Posts tagged promotion

The event planning team poses in t-shirts from the tournament and a big check for Capital Humane Society.

Year two of Putt Putt Fore Puppies was a resounding success!

The GolfStatus and Dormie Network marketing teams had so much fun in the tournament’s first year—and learned so much—that we decided to do it all over again and crush our goals from 2023. Check out the 2023 planning blog to get the rundown on the mini golf tournament.

Putt Putt Fore Puppies raised money to support the pets looking for their forever homes at the Capital Humane Society here in Lincoln, Nebraska. See our journey here and on Facebook and Instagram!

Thank you tournament sponsors!

Presenting Sponsor - Sinclair Hille Architects

Koozie Sponsor - Red Robin

Swag Sponsor - Raising Canes

Certified Piedmontese - Dinner Sponsor

Golf Ball Sponsor - UNICO Group

Batting Cage Sponsor - Pinnacle Bank

T-shirt Sponsor - Dormie Network

Grand Prize Sponsor - Belmont Veterinary Center

Refreshment Station Sponsor - Firespring

Snack Sponsor - Pillar Restaurant Group

Music Sponsor - Prairie Dental

Hole Sponsors:

3rd quarter / Post-Tournament update

We did it! The second annual Putt Putt Fore Puppies was an even bigger success than last year. Our goal was to donate $12,000 to Capital Humane Society, and thanks to the generosity of our networks and the Lincoln community, the event raised over $15,000 to help care for homeless pets!

event day & post-tournament recap

The tournament sold out, with 54 teams on all three courses at Adventure Golf. We made some changes to the tournament’s set up, moving check in and add-ons closer to Adventure Golf’s entrance to clear up a bottleneck we saw in that area from last year. Things ran smoothly for the most part, though we may add another station for folks to purchase add-ons next year to keep things moving. Over $5,000 went through our GolfStatus event website on tournament day for purchase of all-in games, raffle tickets, t-shirts, and donations, along with nearly $500 in cash. Golfers browsed raffle prizes, visited sponsor booths, decorated pet bandanas, interacted with adoptable dogs from Capital Humane Society, and enjoyed dinner while waiting for the shotgun start.

Emails were sent to all participants prior to the event reminding them to check their hole assignments and encouraging them to download the GolfStatus app ahead of time. Most teams were ready to go with the app, but QR codes were posted at registration and on the clubhouse for folks to easily download the app if need be.

We adjusted the day’s schedule based on 2023, allowing additional time for the teams on the more difficult Backwoods course to finish (even though it wasn’t quite enough time!). Thankfully, live scoring helped our team finalize the results on each of the three courses in just a few minutes so we could move onto awards quickly.

Overall, the event was a resounding success and Capital Humane Society was overwhelmed by the response to the event and the amount the tournament was able to donate. The planning team met to debrief and have some ideas to make the event even better next year! We sent out a post-tournament survey and will use those suggestions to improve for 2025.

3rd quarter update

The third quarter was a race to sell sponsorship packages, promote the tournament, recruit teams, and handle the final details to ensure a successful event. As we experienced last year, the bulk of the team registrations came in during the month leading up to tournament day.

Having a larger planning team than last year paid dividends in sharing the load of sponsor outreach, tournament prep, and day-of event execution. We continued to meet monthly but increased the frequency to bi-weekly leading up to the tournament. GolfStatus’ downloadable Timeline and Checklist kept our planning and task on target.

We crossed these major planning tasks off the list in the third quarter:

    ✓  Finalized details, logistics, and hole assignments for on-course games.
✓  Discussed a plan for inclement weather (which we thankfully didn’t need!)
✓  Promoted the tournament through email blasts, posts on local event calendars, hanging up flyers in businesses in the area, sending flyers home with local elementary school students, and word of mouth.
✓  Sent an email to last year’s participants with a promo code for $5 off registration on National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day on April 30
✓  Sold all but two sponsorships, both of which already had their hard costs covered. Each team member reached out to their networks to promote available sponsorships.
✓  Placed vendor orders for signage, koozies, golf balls, pin flags, and t-shirts.
✓  Worked with our client success rep to make hole assignments and sponsor hole assignments.
✓  Sent emails to all participants via the GolfStatus messaging tool to encourage them to download the GolfStatus app, purchase add-ons, and review hole assignments.
✓  Coordinated with Capital Humane Society to have adoptable dogs on site at the tournament. 

2nd Quarter Update

Planning has continued moving along smoothly. Getting the event website up and running was much simpler this time around, since all we had to do was copy last year’s event and update the specifics. We decided to offer two team registration packages, one that included a t-shirt for each team member at a higher price point and one that didn’t.

Each committee member was responsible for developing one or more sponsorship packages, which were added to the newly launched event website. We ran a registration promotion as part of National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day on April 30, offering a promo code for $5 off registration, which was sent to last year’s participants via GolfStatus’ email tool.

We did run into one major hiccup which necessitated a date change. The event was originally planned for Friday, September 20, but when the Big 10 conference released the 2024 football schedule, we discovered a home Nebraska Cornhuskers football game the same evening as the tournament. In football-crazed Lincoln, we didn’t think we could compete with the Huskers, so the tournament was moved a week earlier to September 13. We made sure all promotional materials (including the event website, flyers, social media graphics, and email blasts) were updated and that we communicated with the teams and sponsors who had already committed. Adventure Golf continues to be a great partner, working with us to seamlessly move the event date.

Perhaps best of all, after learning about the animals in need of homes, one of our planning committee members decided to adopt a cat from Capital Humane Society!

David and Quynh, his new cat from Capital Humane Society!

Here are the tasks we handled this quarter:

✓ Finalized registration packages and pricing
✓ Finalized sponsor packages and pricing
✓ Launched the event website and opened registration
✓ Sent an email to last year’s participants with a promo code for $5 off registration on National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day on April 30
✓ Created promotional graphics, logos, and flyers
✓ Brainstormed revenue enhancers
✓ Discussed plans for on-course games
✓ Began soliciting donations for raffle prizes
✓ Began sponsor outreach
✓ Sold 12 sponsorships (thanks Certified Piedmontese, Red Robin, Raising Cane's, 402 Title Services, Upland Software, Nexus Marketing, Vanity Fur, Kyson Denker State Farm, Engineering Technologies Inc, Stewart Title Company, Global Golf Post, Prairie Dental Group, and Luly Motors!)
✓ Sold 13 teams
✓ Met with Capital Humane Society staff about event promotion and logistics (and got to meet some of the adoptable pets)

1st Quarter Update

We kicked off planning with committee meetings in February and March to review lessons learned and ideas from the post-tournament debrief and start brainstorming for 2024. The planning committee welcomed several new members, with newer GolfStatus Account Managers and Client Success Reps joining in on the fun. The team now numbers 13, which means more people to share the workload. The decision was made to move the tournament to September, for a couple reasons. One, we hit the jackpot with weather last year—75, sunny, and just a slight breeze. October weather in Nebraska is extremely unpredictable, with more stable conditions in September. Second, Capital Humane Society had no events scheduled for September, so Putt Putt could fill that gap.

Thus far, planning has been easier, as we have actual data and last year’s experiences to draw from. We have a better understanding of costs, revenue, attractive sponsor packages, and how many teams to shoot for. We also have processes and assets in place to use down the road. What’s more, we could simply copy our event in GolfStatus’ backend so there was no need to start from scratch. Stay tuned for the website launch!

