Posts tagged teams

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

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

Everything you need to know about using golf to fundraise,
make connections, drive support, and do more good.

Thank you tournament sponsors!

Hole Sponsors:

3rd quarter / Post-Tournament update

event day & post-tournament recap

3rd quarter update

2nd Quarter Update

1st Quarter Update

Presenting Sponsor

Sponsors

hole sponsors

Post-event update

OCTOBEr Update

September Update

AUGUST Update

July Update

June Update

May Update

April Update

March Update

February Update

January Update

Get Started

Solutions

Resources

About

Everything you need to know about using golf to fundraise, make connections, drive support, and do more good.

Thank you tournament sponsors!

Hole Sponsors:

3rd quarter / Post-Tournament update

event day & post-tournament recap

3rd quarter update

2nd Quarter Update

1st Quarter Update

Presenting Sponsor

Sponsors

hole sponsors

Post-event update

OCTOBEr Update

September Update

AUGUST Update

July Update

June Update

May Update

April Update

March Update

February Update

January Update

Get Started

Solutions

Resources

About

Everything you need to know about using golf to fundraise,
make connections, drive support, and do more good.