolfStatus.org at no cost) submit an online inquiry here.