Here are the tasks we handled this quarter:

✓ Finalized the planning committee
✓ Set dates for all remaining committee meetings
✓ Set a fundraising goal
✓ Reviewed pricing options for facility rental and team registration
✓ Brainstormed sponsorship and package ideas
✓ Brainstormed revenue enhancers
✓ Locked it in with Adventure Golf (September 20!)
✓ Confirmed the date with the Capital Humane Society team
✓ Divided up sponsorships among committee members
✓ Worked on updating the event website so it can launch in April
✓ Updated the tournament’s budget spreadsheet

How To Attract Golfers to Your Charity Golf Tournament

There’s no nonprofit fundraising event quite like a charity golf tournament. It’s a fun, social event that not only raises money, but boosts awareness for your organization and cause, forges or strengthens partnerships, fosters corporate support, and broadens your donor pool.

Golf carts are lined up at the start of a charity golf tournament.

Because golf tournaments have so much potential to move nonprofits forward, it’s in your best interest to attract as many golfers as possible to play in your event. Here are 11 quick ideas to get golfers interested in your tournament.

Free Guide: Attracting Players to Your Golf Fundraiser

1. use an event website

If there’s one non-negotiable for a successful golf tournament, it’s an event website. You’ll meet people where they already are—online—to share information about your tournament and what you’re raising money for in a professional manner. Share the link in all your promotional materials to drive traffic to the website where they can commit as soon as they hear about the tournament.

The Cameron Steinberg Foundation golf tournament website is displayed on a laptop.

2. make registration as easy as possible

Online registration is the standard for events these days, and golf tournaments are no different. It’s quick, convenient, and saves everyone—organizers and golfers alike—time and hassle. Everyone is busy, so an event site equipped with a simple registration checkout process is key to getting them on board. Be sure that the website is mobile-friendly so golfers can register right from their phones!

3. make it irresistible

It starts by understanding your target audience and what would appeal to them. Would they be interested in golfing at (and paying the corresponding registration fee) a high-end, private club? Or is a public course with a lower registration fee more appealing? Both can be a draw for golfers, depending on your supporters’ preferences. Attractive prizes, memorable add-ons, alternative or inclusive formats, and fun contests also go a long way toward getting golfers to say “yes” to your event, so highlight these throughout your promotions.

A golfer at a mini golf tournament his the ball toward the hole.

4. get in touch with past event participants & supporters

If yours is an existing event, start with past golfers. Invite them to come back and play in support of your mission. You might offer a special discount code or registration rate for returning players to sweeten the deal. If you’re getting a new golf event up and running, reach out to past participants in other events your nonprofit has held or participated in. Ask your loyal supporters to share the word about the upcoming golf tournament. You might provide some copy/paste verbiage or social graphics they can use on their personal channels.

5. leverage sponsors & other partners

Sponsors are a major part of your golf tournament’s success. Leverage their participation and networks to help attract players. Sponsors and businesses will often use charity golf tournaments to entertain clients, woo prospects, network, and even reward employees, so it makes sense to build a team or two into some of your sponsorship packages. Not only does this add value, but it also helps fill your tournament’s field in the process. You might also consider providing promotional assets (logos, verbiage, graphics, etc.) to your sponsors and invite them to share them on their social media platforms and with their employees.

Golfers sit at tables for dinner and to network after a charity golf tournament.

6. get your board & planning teams involved

Ask each member of your nonprofit’s board and tournament planning committee to think of five to 10 contacts they’ll invite to play in the event. This bite-sized request makes it easy for them to follow up and broadens your pool of potential golfers. Set them up for success with talking points or email templates to help with their outreach.

7. send promotional emails

Email marketing is a cost-effective way to cast a wide net of potential golfers. Start with a save-the-date email to last year’s golfers and sponsors and/or your nonprofit’s email list as soon as you finalize the date and course. Send strategic reminder emails at intervals leading up to the tournament date. Consider adding an early bird registration period or a registration closing date to help create urgency among potential participants and get them to commit earlier.

8. use social media effectively

Social media is another cost-effective promotional vehicle for your event. Utilize your nonprofit’s presence to drive registrations via your event website. Create a Facebook event and make your planning team co-hosts so they can invite their networks to register and widen your reach. Tap into Facebook groups—there are often groups strictly for sharing nonprofit fundraising events, golf tournaments, or community events. If you have a few dollars to spare, consider a limited paid ad campaign that targets a specific geographic area or interests. If you spend even $100, but get one or two teams to register as a result, you’ve gotten good ROI!

The cover of the Using Social Media to Amplify Your Golf Fundraiser guide. — using social media to amplify your golf fundraiser

Download this free guide to find out how to leverage social media to make the most out of your charity golf tournament and raise the most money possible for your cause!

9. Promote it to your community

Your community likely has event boards, community calendars, or other similar avenues to promote local events. Submit your tournament to such channels, and consider reaching out to local television and radio stations with a press release or an ask to list on their website. Use community gathering spots such as grocery stores, coffee shops, libraries, community centers, gyms, churches, or other locations to post flyers (with a QR code that links to your event site) advertising your tournament. The host golf facility may be willing to post flyers in the clubhouse as well, so don’t be afraid to ask!

10. leverage your tech stack

When you use GolfStatus to host your golf tournament website and manage your event, your tournament reaches tens of thousands of avid golfers in your area who actively look for local charity tournaments to play in. Your event will be listed on events.golfstatus.com as well as on the GolfStatus mobile app, helping you reach new golfers—and potential new supporters.

A website listing golf tournaments that use GolfStatus is displayed on a laptop. A mobile device showing an golf tournament event site is next to it.

11. connect golfers to your cause

Be sure to help golfers understand 1. what they’re supporting by playing golf and 2. the impact of their participation on your work. Use your event website to help tell the story, and build in elements of cause connection to your tournament to help golfers get a tangible understanding—such as one team registration feeds a shelter pet for a month—of how they’re helping move your mission forward. You might use banners, signage, displays, guest speakers, beneficiary testimonials, or elements of on-course games to drive home the goals of the tournaments.

No-Risk, No-Cost Tech for Your Next Golf Event

No matter if you’re holding your first golf tournament or your twentieth, you need a golf-specific event management tool to make your life easier. GolfStatus’ robust platform is built to handle the unique needs that come with a golf event, like team pairings, hole assignments, handicaps, and more. Built-in fundraising features and exclusive revenue-boosting add-ons and sponsorships help raise more money for your cause, while automations and our industry-leading support team help save you time and effort. Best of all, nonprofits can qualify for a free event website and no-cost access to the GolfStatus platform through the Golf for Good program. Click below to learn more and get qualified!

Ready to get started?

Click here to get qualified to use GolfStatus at no cost!

Best PracticesGuest UserMay 9, 2024golf fundraisers, online registration, event websites, networking, promotion, businesses, marketing, cause connection, social media, notifications, donor data, donors

Plan a Golf Tournament With Us!

GolfStatus’ golf event management platform powers golf tournaments and events of all types and sizes—even mini golf tournaments.

Leaning on the tournament planning resources available in its online resources library and working closely with the in-house Client Success team, the GolfStatus marketing team planned a brand new mini golf tournament, using the tasks outlined in the golf tournament fundraiser timeline and checklist, to give back to our community and raise money for a local charity. The tournament raised over $9,200 for the Capital Humane Society in our hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska.

A big THANK YOU to our tournament sponsors!

Presenting Sponsor

hole sponsors

Yankee Hill Veterinary Hospital Website Link

Post-event update

Lessons learned: The to-do list doesn’t stop once the tournament is done! Post-event follow up and engagement with attendees is super important for ensuring a great experience and building momentum for the next year’s event. Using GolfStatus’ messaging app was a simple way to reach out to everyone in one fell swoop to say thank you, provide a final update, and announce that Putt Putt Fore Puppies will be back again in 2024! Once all of the tournament accounting was reconciled, we were able to present Capital Humane Society with a check for $9,208.15 (which was THREE TIMES what we set for an initial fundraising goal).

