Organization Snapshot

Habitat for Humanity partners with communities all over the globe to help build homes, with the vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Globally, Habitat for Humanity has worked in more than 70 countries and helped more than 39 million people with improved living conditions since 1976. On the local level, affiliate organizations work with trusted partners and residents to improve communities and build strong neighborhoods. In Chicago, Habitat’s commitment is to local families to achieve strength, stability, and self-reliance through housing and development projects. Four in 10 Chicagoans live in declining conditions, making Habitat’s work critical to helping the city thrive.

Chris Johnson, a Real Estate Broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, serves as the President of the chapter’s Associate Board, whose charge is to raise funds for the organization’s work. He’s worked in Chicago’s real estate market for nine years and is intimately familiar with the city’s need for denser, more affordable housing options. Chris says Habitat is helping address these issues, not only through physically building homes and neighborhoods, but by educating people and helping them navigate what can be an overwhelming and complicated process. “It’s not about giving away homes, it’s about creating generational change, a steady and safe environment for families, and building wealth in their home,” Chris says. “There’s only so many homes that can be built, but when we’re able to help prepare people for homeownership through education, financial literacy, and sound advice, we can help even more.”

Chris Johnson, far left, Associate Board President for Habitat for Humanity of Chicago, helped spearhead the inaugural golf fundraiser.

The Challenge

One of Habitat for Humanity of Chicago’s flagship programs is HomeBuyer University, a pilot effort that began in 2019 to break down barriers to becoming a homeowner by helping prospective homeowners understand the process and how to prepare for applying for a mortgage. Funds raised by the Associate Board help underwrite the costs of this program, which is a key part of fulfilling the local chapter’s mission.

After COVID-19 forced the cancellation of an annual yacht party fundraiser, Chris wanted to shift gears and establish a golf event as the board’s main fundraiser. “Folks were exhausted with virtual events and wanted a way to gather safely, and I’ve loved golf since I was a kid,” Chris says, so he dove headfirst into planning a golf event. He knew launching a brand new tournament was going to be challenging, but also knew that they needed to move forward. “I presented a golf tournament to the rest of the board as a feasible way to get a fundraising event done and established.”

Chris, with the help of Associate Board member Brian Doyle of BMO Harris in Chicago and the rest of the planning team, set a conservative goal to raise about $8,000 for the tournament’s first year. Several board members had played in charity tournaments in the past, but no one had experience planning an event.

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dollars raised

$13,000

newly-established

annual golf fundraiser

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The Solution

Chris knew there had to be an option for live scoring and easy registration for golf tournaments. A little online research led him straight to GolfStatus. “To take on an event like this in its first year without any experience was a little daunting, but having a tool like GolfStatus that took things off my plate and made the logistics easier to handle was so great,” Chris explains. He wanted one centralized place to keep things organized, take payments, manage sponsor assets, and print cart signs. “GolfStatus had all this and more,” he says.

“To take on an event like this in its first year without any experience was a little daunting, but having a tool like GolfStatus that took things off my plate and made the logistics easier to handle was so great.”

— Chris Johnson, Associate Board President at Habitat for Humanity of Chicago

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The golf outing’s event website was built and hosted by GolfStatus as part of the Golf for Good giveback initiative.

The Results

The first-year tournament surpassed its fundraising goal, taking in $13,000. It attracted 19 teams for the four-person scramble. Teams live-scored via the free GolfStatus mobile app, which made confirming the final results much quicker and more efficient than relying on paper scorecards. Nine sponsorships were sold through the GolfStatus platform, including the premium technology sponsorship, which boasts premium visibility on the event website’s homepage, live leaderboards, and across the mobile app.

Golfers listen to instructions before teeing off.

massive time savings

Chris says the time savings the platform provided was invaluable. Every GolfStatus event website includes online registration with secure payment processing, allowing golfers and sponsors to purchase packages directly on the event website, eliminating the need to manually process paper registration forms, handle checks or take credit card information, or track information in multiple spreadsheets. Chris, Brian, or anyone on the planning team could log into GolfStatus and see who had registered or purchased a sponsorship with a few clicks. “Having everything in one place really made my life easier,” he says. “I could focus on the experience and day of things that needed to be handled.” Plus, sponsors can upload graphics and links directly through the event website, saving a ton of time. “Going back and forth with sponsors to get logos and such can really be a time suck,” Chris points out.

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“Having everything in one place really made my life easier. I could focus on the experience and day-of things that needed to be handled.”