We worked on these post-tournament tasks in the last month or so:

    ✓  Sent a thank you to all attendees via GolfStatus’ platform
✓  Sent handwritten thank you notes to sponsors
✓  Provided hole signs to sponsors
✓  Updated the event website
✓  Reconciled final expenses and income and presented a check to Capital Humane Society
✓  Debriefed with the planning committee
✓  Renewed with GolfStatus for 2024!

OCTOBEr Update

We did it! And it was an amazing day. We hit the jackpot in terms of weather—low 80s, plentiful sunshine, and a slight breeze. Set up and check in both went smoothly. People were eager to buy the games package and raffle tickets through the event website, and we raised $1100 the day of the event just in add-on purchases! Best of all, we were able to make a big check presentation to Capital Humane Society for over $8000! We heard from so many golfers and sponsors about how much fun they had and how they hoped we would do it again.

Lessons learned:

As much as we tried to plan ahead so the week of the event wouldn’t be hectic, there were just some tasks that had to wait until close to the event, such as printing alpha lists and making hole assignments.

It’s a good idea to avoid mentioning a specific time for post-golf happenings, since the round might take longer than anticipated. We planned an hour for golf, but the round on the Backwoods course (which is significantly more difficult than the Blue course) took close to an hour and half. Those on the Blue course finished in just over an hour, and thankfully were content to mingle, enjoy dinner or a drink, hit the batting cages, and soak in the beautiful weather while waiting for the raffle drawing and awards presentation.
Having QR codes for folks to buy raffle tickets and the all-in games package made it super easy to do. We also had QR codes to download the GolfStatus app for live-scoring, since we didn’t use paper scorecards. Live-scoring was a big hit, and sponsors loved seeing their logo in the app.
Giving ourselves plenty of time for setup was helpful—we arrived at Adventure Golf about 12:30 so we weren’t pushed to get everything ready before registration opened at 3:30.
Running everything through the GolfStatus event website was so helpful in reconciling expenses. Some golfers preferred to pay via cash, but that added a level of complexity for accounting purposes.
Getting proofs for printed items is imperative to ensure there are no errors and all items are up to our high standards and make sponsors look good. We had some difficulties getting accurate proofs from a vendor, but our persistence paid off and everything turned out fine (though it did add some unnecessary stress).
We truly couldn’t have done without GolfStatus. From easy registration, instant sponsor exposure, premium sponsorships, and the hands-on help from the client success team, GolfStatus was a key part of our success.

We crossed these last-minute to-dos off of the list in the weeks and days leading up to the event:

    ✓  Held bi-weekly meetings with the planning committee to discuss logistics
✓  Re-opened registration for waitlisted teams
✓  Created QR codes for golfers to purchase raffle tickets and all-in games and to download the GolfStatus app
✓  Created a rules sheet outlining the format and rules for each of the on-course games
✓  Assembled pin flags, hole signs, and golfer swag bags
✓  Worked with our GolfStatus client success rep to make hole assignments
✓  Confirmed and communicated volunteer assignments and committee roles
✓  Finalized the event day schedule
✓  Wrote talking points for the welcome
✓  Pulled together registration table supplies and odds and ends
✓  Communicated with sponsors and registrants to remind them of all-in games packages and raffle tickets

September Update

Lessons learned: Our tournament date is rapidly approaching and we’re in final prep mode. Our promotional push paid off, as we officially sold out the event! It was super exciting to see every sponsorship and team slot sold. As our GolfStatus client success rep had explained to us a few months ago, the majority of teams tend to register in the month or so leading up to the event, and that was the case here. We had a few additional teams inquire about registering after all the slots were filled, so we opened a waitlist. There are currently nine teams on our waitlist, so we’re figuring out a plan for potentially doubling up teams on some holes or even opening the third course at Adventure Golf. As we plan for all the final details and logistics, some of our sponsors have stepped up to provide things like tote bags and swag for player gift bags.

Here are the tasks we accomplished in September:

    ✓  Sold out our teams!!!
✓  Opened a waitlist for additional teams
✓  Held our monthly tournament planning meeting and set bi-weekly meetings through the tournament date
✓  Worked on recruiting volunteers to run games
✓  Designed and ordered a bunch of items: sponsor banners, hole signs, pin flags, koozies, and golf balls
✓  Checked with Adventure Golf on logistics like A/V equipment and tables
✓  Tracked donated game and raffle prizes

AUGUST Update

Lessons learned: Our summer focus on sponsorships has paid off, as we are officially sold out of sponsor packages! We worked with a couple businesses who were interested in participating in the event to create custom sponsorships, based on their goals and capacities for being part of the tournament. We’re super excited about selling our presenting sponsorship to Sinclair Hille Architects! The presenting sponsorship included GolfStatus’ exclusive Technology Sponsorship. With less than two months to go until event day, we’re working on determining details for on-course games, soliciting in-kind donations for prizes, and most importantly, pushing team registrations. Our team has been posting flyers around Lincoln, reaching out to friends and family who have expressed interest, pushing out email promotions, and utilizing targeted ads and organic social media to get the word out.

Here are the tasks we accomplished in August:

✓ Sold out our slate of sponsorships (shout out to Sinclaire Hille Architects, Ross Eickhoff State Farm, 402 Creamery, Allo Fiber, Raising Cane’s, Luly Motors, Pioneer Greens Dentistry, Nexus Marketing, Amigos/Kings Classic, Vanicek Dental, Yankee Hill Veterinary Hospital, Prairie Dental, Armature)
✓ Sold 10 teams
✓ Continued posting promotional flyers at businesses around Lincoln
✓ Worked on a promotional strategy to drive team registrations
✓ Held our monthly tournament planning committee meeting
✓ Created a spreadsheet to track volunteers, on-course games, prizes, and donations
✓ Started recruiting volunteers to help run the tournament
✓ Got to know some of the furry friends available for adoption at Capital Humane Society
✓ Continued outreach for in kind prize donations

July Update

Lessons learned: The team focused on securing sponsorships over the past month, relying on personal and professional connections to reach out to businesses. We’ve heard from a couple of potential sponsors that their charitable or sponsorship dollars have already been allocated for the year, which has reinforced the advice to start sponsor outreach early! We’ve been using our new budget spreadsheet template to track revenue and expenses, which has been helpful to reference, and started outlining volunteer needs and the details of the extra games we’ll have on the course.

Here are the tasks we accomplished in July:

✓ Onboarded five new sponsors (shout out to Upland Software, Global Golf Post, Five Nines, Nicki for Nebraska, Allstate Agent Ty Shearman)
✓ Sold 11 teams
✓ Dropped flyers off at businesses around Lincoln to promote the tournament
✓ Held our monthly planning committee meeting
✓ Got to know some of the furry friends available for adoption at Capital Humane Society
✓ Continued sponsor outreach and asks for prize donations
✓ Selected a photographer to capture images of the event

June Update

Lessons learned: While we were initially discouraged about the lack of team registrations thus far, we’ve discovered that folks are interested in playing in the event—they just don’t want to commit this far out from the tournament date. Our Client Success team assures us that most team registrations occur within 30 days of the event, and since our tournament isn’t until October 20, we’re still in good shape. That being said, we’re continuing promotion to keep the event on people’s radars and hopefully drive some early registrations and sell additional sponsorships.

Here are the tasks we accomplished in June:

✓ Finalized a promotional flyer
✓ Held a monthly committee meeting
✓ Sold an additional sponsorship (thanks Vanity Fur)!
✓ Determined on-course games
✓ Added a registration package for on-course games to the event website
✓ Continued to reach out to potential sponsors
✓ Continued promotion on social media

May Update

Lessons learned: It was exciting to put on the finishing touches and launch our event website! GolfStatus’ platform made it easy to add graphics, customize verbiage, and set a donation goal. We also worked with Cash, our Client Success rep, to add watch emails so members of our planning team are notified whenever someone registers a team, makes a donation, or purchases a sponsorship. A custom form was added to each registration package to collect preferences on which golf course folks want to play (Adventure Golf has three courses, one of which is definitely more challenging!). We knew that the software was easy to navigate, but have now experienced it firsthand! Now we shift our focus to promoting the tournament and approaching potential sponsors.

Here's what we did in May:

✓ Held our monthly planning committee meeting
✓ Finalized and launched our event website.
✓ Sold our first two sponsorships. (shoutout to 402 Title Services and Certified Piedmontese!)
✓ Had our first team register.
✓ Finalized team registration costs.
✓ Sent our first promotional email.
✓ Started working on a tournament flyer.

April Update

Lessons learned: Divvying up the labor has helped keep planning moving forward at a brisk pace. Monthly committee meetings have been a great checkpoint and opportunity to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of each other. Each planning committee member took ownership of a sponsorship package and determined costs, pricing, and benefits, and will also take point in selling the sponsorship.

At this point, we have two of the three courses booked at Adventure Golf, but are working to price sponsorships so they’re still profitable if we need to scale up to include all three courses (which would be a great problem to have!).

We crossed these items off the to-do list in April:

✓ Field trip to Adventure Golf to scope out the courses’ layout and where we can place signage, registration, tables, etc.
✓ Added imagery and custom text to the event website.
✓ Finalized the tournament logo (and it’s super cute!).
✓ Finalized sponsorship packages.
✓ Finalized team registration costs.
✓ Added details to the budget worksheet to track income and expenses.
✓ Started fleshing out a promotion schedule to implement once the event website is launched.

March Update

Lessons learned: As a first-year event, we’re creating and documenting processes as we go. Without past years’ experiences to draw from, it’s necessary to make educated guesses on a number of components, like fixed costs, expected revenue, sponsor packages, or the number of participants. We also don’t know what we don’t know, but have found that GolfStatus’ online resources and our Client Success team are filling in the gaps. Cash, our dedicated rep, is essentially an extra planning committee member, sharing his experience and expertise.

The good news is that we’re ahead of the game with planning. Cash shared that most tournaments open up registration 60-90 days out from the event date, and we’re on track to open registration sooner than that timeframe, once we determine some details about format and further flesh out sponsorship packages. Our committee members, like most golf event organizers, are trying to balance planning tasks with our full-time jobs and lives.

Here are the tasks we tackled in March:

✓ Finalized a date and locked it in with Adventure Golf (October 20!)
✓ Divided up sponsorships among committee members
✓ Received an education session from our GolfStatus Customer Success rep
✓ Worked on a draft of our event website
✓ Submitted fundraiser information to name Capital Humane Society as a beneficiary
✓ Started working on the tournament logo
✓ Started brainstorming promotion ideas
✓ Created a budget tracking spreadsheet
✓ Started creating a budget
✓ Practiced our putting skills (we do this a lot)

February Update

Lessons learned: Even with a mini golf tournament, there are a lot of moving parts and important things to consider, but the checklist has kept us on task. We’re finding a lot of fun possibilities for a mini golf tournament in terms of add-ons, sponsorship options, and games. After discussions with the planning committee, the original tentative event date needed to be reconsidered due to a conflicting event—which is why it was important to loop the entire team in to help consider decisions from all angles.

  
    Here’s what we accomplished in February:

    ✓  Finalized the planning committee
✓  Set dates for all remaining committee meetings
✓  Reviewed pricing options for facility rental
✓  Revisited potential event date options
✓  Brainstormed sponsorship and package ideas
✓  Determined a tournament name (Putt Putt for Puppies)
✓  Narrowed down a list of local animal-related beneficiaries
✓  Reviewed several GolfStatus client mini golf events and websites
✓  Started creating a budget
✓  Practiced our putting skills (again)

January Update

Here’s what we did in January:

✓ Set a tentative event date in October 2023
✓ Checked local event calendars for conflicts
✓ Met with the golf facility (Adventure Golf Center in Lincoln, Nebraska)
✓ Received a GolfStatus demo
✓ Brainstormed event ideas with the planning team and our GolfStatus Account Manager
✓ Practiced our putting skills

Friends Come Together Through Golf to Support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Four men pose with a young boy on a golf course

An offhand comment about a golf tournament in a group text among Adam Sedivy’s friends was the spark for raising over $22,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Adam’s son, Brantley, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a newborn. The longtime friends are all avid golfers, and in a group chat, someone jokingly suggested that they put together a golf tournament. As time went on, the joke became serious, and it turned into the Brantley’s Buddies Golf Classic.

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation says that close to 40,000 kids and adults in the U.S. are living with cystic fibrosis. “Brantley is a great kid and such a trooper when it comes to all the medicines and treatments he’s on,” says Adam. Cystic fibrosis is a progressive disease, but thus far, Brantley is taking it all in stride.

A man and young boy pose on a golf course — Adam and Brantley Sedivy

“We all love to golf and decided we could do it for a good cause,” says CJ Barone, a member of the Brantley’s Buddies board. “We kept thinking, ‘why not us?’ We had nothing to lose and everything to gain with a tournament.”

In April of 2022, the group, consisting of Adam, Brantley’s mom Logan, CJ, Dylan Frank, and Garrett Riley, officially started planning for their first annual event for November. While Dylan has been a PGA Pro at several golf facilities in the area and has experience with golf tournaments, the rest of the group wasn’t sure where to start. They stumbled upon a website for a local tournament in North Carolina that used GolfStatus. “We were originally going to find a way to build our own website for the tournament, but then we found GolfStatus,” says Adam.

TECH DRIVES SUCCESS

Brantley’s Buddies qualified to use GolfStatus’ tournament management software at no cost through the Golf for Good program since it was raising money for a 501(c) nonprofit in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. GolfStatus gave the group an easy way to consolidate everything they needed all in one place—registration, sponsors, teams, hole assignments, and payments. “Especially as a group of guys who hadn’t done this before, it was nice having everything in one central location that we could all access when we needed to,” says Dylan. Adam says having a singular place to collect and hold funds just for the tournament was especially helpful.

Because the tournament was just starting out, the planning group wasn’t sure what kind of sponsor or golfer interest they would see right off the bat. But the tournament was an instant draw, thanks to the support from the surrounding community. “We sold out our teams in just over three weeks, which was incredible,” says Adam. He says they utilized online channels to promote the event, and the interest was very organic. Because they had a GolfStatus event website, they skipped printing flyers or mailers, and used online channels like social media, email, and word of mouth to drum up interest.

Brantley's Buddies Golf Classic golf tournament website — An event website made it simple for Brantley’s Buddies to promote the tournament, collect registrations, and sell sponsorships.

Sponsorships had similar success, with the team tapping into their networks to reach out to local businesses and some corporate sponsors. Brantley’s Buddies took advantage of GolfStatus’ exclusive Technology Sponsorship, building it into the title sponsor. They sold a pin flag sponsorship and purchased GolfStatus’ hole-in-one contest package, building the cost into the Par 3 sponsorships. In-kind sponsorships were just as important. Food for the tournament was donated in exchange for a sponsorship, along with silent auction items.

The tournament also utilized GolfStatus’ hassle-free live scoring to track scores for the round. They sent emails ahead of the event reminding golfers about the live scoring feature and asking them to download the free GolfStatus app ahead of time. Most teams used it to submit their scores, which made finalizing the tournament’s results easy and efficient.

Adam says having the right people involved was a huge part of the tournament’s success in its first year. They leaned on each person’s individual strengths to make the tournament happen—from organization, sponsor sales, promotion, and the golf specifics—combined with the infrastructure GolfStatus provided. “GolfStatus helped us find ways to make the tournament so much more professional than we ever could have dreamed out of the gate,” says CJ. “It gave us the platform to be able to raise money for our buddy’s kid and propelled us to success.”