— Chris Johnson, Associate Board President at Habitat for Humanity of Chicago

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connecting to the cause

While many people are familiar with Habitat for Humanity, they often have misconceptions about what Habitat does. “People think we give away houses!” Chris says. In fact, families that are selected for a Habitat home are part of the building process and pay a 0% mortgage. “People think it’s a lottery, but it’s a long-term commitment to the neighborhood and community,” Chris says. At the start of the tournament, Chris made a point to speak about what Habitat for Humanity Chicago does and passed out educational materials as folks checked in for the tournament so they had a better understanding of what they were supporting.

Habitat for Humanity of Chicago volunteers help build homes and strengthen neighborhoods across the city.

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second-to-none support & resources

Chris worked closely with the GolfStatus team to build out the event website, which was provided at no cost as part of the Golf for Good program. Qualifying 501(c) organizations, like Habitat for Humanity, and those holding golf tournaments on their behalf, get access to the entire suite of GolfStatus’s tournament management and fundraising solution, in addition to an in-house support team. “The support team was great,” Chris says. “I had a question early on a Saturday morning and someone answered by chat almost immediately.”

Looking to the Future

Having one year of tournament planning experience under their belts has led to a number of things to improve on for next year’s event. First and foremost, Chris, Brian, and the rest of the team plan to get the event website up and running in the spring for the September event. “Chicago starts to thaw out in April and people are thinking about getting outside,” he says. They also plan to rethink the day of the week of the tournament, which was held on a Saturday in its inaugural year. “Saturday is a great day to play golf, but it was harder to get sponsors to commit to sending a team on a weekend or consider entertaining clients on a weekend,” Chris points out.

He hopes the annual golf tournament will become the board’s marquee fundraising event for Habitat for Humanity Chicago. “I love Habitat. I love being on a job site and watching homes come together,” Chris says. “It’s a lot like what they say about golf—a bad day golfing is better than a good day doing something else. Well, volunteering for Habitat is the same. You’ll work hard but the impact is worth it.”

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Golf for Good

GolfStatus’s Golf for Good giveback initiative through GolfStatus.org helps nonprofits and those holding events benefiting them streamline their golf events to save time and raise more money. It starts with a free event website and no-cost access to GolfStatus’s event management and fundraising platform for qualifying organizations and events. Get qualified here or email [email protected].

Let’s be honest—golf fundraisers are a lot of work. There are lots of balls in the air starting months ahead of time, plus committees, volunteers, and sponsors to manage. Maybe you’re tracking everything by hand, working across multiple spreadsheets, or even trying to make a standard event management platform work for your golf event (when it’s designed for a gala or auction). Or maybe you’re looking at a mountain of work and wondering if there’s a way to make your golf event simpler and more efficient. 

Whatever the case may be, now is a great time to re-evaluate the systems and processes behind your golf tournament. Whether you’re in the thick of planning your tournament or just getting started, it’s worth a deep dive into your fundraiser’s systems and processes to find ways to save time, improve coordination, and improve outcomes. Here are key questions and considerations to get you started.

Registration

Key questions: Are you still relying on hard copy, mail-in registrations? How much time do you (or your volunteers) spend processing these forms and payments? How does that information get transferred to your donor database?

The easier it is for people to find and register for your event, the more likely they are to do so. Processing paper registration forms and handling checks, cash, and receipts are time-consuming and cumbersome to track and manage. This inherently makes the event more work, not only by creating duplicative work but a call to action that puts the onus on the registrant or sponsor to remember to print off a registration form, fill it out, write a check, find a stamp, and mail it in. An online, mobile-friendly registration process is much easier for participants and sponsors to complete with a few clicks or taps. It’s also simpler for staff to process and manage, saves a ton of time, and leads to a seamless hand off to the golf facility. What’s more, online registration allows you to collect important donor data for inclusion in your organization’s donor management system to steward for future support.

Promotion

Key questions: How easy is it for staff, volunteers, and board members to spread the word about the tournament? Is there one place folks can find more details about the event, the cause it supports, sponsorship packages and pricing information, and logistical info (date, time, course, etc.)? Can players and sponsors register quickly and easily on the site? 

With an event website, spreading the word about your event is as simple as sharing a link with past supporters and casting a wide digital net to attract new golfers and sponsors. Folks can find the information they need in a clean, sleek, and easy-to-find place, plus the call to action is clear so players and sponsors can commit right then and there. Golfers often tap into their personal and professional networks to field a team for charity tournaments, so you automatically raise awareness about your cause and expand your donor base. This is amplified even further by connecting with potential sponsors and businesses interested in getting their brand in front of the golfer demographic.

Sponsorship Management

Key questions: How do you reach out to new sponsors to share sponsorship opportunities? How are sponsors handled once they transition from prospects to committed supporters? How are logos and assets collected and shared? Do your sponsorship packages align with the types of sponsors you want to attract and retain?

Sponsors are looking for opportunities to align their brand with well-run events that support great causes and community efforts, so it’s important to consider the professionalism of your event and whether it shines supporters in a positive light. Higher end events quickly become an opportunity for sponsors to entertain clients, vendors, and other business associates—ensuring that you’re able to retain existing sponsorships while attracting new ones at increasingly higher levels. However, where professionalism is crucial, systems and processes must ensure timely service and organized communications so sponsors’ expectations are always met and exceeded. The most successful golf outings offer title sponsors and top-tier supporters exposure through digital avenues like live leaderboards and mobile apps, pin flags, and other premium opportunities specific to golf. Consider where and how you can incorporate these offerings to align your event with the best and what tools you have in place to sell and manage sponsorships.

Delegation & Coordination

Key questions: Is everyone able to access the information they need? Is that information up to date? Can registrations, sponsor information, event specifics (flights, hole assignments, handicaps, et cetera), and other key information be accessed in a central system? How easy is it to delegate tasks (especially the tedious ones)? How easy is it to check on a specific detail like a certain donor’s registration or a specific hole sponsorship?  

Between committee chairs, board members, staff, volunteers, vendors, sponsors, and golf facility staff, golf fundraisers require easy coordination. Organizers need to be able to automate tedious tasks and delegate them so every member of the team is able to contribute as effectively as possible. From calling on and engaging previous supporters and leveraging networks to spread the word to managing teams and sponsors and coordinating with the golf facility, it’s important to leverage tools that keep everyone organized. A platform that’s accessible to everyone that needs it and contains current and accurate event information makes handling the details so much simpler.

Coordination with the Golf Facility

Key questions: How do you facilitate the handoff of information to golf staff? Are club staff scrambling the day before and the day of the event? How free are they to assist players and provide the kind of high-end service experience that makes donors feel acknowledged and attended to? How would the outing improve if you could streamline this coordination and reduce it from days and weeks of work to under an hour? 

Depending on the systems and processes in place at the golf facility, coordinating a golf event with an event organizer can be a substantial amount of work for staff there. The head professional must coordinate with food and beverage, grounds staff, and event staff to get everything in order ahead of the event. They must also work with your organization (and any planning teams or volunteer committees) to prepare teams, hole assignments, tee sheets, cart signs, and other day-of documents. This can require hours or even days of work. What’s more, when course staff are stuck in a back office somewhere the morning of the event, they’re unable to provide great service and attention to detail that wows your players and sponsors. The bottom line is this: The easier it is to coordinate information and automate logistics between your staff and the golf facility’s staff, the smoother things go for everyone. A common technology platform ensures a seamless handoff.

Time Savings & better Outcomes

At the end of the day, it’s about measuring outcomes against inputs. There’s no doubting the positive impact a golf outing can provide, but if outcomes are negated by huge time and resource requirements, it’s probably time to consider better systems and processes. GolfStatus’s event management platform designed specifically for golf outings makes information available and accessible in one centrally-accessible location (with access permissions where you need them) so you can automate and streamline the tricky, time-consuming logistics so your team can focus on donor outreach, sponsorship sales, promotion, press, and more.

Want to learn more about streamlining your golf outing and how you can qualify for no-cost access to GolfStatus’s tech? Click the button below or email us directly at [email protected].

Originally published October 2019

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

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

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1. Connect Attendees to Your Cause

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

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

2. Use Email, In-App & Push Notifications

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

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

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

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

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

4. Have a Donation Station

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

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

5. Leverage Live Leaderboards

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

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

6. Ask Golfers to Donate Their Final Score

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

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

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Raise More Money With Your Golf Event

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

LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. 28, 2022 /The NonProfit Times/ -- Marriott Business Councils bring together hotel management and employees from across a region to network and work together to give back to the larger community. The Colorado Marriott Business Council has been active for over two decades, with a strong presence in the Denver area and beyond that engages Marriott hotel brands, its employees, and the community at-large.

Chad Conrad is the current chair of the Colorado Council and has been involved in its work for over two decades. “Marriott believes in taking care of its employees while also taking care of its community,” Chad says. At the national level, Marriott has been a banner sponsor of Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals for over 30 years. This support has trickled down to local and regional Marriott groups, including business councils.

For over 20 years, the Council has hosted an annual golf tournament to raise money for Children’s Hospital Colorado, the local CMN hospital. For Chad and Marriott employees from across the state, this support of Children’s Hospital Colorado has resulted in a meaningful tie to the community. He has been involved in the golf tournament since its inception and has seen it grow and flourish.

But as COVID-19 hit the tourism industry hard, hotels were short-staffed and the golf event was forced to be pared down. The Council lost several members due to layoffs and hotel closures, including those who helped Chad head up the golf tournament. “It fell 100% on my plate to make it happen,” Chad says. Though he didn’t necessarily want to learn a new platform or system, he knew in order to keep the event going, he needed to employ some type of technology to save time, automate processes, and make planning simple and efficient.