GOLFING FOR GOOD

Every cent raised from the tournament—around $22,000—went directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Adam says the Foundation has been so helpful during their family’s journey and they wanted to contribute to finding a cure. The organization also provides counselors, parent and family groups, and a variety of resources on topics like day-to-day patient care and understanding hospital bills.

A family photo of a mother, father, two sons, and a dog — The Sedivy family: Mom Logan, dad Adam, big brother Rylan, Brantley, and Fosters the Australian shepherd

The Foundation sent a team to the golf event, where they set up a booth on the first hole and mingled with golfers, passed out materials, and helped bring awareness and connect people to the cause. “They’ve been a great partner, and we’re excited to have them at the event again this year,” Adam says.

building momentum

Brantley turned four this year and started taking golf lessons, so naturally he’s excited to be back on the course at this year’s tournament. And now that they have one year of planning under their belt, Adam and the rest of Brantley’s Buddies are bringing the excitement and momentum from the inaugural event into its second year. In addition to expanding the silent auction, they’re bringing in GolfStatus partner BackSwing Golf Events for a closest to the pin contest on a par three hole, both to drive additional dollars and make the tournament more fun and exciting.

Four men pose on a golf course at a golf fundraiser — Adam Sedivy, CJ Barone, Dylan Frank, and Garrett Riley

The 2023 tournament sold out in just two weeks, with much of the 2022 field returning for the second year. Because of the high interest and community support, they were able to raise sponsorship pricing to drive more revenue and an even bigger donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. They’re also applying for 501(c)(3) status for Brantley’s Buddies as an official nonprofit organization so they can do even more to raise funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis.

Brantley’s Buddies are once again leaning on GolfStatus to help streamline planning and tournament execution. After a successful first year, it was a “no brainer” to continue to use the software. “GolfStatus was a game changer for us,” says CJ. “We probably said no less than 20 times throughout planning, ‘thank goodness for GolfStatus!’”

Qualify for Golf for Good

Nonprofit organizations and third parties (like Brantley’s Buddies) planning golf tournaments to benefit one can qualify to use GolfStaus’ tournament management tech at no cost. Save time with built-in automations and time-saving tools, and raise even more money with fundraising tools and exclusive sponsorships. Plus, take advantage of GolfStatus’ in-house client success team to coach you every step of the way. Click below to learn more and get in touch with the GolfStatus team!

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Success StoriesJennifer WemhoffNovember 3, 2023charity golf tournaments, planning committees, event websites, technology, online registration, sponsorships, promotion, technology sponsorship, in-kind donations, live scoring, BackSwing Golf Events, auctions, golf for good

6 Keys to a Successful Spring or Summer Golf Fundraiser

As summer draws to a close, your nonprofit is likely turning your attention to year-end giving campaigns and begin planning for 2024 fundraising initiatives. If a golf tournament is a regular part of your fundraising event calendar, or you’re looking to add a spring or summer golf event to your fundraising portfolio, now’s the time to get started.

Keep your planning team organized and on track for a successful golf fundraiser by focusing on these six key planning tasks yet this year:

1. Book the Golf Facility

As the height of golf season winds down, facilities are also beginning to plan for next year. It’s a good idea to get a date on their calendar sooner rather than later, especially if you’re eyeing a high-end facility where your organization might be competing for a limited number of open dates for fundraisers and other outside outings.

A golfer hits a shot in the fairway during a golf tournament fundraiser.

2. Secure Your Tech Stack

Nonprofits are constantly looking for ways to be more efficient, stay organized, and streamline operations. Planning and executing the annual golf fundraiser are no different. Because golf tournaments come with unique details that must be appropriately handled to ensure a flawless event, finding the right tools and resources and getting them in place as soon as possible is crucial. Look for an event management platform that’s built for golf and can natively manage critical components like handicaps, flighting, hole assignments, and scoring without clunky workarounds.

3. Launch an Event Website

Getting your event website up early makes it easy to begin accepting registrations and donations and selling sponsorships now. Ideally, your website should be up before the first communication about the event goes out, including save-the-dates. In fact, it’s a good idea to open registration for next year’s event on the heels of the current outing if at all possible so folks can commit when the golf event is top of mind. An event website is also a great place to display pertinent information and updates. The sooner your site is live, the sooner you can communicate about the event in a context that makes sense.

An attractive event registration website makes it easy to promote your charity golf tournament.

4. Market the Event Early

Start marketing your event as far as four to six months in advance, especially if the golf tournament is a new fundraiser for your organization. Early communications can be quick and straightforward (such as a simple save the date that links folks to the event website). Start with donors who have supported the golf event in the past, as well as general organization supporters and those who have attended other fundraising events.

Early communications also allow you to get on sponsors’ radars ahead of their annual budget planning. For this reason, it’s a good idea to send save-the-dates for spring and summer fundraisers ahead of year-end. Also be sure to target not only veteran donors and year-over-year event participants, but the new supporters they’ve invited to fill out their teams; these attendees provide an opportunity to target new sponsors and garner additional support. Make an announcement on social media, and if you have some dollars available, consider running paid ads to cast a wider net of potential new golfers and sponsors.

5. Leverage Your networks

Your organization likely has some powerful connections in its collective personal and professional networks. Give yourself plenty of runway and start calling on your planning committee, board of directors, staff, regular donors, and dedicated volunteers and asking them to tap into their networks to:

Identify contacts at local and national businesses that should be targeted as potential tournament sponsors.
Invite friends, family, colleagues, and peers who might be interested in playing in the event.
Solicit in-kind donations for auction items, raffle prizes, pin prizes, other giveaways, event food and beverage, or post-round entertainment.

A BackSwing Golf Events lady professional golfer holds a beat the pro contest at a golf fundraiser. — BackSwing Golf Events is a great option for on-course entertainment and contests, like beat the pro and glass break challenges.

6. think about add-ons & extras

How are you going to make your tournament stand out? What can you do to make it memorable for golfers and sponsors? Golf tournaments come with a ton of options to boost revenue while elevating the overall experience to keep supporters coming back year after year. Fun add-ons are sure to leave a lasting impression and bring in even more dollars for your cause. Start thinking about ways to connect any on-course games to your cause, get pricing and details for on-course entertainment, and secure hole-in-one contest insurance. Getting these pieces in place early in the planning process gives you more time to secure sponsorships (and cover hard costs) for these add-ons.

Get Qualified for No Cost Golf Event Tech

GolfStatus’ robust tournament management software streamlines and simplifies golf fundraisers to save busy nonprofit event organizers time and effort. Its built in fundraising tools, exclusive sponsorships, and premium add-ons help raise even more money for your cause. Nonprofits and those planning a golf event to benefit one can qualify to use GolfStatus at no upfront cost—including an event website, online registration, custom sponsor packages, live scoring, and much more—through our Golf for Good program. Click below to learn more and get qualified!

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7 Ways Technology Upgrades Your Nonprofit’s Golf Fundraiser

Golf has a ton of giving power. For nonprofits, a golf tournament is the chance to raise mission-critical dollars, engage supporters, build relationships, and ultimately, do more good. And while planning a tournament isn’t a small undertaking, the good news for nonprofit event planners is that the right technology can make it easier, more efficient, and more lucrative to organize a successful golf fundraiser.

So whether you’re planning your first golf tournament or your fiftieth, here are seven ways tournament management tech can upgrade and improve your golf fundraiser.

1. It Makes It Easier on Everybody

Golf tournaments come with a number of moving parts and specifics to handle that are much different than those that come with a gala or auction. Using tech tailored specifically to a golf event makes it simple to handle the golf details, like flighting, handicaps, tie-breakers, and live scoring. You’ll keep everything organized in one easily-accessible place, so you, your planning team, and even the golf facility staff are all on the same page and working with up-to-the-minute information and not bouncing between multiple platforms and spreadsheets.