Turning to Technology

Chad turned to GolfStatus, the official management platform for golf events benefiting CMN Hospitals, to get the event back on its feet. “Since it’s been around for over 20 years, it was important to me to keep it alive,” Chad says. The switch to GolfStatus couldn’t have come at a better time—it gave Chad an easy-to-use, all-in-one solution to promote the event, register golfers, onboard and recognize sponsors, and collect funds.

GolfStatus’s partnership with CMN Hospitals helps event organizers—passionate supporters, hospitals or hospital foundations, corporate partners, businesses, or other volunteers—put on a golf tournament to benefit member hospitals. Because these events benefit a nonprofit, they qualify for GolfStatus’s Golf for Good program, which provides access to its full-featured golf event management and fundraising platform at no cost.

The GolfStatus team worked with Chad to build an event website where people could purchase team and sponsorship packages or make a donation with just a few clicks. When the tournament was organized by a larger planning team, one person handled all the money, processing paper registration forms and checks, sending receipts, and tracking payments. With a one-man show for this year’s event, Chad says the online registration and secure payment processing features were priceless. “I barely had to do anything with it,” he says, as the platform sends automated receipts upon registration and he could quickly and easily see who had registered in the software’s back end.

Chad used the platform’s built-in messaging feature to send emails directly to registrants, alerting them of updates and specifics about the event. He used it to share information about the day’s timeline, where folks should check in, and the included breakfast. Since all registration information is stored in the platform, there was no need for him to export email addresses into another service to send a simple email—it could all be handled within GolfStatus. “I don’t know that I can ever go back to how I used to do it!” Chad says.

The Impact of Golf Fundraising

Chad has seen the impact the golf tournament has had for over 20 years, not only for Children’s Hospital Colorado but for participating hotels. “So much business is done on the golf course,” he points out. “Whether you’re a good golfer or not, you can still make connections and do business while raising money and having fun.”

Chad has worked with a core group of vendors and partners to support the golf event over its tenure, but has continued to explore new sponsor support. “When we partner with a new hotel through the Council, it opens doors to a new set of sponsors,” Chad explains. The golf event’s website and accompanying free GolfStatus mobile app gives sponsors a ton of digital exposure for their investment, before, during, and after the tournament.

While the tournament attracted about half of its historical attendees, it still hit its benchmark goal of around $35,000 for the hospital, thanks in part to the time savings GolfStatus provided that allowed Chad to pursue new sponsorships. “We were thrilled about that,” he says. Chad says his number one focus is to bring the hotels together to raise awareness and funds for the hospital. “We could throw a dinner party or do something different but we wouldn’t have the success of a golf tournament,” he says. “A golf tournament has staying power.”

Golf for Good

GolfStatus’s Golf for Good giveback initiative helps nonprofits and those holding events benefiting them streamline their golf events to save time and raise more money. It starts with a free event website and no-cost access to GolfStatus’s platform for qualifying organizations and events. Get qualified here or email [email protected].

Source: The NonProfit Times

GolfStatus caught up with Rita Tateel, President at The Celebrity Source, a full-service celebrity sourcing agency and new GolfStatus partner, to talk about the value that having a celebrity at a golf fundraiser brings to the event and cause.

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Q: First off, what exactly do you mean when you say “celebrity”?

A: Really, who is deemed a “celebrity” is defined by the audience. It’s not necessarily an actor or sports figure; it’s anyone in the public eye within their field or discipline. So it’s a very broad definition—anyone from a famous scientist, writer, or astronaut to a reality television star, football player, YouTube star, performer, or movie actor.

Q: What does having a celebrity at a golf fundraiser bring to the event?

A: Everyone, whether they admit it or not, gets excited about meeting someone famous. There’s an excitement that a celebrity brings to an event that simply can’t be duplicated. Celebrities raise visibility, not only for the event itself, but for the cause it’s connected to. There’s also the credibility factor—people see that if a celebrity is participating, they assume the tournament must be worthwhile. You’re likely to see more press interested in covering the tournament (and you should definitely alert the media about the event) because a celebrity is attending, which means even more exposure for sponsors, the benefiting organization, and/or cause. What’s more, a celebrity presence opens the door to new, lucrative sponsorships as well as attracting more teams with the option of charging a higher registration package price.

Q: What should an event organizer consider when determining whether or not to pursue having a celebrity participate in their golf fundraiser?

A: There are a number of questions organizers should ask themselves before going down this road. First and foremost, what do I hope to accomplish by having the celebrity there—media coverage? Credibility? Increased awareness? Higher income potential? Next, can I cover the standard expenses (or do I have a sponsor I know will cover the costs)? Third, what do I want a celebrity to do at my golf event and what are the highest priorities? Determining the “why” will help organizers decide if it’s something worthwhile to pursue.