Golf facilities love tech that makes it easier on them, too—they’ll spend less time in the back office creating cart signs, rules sheets, and alpha lists and more time out front assisting you and your tournament’s golfers.

2. You’ll Save Time, Resources & Effort

It starts with an event registration website with secure payment processing, where golfers, prospective sponsors, and supporters can learn more about your organization and event and commit to participating with just a few clicks. So instead of creating a costly promotional mailer, then asking supporters to fill out the form, track down a stamp, and mail it back, you simply share a link where folks can register online with a few simple, secure clicks.

Online registrations should automatically flow into the software’s backend, where you can instantly find golfer, sponsor, and payment information. That means no processing paper forms, checks, or receipts and no entering and re-entering information in different spreadsheets. What’s more, when it comes time to make team pairings and hole assignments, it can all be done right in the software. Your administrative burden is cut in half

3. Sponsors Get Better ROI

Sponsors get a ton of value out of the digital exposure provided by tournament management tech. Instead of being limited to signage on the golf course the day of the event, it’s amplified with the exposure throughout the platform before, during, and after the event. So every time someone visits your event site to register or just learn more about the tournament, sponsors get eyeballs on their brand.

Combine that with hole-by-hole exposure and push notifications in the live-scoring app, and businesses see even more value and ROI in supporting your tournament. Plus, sponsors can browse available packages, make a purchase, and upload logos and links right through the event website, eliminating time-consuming back and forth to collect assets and providing instant exposure.

4. You’ll Raise More Money

Any tournament management tech should come with tools that boost fundraising. At a minimum, you should be able to collect donations via the event website, but look for additional fundraising features like a donation tracker on the event site, multiple donation calls-to-action throughout the platform, the ability to round up and donate at checkout, exclusive sponsorships that can be sold at a premium, and fun add-ons that drive revenue (and bring fun and excitement to your charity golf tournament).

A colorful, informative banner at your golf fundraiser helps golfers understand your organization's work. — National Ag Science Center placed banners around the golf course to help golfers better understand their mission.

5. It Engages Golfers, Donors & Sponsors

Engagement—prior to, during the round, and following the tournament—is key to donor onboarding and stewardship. Instead of just sending golfers out on the course and not interacting with them again until after the round, look to technology to engage them in a variety of ways throughout the day. Live scoring is a great way to keep golfers engaged every time they check the current standings on the tournament’s live leaderboards (which also provides additional sponsor exposure and another opportunity for folks to make a donation).

Direct folks to the event website at the end of the tournament and challenge folks to make a donation, perhaps equal to that of the winning team or what their team shot. You can also leverage push notifications and email communications to share information and updates throughout the day. After the event, export your golf tournament donor data for inclusion into your donor CRM for additional follow up and stewardship.

6. You’ll Be Ready for Next Year

Rather than starting from scratch, you can simply copy your event in the golf tournament software platform, update the date and key details, and push it out to your audiences to save the date and keep it on their radar for next year. If you have a date set, include the link to your new event website in any post-tournament thank yous and follow-up communications to get a jump on promotion and sponsor sales.

7. You Don’t Have to Know About Golf

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never picked up a golf club, you hit the links a few times a week, or fall somewhere in between, you can plan a successful, lucrative golf fundraiser with the right tools and resources behind you. Your tech platform should come with a responsive, knowledgeable support team that’s there to coach you, answer questions, and troubleshoot issues for you and your event’s participants.

Golf for Good with GolfStatus

GolfStatus works with nonprofits and charities of all types and sizes to launch or level up their golf fundraisers. The robust platform streamlines the process from start to finish and is backed by an in-house support team available seven days a week.

Through the Golf for Good program, qualifying 501(c) organizations and others planning golf events that benefit a charity can use GolfStatus’ tournament management software at no cost, including an event website, online registration and secure payment processing, digital sponsor exposure, robust reporting, and more. Visit golfstatus.com/demo for more information or to get qualified.

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Best PracticesJennifer WemhoffAugust 27, 2023networking, donors, cause connection, donor data, event websites, golf tournament, promotion, marketing, resources, nonprofits, videos, signage, experiences, notifications, donations, technology, golf for good

10 Tips for Choosing Software for Your Golf Fundraiser

Golf carts line up in front of the clubhouse at the start of a golf tournament fundraiser.

When it comes to fundraising events, there are plenty of event management platform options out there: CRMs, event-specific platforms, ticketing platforms, peer-to-peer platforms, and more. But how will these work for your golf fundraiser? Can they handle the specific nuances of a golf tournament? Will they make your life easier or require workarounds and adaptations to make it function the way you need it to?

The last thing you need is costly, complicated software that drains your time and resources instead of driving fundraising. As you evaluate software options for your golf event, here are some crucial questions to ask:

1. Will it help raise money?

If the goal of your golf tournament is to raise money, you’ll want a platform that comes with built-in tools that help facilitate fundraising, including the ability to collect donations (plus a way to set a donation goal and track your progress), the option for registrants to cover any fees, exclusive sponsorships and add-ons that drive revenue, and easy ways to receive your funds. It should also feature an attractive event website that serves as the home page for the tournament and presents your organization and sponsoring businesses in a professional light, with user flows that make it easy to complete transactions.

2. Is it easy to use?

When technology isn’t straightforward and easy to use and learn, your attention isn’t where it needs to be—attracting golfers, connecting with donors, selling sponsorships, and providing a great overall tournament experience. Tournament management software should be intuitive, so anyone on your staff or planning team can create an event in minutes and make changes, additions, and updates as necessary. If your organization holds multiple events, be sure the platform can easily duplicate events and has organization-level tools to standardize logos and branding.

3. Will it save time & effort?

Technology can certainly automate time-consuming tasks and manual labor, but poorly designed software, or tools that aren’t quite what you need, can quickly offset the time-saving benefits of technology with additional training, troubleshooting, and complicated workarounds. Choose a solution that’s both powerful enough to meet your needs and simple enough that you won’t spend hours training staff, trying to work out adaptations, and fixing problems. Look for features that ease common tournament planning pain points, like online registration, robust reporting, one-click hole assignments, live scoring, and sponsor onboarding. Any software solution should keep you organized by tracking golfer, sponsor, and donor information in the platform’s backend. What’s more, you should be able to easily export donor data for seamless inclusion in your nonprofit’s donor database.

Tournament management software should be able to provide an attractive event website for your charity golf tournament.

4. Does it help promote my tournament?

Experienced tournament organizers and event planners will tell you that every fundraising event you hold should come with an event website. When evaluating event management software, ensure that it can generate a clean, sleek, well-designed event website where players and sponsors can find more information, register a team or sponsor the event, and submit secure payment. With an event site, promotion becomes as easy as sharing a link in email campaigns, social media, your organization’s website, and even on printed pieces with a QR code. This way folks can commit to your tournament right when they hear about it, instead of filling out a paper registration form and finding a stamp to mail it back.

5. Does it make my event look professional?

Tournament software should enhance the overall look and feel of your event. The best software lends a professional experience to every aspect of your tournament and gives it instant credibility, which can be especially helpful for first-year events. Processes and materials that look outdated or unsightly can cheapen your event, which can influence the caliber of players and sponsors it attracts. The ultimate goal is to provide a professional experience from the moment someone hears about your tournament and visits your event site to when they submit their team’s score on the live scoring app.

6. Does it include live scoring?

A golf-specific feature—sometimes underrated and underused by tournament organizers—to look for in your tournament management software is live scoring. Teams input their scores on a mobile app, which syncs in real-time to live leaderboards that allows golfers to see hole-by-hole standings, helps organizers judge the round’s progress and keep the overall event moving smoothly, and expedites finalizing the tournament’s results because there’s no need for golf staff to hunt down paper scorecards. Look for a solution that offers professional, glitch-free live scoring with a leaderboard sponsorship that offers digital exposure that can be sold at a premium.