Budget is perhaps the main consideration. If an event is hoping to secure a celebrity, expenses need to be covered, even if the celebrity isn’t being paid to attend. At a minimum, they’ll need to cover two first-class airfares, ground transportation to and from the airport to the event, first-class hotel accommodations, and a per diem to cover meals. Oftentimes these costs can be covered by a sponsor.

Q: How can organizers make the most out of having a celebrity attend their golf fundraiser?

A: Really think broadly about all of the ways a celebrity might be involved. It could be anything from a meet and greet on a specific hole of the golf course, emceeing or performing at the after party, or golfing with a specific sponsor’s foursome. It’s also key to have someone in charge of PR to get the most exposure possible for the celebrity’s participation and, in turn, for the nonprofit or charity. Organizers can solicit a volunteer or volunteers, pay a PR firm (or request pro bono services as part of a sponsorship or donation), or even reach out to PR students at a nearby college or university. And when marketing the event, include the celebrity’s participation everywhere possible—on the event website, promotional emails, social media posts, flyers, postcards, and the organization’s website.

Q: How do you help nonprofits find the right celebrity for a fundraising event like a golf tournament?

A: The Celebrity Source looks at a variety of factors that will get a celebrity to say “yes” to an event. For example, a personal association with a particular cause or the location of the event (e.g. near their hometown or favorite city), what perks/gifts are being offered for the celebrity’s participation, how passionate the celebrity is about golf, and any obvious connections to the event. Being a golfer is often a key factor, but keep in mind that there are different roles the celeb can play at the event, so they don’t have to play golf to still be a good match. The audience’s demographic also needs to be taken into account—both who it is trying to attract to play in the event as well as sponsor it. Our process takes all these factors into account to find the best match.

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Technology For Your Golf Fundraiser

GolfStatus’s industry-leading golf event management and fundraising technology streamlines planning to save time and raise more money. Through GolfStatus.org and the company’s Golf for Good giveback initiative, qualifying 501(c) organizations and those holding events that benefit them can qualify for no cost access to the platform. Get started here or email [email protected].

The Celebrity Source

The Celebrity Source has been in business over 30 years and has access to thousands of celebs from film, TV, music, sports, fashion, digital stars and influencers. Among the company’s specialties is cause-related celebrity outreach and coordination whereby the celebrities may not be paid—The Celebrity Source knows what it takes to get a celebrity to say yes apart from money. The Celebrity Source has helped hundreds of corporate and non-profit clients find authentic celebrity matches for events (live and virtual), PR/marketing/advertising campaigns, corporate meetings and cause-marketing strategies. Learn more about Celebrity Source by visiting thecelebritysource.com, emailing [email protected], or calling 917-626-8368.

LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GolfStatus, the leading event management platform for golf fundraisers, has partnered with celebrity booking agency The Celebrity Source to help connect charity golf tournament organizers with celebrities, athletes, influencers, and other public figures. The partnership provides event organizers planning charity golf outings and golf fundraisers with access, options, and first-rate service in sourcing a range of celebrities that best fit their event's needs.

Through its Golf for Good program, GolfStatus. serves nonprofit clients, businesses, corporate entities, and others holding charity golf outings and fundraisers—providing access to its software at no cost to these organizations. The event management and fundraising SaaS platform makes it easy to organize and execute professional, high-end golf events. The Celebrity Source, which has a strong tie to and focus in cause-related marketing, is known for creating organic, authentic celebrity matches for their clients to gain more visibility for charity events and fundraisers and the important causes they support.

"We're not just a booking agency, we are a strategic partner who digs deep into our clients' needs and fulfills them," said Laurie Kessler, CEO of The Celebrity Source. "We know from experience that celebrity support can help quantum leap charity golf tournaments in terms of exposure and funds raised, so partnering with GolfStatus and their Golf for Good program was a no-brainer for us."

To get started with GolfStatus's technology and connect with The Celebrity Source, visit golfstatus.com, email [email protected], or call 402-413-9650. Learn more about Celebrity Source by visiting thecelebritysource.com, emailing [email protected], or calling 917-626-8368.

About GolfStatus

GolfStatus is golf's premier tournament management solution and golfer engagement platform. Its full-service event management software streamlines outings from start to finish, yielding professional, high-end events while also saving time and improving the event experience for golfers, sponsors, and golf facilities. Through GolfStatus, its powerful technology is accessible to nonprofits to streamline golf fundraisers and help event organizers use them to engage more supporters, raise more mission-critical funds, drive impact, and do more good.

About Celebrity Source

The Celebrity Source has been in business over 30 years and has access to thousands of celebs from film, TV, music, sports, fashion, digital stars and influencers. Among the company's specialties is cause-related celebrity outreach and coordination whereby the celebrities may not be paid—The Celebrity Source knows what it takes to get a celebrity to say yes apart from money. The Celebrity Source has helped hundreds of corporate and non-profit clients find authentic celebrity matches for events (live and virtual), PR/Marketing/Advertising campaigns, corporate meetings and cause-marketing strategies.

Contact:
Ashley Watson, Director of Marketing
[email protected]
812.202.0019

Source: PR Newswire

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Play Yellow’s Ben Parker on Using Golf to Raise $100 Million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals

LINCOLN, Neb., Jan. 12, 2022 /Association of Fundraising Professionals/ — For Ben Parker, Senior Director of Play Yellow at Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals, golf has been a constant. His passion for golf stems from playing competitively in high school and college, going on to become a PGA Professional. He found ways to stay connected to the game throughout his career, hosting a golf television show and producing celebrity golf tournaments. Eventually, he landed at CMN Hospitals to spearhead the Play Yellow effort, in partnership with Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, with the goal to raise $100 million in five years for children’s hospitals.

Ben has long believed in the power of golf to do good in the world. “Supporting kids reaches the soul of the golfer,” says Ben, who has seen firsthand the sport’s impact in the outpouring of support at all levels of golf for CMN Hospitals. “When we can combine something they love—golf—with helping kids, it creates a meaningful connection. We give it an identity with Play Yellow.”

CMN Hospitals & Golf Fundraising

When Ben came on board at CMN Hospitals, there were thousands of golf events across the country raising money for local children’s hospitals. Organized by hospital foundations, corporate entities, community organizations, and dedicated supporters, these tournaments essentially happened, as Ben describes it, in the background, without CMN Hospitals knowing who was organizing, sponsoring, or playing in them.

“The more I worked with my teammates, I realized there was a massive opportunity to cultivate, grow, and simplify golf fundraising with our network,” Ben says. His experience working with charity golf tournaments of all types and sizes gives him a unique perspective on how tournament organizers operate and what motivates them. He explains that the majority of volunteers who organize a golf event aren’t typically golfers themselves; they’re passionate supporters and volunteers who are willing to jump in and make things happen. They see how golf is a very powerful mechanism for bringing people together and raising money.

Ben and his CMN Hospital colleagues on the Innovation team dug in to look for a solution to expand and strengthen golf fundraising and make the process easier for organizers across the board. “We want organizers to be able to spend less time on the minutiae of planning a golf tournament and more time on the fun stuff,” Ben says.

The amount of work that goes into a successful golf tournament isn’t lost on Ben and his team, which is why they make every effort to simplify the process and help organizers see the impact of their time and dedication. He points out that when tournaments are organized as Play Yellow events, they’re part of a larger CMN Hospitals ecosystem that has deep ties to corporate sponsors, individual hospital communities, and media partners, which gives their event instant credibility, tools, and support. “For someone whose day job is something else, to suddenly be charged with making a massive impact in a golf fundraiser, it can be overwhelming,” Ben says. “But we’re there to help organizers see how the golf community loves to support kids in need and connect them to this larger network so they can be successful.”

The $100 Million Jack Nicklaus Challenge

Play Yellow’s humble beginnings include a plate of cookies and a kind gesture for a child dealing with cancer. Jack Nicklaus, the legendary golfer who won 18 majors over the course of his illustrious career, befriended a young fan in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, named Craig Smith. Craig was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, that would tragically take his life at the age of 13. During one of their many conversations, this one following one of Jack’s tournament wins, Craig said he knew Jack would come out on top because he was wearing a lucky yellow shirt.

Jack would continue to wear yellow on Sundays over the years in honor of Craig. When he won his sixth Masters in 1986, he wore yellow for the final round. Ben explains that this story didn’t surface until some 20 years later, when Jack was asked if there was something different about that particular day of golf—when he had a career round and won the tournament—and he pointed out that he was wearing yellow that Sunday.

Jack and Barbara Nicklaus were already dedicated supporters of children’s hospitals in Ohio and Florida and wanted to further amplify those efforts with CMN Hospitals and their influence in the golf world. To that end, Jack called PGA TOUR Commissioner, Jay Monahan, to meet with them at their home in Florida over a plate of Barbara’s chocolate chip cookies. Jack set the audacious goal of raising $100 million for CMN Hospitals in just five years through golf, and Play Yellow was born.

Getting to the Goal with Technology

Prior to the pandemic, Play Yellow had raised about $24 million for CMN Hospitals through golf. “When COVID hit, all these golf events that we had built momentum behind went into shutdown mode,” Ben says. “There was some panic because we knew that hospitals needed this unrestricted funding to care for kids, and we knew there would be a huge fundraising gap to close in 2020 because these events weren’t going to happen.”