Golfers can view live leaderboard to see current standings, on their phones or on TVs in the clubhouse.

7. can i share access with my team & the golf facility?

Web-based platforms give tournament organizers, planning teams, and even golf course staff the freedom to access everything that goes into launching and organizing an event from anywhere. Be sure the software you’re considering allows user access permissions as needed so your team can easily collaborate with each other and the golf course using up-to-the-minute information.

8. how much does it cost?

With limited budgets, nonprofits need solutions that work well and don’t cost a fortune. Software that’s so expensive that it forces you to limit resources in other areas isn’t actually saving time or money. When choosing a tournament software platform, certainly consider baseline costs, if there’s a cost per user or for support, and look out for hidden fees, any upcharges, and tricky contracts. Many solutions offer extremely limited access at no cost and then charge substantially more for necessary features. Look for straightforward pricing, fees, and payout procedures.

9. what about the golf facility?

Golf staff at your host golf facility stand to benefit from tournament management software as much as you and your planning team do. You should be able to share access to the platform with golf professional staff, so they can assist with finalizing hole assignments, flighting, tie-breakers, and other golf-specific tasks in the days leading up to the event. Look for pre-formatted printouts, like scorecards, cart signs, and alpha lists, so golf staff can literally just hit “print” instead of having to create these pieces from scratch, saving them hours of time and allowing them to provide better service to you and your tournament’s golfers. Some golf facilities have an internal system in place they rely on to manage and execute outside events, but at your request, they should be willing to accommodate whatever platform you decide to use.

10. Will someone be available to help me?

Failure to provide adequate support is, unfortunately, common among software providers. Be sure to ask about the support you can expect to receive. Are support staff in-house or out-sourced? As a user, do you have immediate access to the support you need leading up to your event? During your event? After? Is support available seven days a week and what tools are available to assist your team and the golf facility during certain timeframes, such as in the evenings and on weekends when events are in full swing?

A responsive support team that will help answer software questions is a key part of tournament management software.

get qualified for tournament management software—at no cost

GolfStatus’ mission is to help nonprofits tap into golf’s given power by providing tools, resources, and support to plan and execute golf fundraisers. Through the Golf for Good program, nonprofits and those planning golf events to raise money for one can qualify to use GolfStatus’ tournament management software at no upfront cost. Get a professional event website, online registration and payment processing, live scoring, exclusive sponsorships and add-ons, and live support seven days a week to make your next golf event the best one yet. Click below to learn more and get qualified.

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RiseUp Malawi Leverages Technology from GolfStatus for First-Ever Golf Fundraiser

Students dance outside of a community center in Malawi.

Partner Snapshot

RiseUp Malawi was born out of a trip founder Megan Mathis took to the African country in 2010, where she was struck by the widespread poverty. While on that trip, she met a gentleman named Hudson, who was running a program on his front porch to teach kids computer skills. Megan knew she wanted to help, but didn’t know how. She and Hudson stayed in touch in subsequent years, and she tip-toed into raising money for in-country work on a part-time basis. That changed in 2018, when she felt a calling to grow the organization and its impact full time.

RiseUp Malawi began working with kids after school to provide additional educational support and encourage them to continue their education. “There are so many barriers to education in Malawi,” Megan says. “If we can help eliminate those barriers, we can help lift these kids out of generational poverty.” Hudson became the full-time in-country director of the after school program, which serves over 300 kids in the district.

The Challenge

To create an in-country income source, it was decided to build a guest house that could be used by the organization to host visitors but also rented out to tourists. Megan was charged with raising $60,000 and had no idea where to start. Megan and her family had recently moved to Castle Pines, Colorado with a golf course down the street from her home. Her husband is an avid golfer and had played in several charity golf tournaments, and she knew golfers were a great demographic to target for fundraising. “I just kept hearing ‘golf’ in my head,” says Megan. “But I couldn’t get past the thought of ‘I don’t know how to do this’.”

The Solution

When Megan first began thinking of a golf fundraiser, she signed up to receive emails from GolfStatus. After she booked the golf course in December (giving herself plenty of planning time before the August tournament date), she knew there was no turning back, so she circled back to GolfStatus, downloaded some planning resources, and saw the value in using the software and jumped on board. “I came into this not knowing what I was doing or if this was going to work, but GolfStatus’ experience helped make it a success,” says Megan. The ROI was great for us.”

Golfers and volunteers are ready to kick off a charity golf tournament. — Tournament organizers promoted the event through local events, alumni associations, social media, and the local newspaper.

— Megan Mathis, CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING at riseup malawi

The Results

For a first-time event, Megan and her team were thrilled with the turnout, sponsor support, and overall return on investment of the golf fundraiser. On-course games, pin prizes, upgraded food and drink, and player swag bags were incorporated into the tournament to enhance the experience even more.

GOlf TOurnament Summary

Golf Facility

The Ridge At Castle Pines North, Castle Pines, CO (upscale public golf course)

Tournament Name

Let Hope Rise Charity Golf Tournament

Golfers

Dollars raised

$38,500

top sponsorship

$10,000 (Title Sponsorship)

Lessons Learned

Planning & Promotion

Since it was her first time organizing a golf tournament, Megan wanted to give herself plenty of planning time. She used a volunteer matching tool to help find folks in her area that were interested in helping nonprofits to help build a planning team, as well as connecting with local supporters. “A big lesson learned in planning a tournament for the first time was the importance of getting a good team together,” Megan says. “Finding those who have ties to the community or the golf world in some way was super helpful.”

To get the word out about the golf event, Megan started with social media and the local newspaper and expanded to having a booth or presence at various community events where she could talk about RiseUp Malawi’s work and promote the golf tournament. She also tapped into her local alumni group to connect with other graduates of the University of Southern California. “Alumni groups are super powerful!” Megan says. She leveraged the group’s networking events to share information and relied on word of mouth among members.

Sponsorships

Megan and her family were relatively new to the Castle Pines area, so she didn’t have a huge local network to reach out to for sponsorships. Megan started with a GolfStatus guide, Types of Businesses to Target As Sponsors for Your Golf Event, and used connections on her planning team to create a target list. She also found success through the local Chamber of Commerce. She joined as a member and started attending events, chatting with business owners and sharing information about RiseUp Malawi and the upcoming golf fundraiser. “The personal connections were so important and we didn’t have to spend a ton of time on cold calls,” says Megan. She also advises approaching sponsors as early as possible before they allocate their budgets.

Two sponsors even made a connection during the golf fundraiser—Burley Brewery and Redemption Road Coffee—and later collaborated on a special coffee porter beer that was offered in the brewery’s tap room. They also hosted a fundraising event during February and kicked back part of sales to RiseUp Malwai, raising about $5,000.

Charity golf tournament organizers pose next to a banner that displays sponsor logos. — Megan leveraged GolfStatus resources, the local Chamber of Commerce, and personal connections to sell sponsorships.

Tech & Support

As a first-time event organizer, Megan knew she would need some help. “GolfStatus’ blog and resources were helpful as I tried to figure out where to start and what to do next,” she says. She says the software was straightforward and easy to use, but that the support GolfStatus provided was second to none. “GolfStatus’ support team was really my partner in this, so helpful and communicative,” Megan says.

As a nonprofit organization RiseUp Malawi qualified for the Golf for Good program and was able to use GolfStatus’ tournament management software at no cost. Megan says the free event website gave the tournament instant credibility. “We wanted to make the tournament look legitimate and like we’d been doing this for a long time, and the event website did that,” Megan says. Every event website powered by GolfStatus includes online registration and integrated, secure payment processing. “Online registration was great, I could export a list of everyone who had registered.”

The event website also gave the tournament’s sponsors added visibility and digital exposure as soon as they committed to sponsoring the event. Logos, links, and other assets are submitted and stored right in the software so it appears on the site right away. “There was a real sense of pride once we had sponsors committing—we’d look at the site and think, ‘Hey, look at those sponsors!’” Megan says.