Creating efficiencies and better supporting tournament organizers with user-friendly tools, while at the same time strategizing how to get tournaments back up and running, led CMN Hospitals to a partnership with golf technology company GolfStatus. The platform puts powerful fundraising technology built for golf in the hands of individual event organizers, while also providing key insights at an enterprise level, broader sponsorship opportunities, and a central event directory for larger organizations like CMN Hospitals that have hundreds or even thousands of events that benefit them.

GolfStatus’s tech solved many challenges right off the bat, with built-in features to live-score tournaments, send in-event messages to golfers and sponsors, and an in-house customer success team to build a website for each tournament and provide support every step of the way. The platform greatly simplifies registration and payment collection and processing, which saves organizers a huge amount of work, making the prospect of putting on a tournament less daunting. In the face of COVID-19, GolfStatus’s features also allowed tournaments to mitigate touchpoints by moving registration, scoring, coordination, and other logistical tasks online and providing options for virtual and hybrid events.

What’s more, the value of using a common technology for Play Yellow events goes well beyond saving organizers time and effort. Indeed, one of the strongest arguments for such a platform is the ability to securely and responsibly collect donor and sponsor data in an efficient manner, helping CMN Hospitals as a whole and its member hospitals and foundations gain a better understanding of who is supporting them through golf. “Hospitals may not have the oversight they need for these events or even know who is organizing golf tournaments on their behalf,” Ben points out. “The power of this information, and how best to support these third party events, is crucial to making fundraising decisions.”

Ben is excited about the future of CMN Hospitals’ golf fundraising using GolfStatus. “GolfStatus fits the unique needs of golf event organizers,” says Ben. “As a partner, GolfStatus sees the long term vision of what we want to accomplish with Play Yellow and for CMN Hospitals.”

To support CMN Hospitals through golf, you can play in a tournament near you or even organize your own golf fundraiser.

GolfStatus.org—the social impact division of golf technology company GolfStatus—provides no-cost access to its golf event management and fundraising platform to nonprofits through its Golf for Good program. A proud partner of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, GolfStatus.org’s mission is to help nonprofits leverage golf to engage more supporters, raise more mission-critical dollars, drive impact, and do more good. Learn more about the Golf for Good program and get qualified at www.golfstatus.com/demo.

Source: AFP

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Organization Snapshot

Marriott Business Councils bring together hotel management and employees from across a region to network and work together to give back to the larger community. The Colorado Marriott Business Council has been active for over two decades, with a strong presence in the Denver area and beyond that engages Marriott hotel brands, its employees, and the community at-large. It formed a millennial/next generation committee to involve future leaders and provide direction to the Council at large as well as an active committee focusing on LGBTQ issues. 

Chad Conrad is currently the chair of the Colorado Council and has been involved in its work for over 23 years. “Marriott believes in taking care of its employees while also taking care of its community,” Chad says. “The goal is to make people feel like you’re at home when you’re not at home. Employees are just the ambassadors of that idea, taking care of each other and expanding it into the communities where we operate,” he explains.

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Annual Tournament

20 years +

Dollars Raised

$35,000

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At the national level, Marriott has been a banner sponsor of Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals for over 30 years. This support has trickled down to local and regional Marriott groups, including business councils. Across its 675,000 associates in the U.S., there’s strong buy-in to the commitment to CMN Hospitals across the country. “Associates’ kids benefit from these top-notch facilities,” says Chad. The tie to CMN Hospitals is important to him personally, as both his daughters have been in children’s hospitals at one time or another. 

For over 20 years, the Council has hosted an annual golf tournament to raise money for Children’s Hospital Colorado, the local CMN hospital. He and the planning team have made a concerted effort to set their event apart from other fundraisers and offer a different experience each year, working closely with vendors and other partners. One of its hallmarks has been featuring executive chefs from various Marriott hotels cooking a signature dish on each hole. 

Unfortunately, COVID-19’s profound impact on the tourism industry—layoffs, reduced hotel occupancy, and labor shortages—have impacted the Council’s work and people power. “A lot of our committees fell apart as we lost staff,” Chad explains, but notes that as the workforce rebounds these groups can be rebuilt and re-engaged.

The Challenge

For Chad and Marriott employees from across the state, the annual golf fundraiser’s support of Children’s Hospital Colorado resulted in a meaningful tie to the community. He has been involved in the golf tournament since its inception, and has seen it grow and flourish over the years.

But as COVID-19 hit the tourism industry hard, hotels were short-staffed and the golf event was forced to be pared down. The Council lost several members due to layoffs and closures in hotels, including two who helped Chad head up the golf tournament each year, leaving him as the lone organizer. “It fell 100% on my plate to make it happen,” Chad says. Though he didn’t necessarily want to learn a new platform or system, he knew in order to keep the event alive, he needed to employ some type of technology to save time, automate processes, and make planning as simple and efficient as possible.