— Megan Mathis, CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING at Riseup malawi

Cause Connection

Megan and the planning team looked for ways to help golfers better understand RiseUp Malawi’s work and why the cause is so important. They utilized the in-cart screens to play a video showing Hudson and the kids thanking them for their support. They also worked with a local coffee company that has a Malawian bean blend (coffee beans are one of the country’s biggest exports) to can it as cold brew and provided it in each golf cart.

An event website helps people understand what your tournament is raising money for. — The goal for the tournament’s second year is to raise money to build casitas adjacent to the guest house.

looking ahead

Megan hopes to build on the success they had in the event’s first year. They’ve already broken ground on the guesthouse in Malawi, so money raised from year two of the golf tournament will fund the construction of the casitas adjacent to the guest house for additional rental income. They hope to top $50,000 in the event’s second year.

GOlfing for good

GolfStatus is proud to help nonprofits of all types and sizes tap into golf’s giving power. Its tournament management software streamlines golf events for first-time organizers and veteran event planners. Plus, its exclusive sponsorships and add-ons and built-in fundraising tools help raise even more money for your cause. If you’ve got questions along the way, GolfStatus’ in-house support team is there to help and troubleshoot. Best of all, through the Golf for Good program, 501(c) organizations and those planning golf events to benefit one can qualify to use GolfStatus at no upfront cost. Click the button to learn more and get qualified.

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Success StoriesJennifer WemhoffAugust 2, 2023charity golf tournaments, golf fundraisers, software, promotion, social media, volunteers, planning committees, sponsorships, sponsors, businesses, resources, event websites, online registration, cause connection, golf for good

10 Ideas to Create Cause Connection at Your Charity Golf Tournament

When golfers decide to play in a charity golf tournament, they often reach out to their friends, family members, neighbors, or colleagues to fill their team. This is good news for your organization—not only does it fill your tournament’s field, but your mission gets exposure to a brand new audience of potential new donors and supporters.

Take full advantage of this opportunity to introduce your organization to a captive audience at your golf event. Create a cause connection by helping golfers understand what your organization does, who it serves, and how their participation is a key part of fulfilling your mission. They may have come to golf, but when they see the tangible impacts of what the tournament is raising money for, it’s easier to convert them into donors.

Here are 10 ideas for your next golf fundraiser to connect golfers to your mission:

1. Add compelling photos and videos to your event website.

A picture is truly worth a thousand words, so take advantage of your event website’s customization features to add photos that illustrate your organization’s work and impact. If possible, add video too—anything from a simple slideshow of photos set to music, an impact story, or a polished marketing video are effective in telling your organization’s story visually.

Photos help tell your organization's story on your golf fundraiser's event website. — Help golfers connect to your cause with powerful images and videos on your event website.

2. Invite a guest speaker to share their experience.

Kick off the tournament with a speaker who has benefited from your nonprofit’s services. Or add a presenter to a luncheon, banquet, or awards ceremony. Hearing first-hand from a beneficiary drives home the impact of your work. For example, Riverside Ranch, a therapeutic horse riding program, invited parents of riders to speak at their golf tournament’s luncheon and share what the Ranch meant to their family.

3. Include promo materials in player gift bags and golf carts.

A one-page flier, brochure, annual report, or other collateral can help golfers understand the depth of your mission. Be sure to include QR code on any printed materials with a direct link to the donation page on your event website where folks can donate right from their phones! Drop these in player gift bags or leave them in golf carts for golfers to peruse at their leisure. If your golf facility has carts with video capabilities, inquire about showing a video or photo slideshow on the screens. RiseUp Malawi, which provides educational opportunities in the African country of Malawi, played a video with a welcome message from some of the children the organization serves. They also provided each golfer with a book about Malawi with handwritten notes from the kids and on-site staff.

4. Place signage and banners around the golf course.

These pieces should be placed strategically around the course for maximum visibility. High traffic areas such as registration, driving range, putting green, and inside the clubhouse (near the bar or front door are good choices) are all guaranteed to get golfers looking. You can also place smaller signage unobtrusively on the golf course with information about your organization, facts related to your cause, or ways to take action. QR codes are a great addition to these as well to solicit donations.

5. Highlight your organization’s beneficiaries.

Depending on the work your nonprofit does, you could invite beneficiaries to attend or participate in the event. Personal connections are incredibly powerful, so provide opportunities for them to engage with golfers and sponsors throughout the day. For instance, if your golf tournament benefits a school, teachers or administrators could greet golfers as they arrive or even be added to teams. This isn’t limited to human beneficiaries, either! For example, pet rescue organizations could have adoptable pets at the golf course and an accompanying adoption drive.

6. Take advantage of downtime.

Downtime is a great chance to engage with a captive audience! Whether folks are waiting on the tee box, to check in, for a turn on the driving range, or for final results to be announced, your organization’s staff, board members, beneficiaries, or even volunteers can mingle with golfers to chat and have a conversation about your mission. You could also strategically station these folks on various tee boxes throughout the golf course (perhaps on a par 5 that might take groups longer to play through) to talk with golfers as they play their round or rethink your format to add in more opportunities for face time with participants. For example, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center, an organization that removes barriers to outdoor experiences for those with special needs, used tee times rather than a traditional shotgun start to give them a few minutes to visit with each group as they waited for their turn to tee off.

7. Hold an accompanying event.

If it makes sense for your organization, hold an event in conjunction with your golf fundraiser that drives home your mission. Outlook Enrichment, a nonprofit that serves the visually-impaired, holds a blind golfers clinic alongside its annual charity golf tournament. The clinic features instructors and volunteers helping visually-impaired golfers putt, chip, and play a few holes. Many organizations also hold events targeting non-golfers, such as golf lessons, a wine tasting, blanket-tying or meal-packing event.

A coach helps line up the golf shot of a visually-impaired player at a golf fundraiser. — A volunteer coach helps a participant line up their shot during Outlook Enrichment’s blind golfers clinic.

8. Send push notifications.

Your golf event management platform should be able to send push notifications to golfers via a mobile app for easy communication. These notifications can help connect golfers to your mission by including a link to your website, testimonials from beneficiaries or volunteers, or even solicit donations for a specific program or outreach effort. Keep the notifications short, impactful, and time them strategically.

9. Display photos or memorabilia on the course.

Golfers want to know what the tournament is raising money for—what better way than to display photos or related memorabilia on the golf course. For instance, the Pat Neal Memorial Golf Tournament raises money for brain cancer research in honor of the tournament’s namesake, Pat Neal. A photo of Pat was placed on the course and golfers were encouraged to sign the photo as a keepsake for Pat’s family.

Three golfers pose next to a photo of their dad at a memorial golf tournament fundraiser. — Pat Neal’s three children post with his picture on the golf course at his memorial golf tournament fundraiser.

10. Provide opportunities to take action.

The ultimate goal of helping golfers understand your mission is to have them take some sort of action, so give them the opportunity to do so. You could set up a donation station where folks can contribute, solicit volunteer sign ups, have a pop up shop to sell branded merchandise or products, or let folks start the process of adopting a pet.

Wrapping Up

First and foremost, technology is a major asset in creating cause connection. From your event website to push notifications to impact videos, leverage tech tools to be effective (and make it easier). Use tech to tell your organization’s story; engage with golfers before, during, and after the tournament; and ultimately, compel golfers and sponsors to further support it through a donation or future events. In doing so, you can demonstrate the impact your organization has on your community at large.

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Best PracticesJennifer WemhoffApril 24, 2023networking, donors, cause connection, donor data, event websites, golf tournament, promotion, marketing, resources, nonprofits, videos, signage, experiences, notifications, donations, technology, golf for good

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