The Solution

Chad turned to GolfStatus, the official golf event management platform for events benefiting CMN Hospitals, to get the event back on its feet. He saw its easy-to-use technology as an all-in-one solution to promote the event, register golfers, onboard and recognize sponsors, and collect funds. 

With limited manpower and resources, the switch to GolfStatus for the golf tournament couldn’t have come at a better time. Because the event was raising money for a nonprofit—Colorado Children’s Hospital—it qualified for no-cost access to GolfStatus’s platform through the company’s Golf for Good giveback initiative. 

The Results

Though COVID-19 upended the golf tournament and drew fewer golfers than in past years, momentum is building and Chad hopes to get back to a full slate of teams in the next few years. “Since it’s been around for over 20 years, it was important to me to keep it alive,” Chad says. The tournament date was moved from June to August and couldn’t include any extras beyond the round of golf. And while the tournament attracted about half of its historical attendees, the event still raised about the same amount of money for the hospital, around $35,000. “We were thrilled about that,” he says.

Highlighted Platform Features

• Golf for Good program

• Event website

• Online registration

• Secure payment processing

• Messaging feature

Event Website

Because the golf tournament benefited a nonprofit in Children’s Hospital Colorado, it qualified for GolfStatus’s Golf for Good program, which provides no-cost access to the event planning and fundraising platform at no cost. The GolfStatus team built an event website in partnership with Chad, along with custom team and sponsorship packages that people could purchase directly on the website with just a few clicks. The event website also lets golfers, sponsors, and spectators make a donation directly to the cause, raising even more money for Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Online Registration & Payment Processing

When the tournament was organized by a much larger planning team, one member of the planning team handled all the money—processing paper registration forms and checks, sending receipts, and tracking payments. With a one-man show for this year’s event, Chad says the online registration and payment collection aspects of using GolfStatus was the best upgrade for the event. “I barely had to do anything with it,” he points out, as the platform sends automated receipts upon registration. As an organizer, he could quickly and easily see who had registered in the software’s back-end. “The value behind this was priceless,” he says. What’s more, he heard from golfers how easy it was to register and nice to get a receipt immediately. “It’s expected to have online registration today.” he says.

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“The value behind this was priceless.”

— Chad Conrad, Chair of the Colorado Marriott Business Council

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Sponsor Recruitment & Recognition

Chad has worked with a core group of vendors and partners to support the golf event over its 22-year tenure, but has continued to explore new avenues and opportunities to attract additional sponsor support. “When we partner with a new hotel through the Council, it opens doors to a new set of sponsors,” Chad explains. The golf event’s website and accompanying free GolfStatus mobile app gives sponsors a ton of digital exposure for their investment, before, during, and after the tournament. 

Easy Communication

Chad used the platform’s built-in messaging feature to send emails directly to registrants, alerting them of updates and specifics about the event. He used it to share information about the day’s timeline, where folks should check in, and the included breakfast. Since all registration information is stored in the platform, there was no need for him to export email addresses into another service to send a simple email—it could all be handled within GolfStatus. 

CMN Partnership

GolfStatus has partnered with CMN Hospitals to help event organizers—whether they’re passionate supporters, hospitals or hospital foundations, corporate partners, businesses, or other volunteers—put on a golf tournament to benefit member hospitals. A common technology platform makes it as easy as possible for anyone to organize a golf fundraiser and raise even more money. Marriott’s continued commitment to children’s hospitals is evident in its support of this technology for golf events that benefit CMN Hospitals. What’s more, Chad made sure representatives from Children’s Hospital Colorado were able to share information and explain the tournament’s impact on the hospital, making a connection to the cause the tournament was supporting.

Golf & Fundraising Success

In Chad’s 22 years organizing the golf tournament fundraiser, he’s seen the impact it has in raising money for Children’s Hospital Colorado and the benefit for participating hotels. “So much business is done on the golf course,” he points out. “Whether you’re a good golfer or not, you can still make connections and do business while raising money and having fun.” Chad says his number one focus is to bring the hotels together to raise awareness and funds for the hospital. “We could throw a dinner party or do something different but we wouldn’t have the success of a golf tournament,” he says. “A golf tournament has staying power.”

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“Whether you’re a good golfer or not, you can still make connections and do business while raising money and having fun.”

— Chad Conrad, Chair of the Colorado Marriott Business Council

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Growing With the Event

Though Chad was a one-man show in organizing the event this year, his goal is to build the Business Council back and involve more folks in the golf fundraiser again. “The GolfStatus team made it super easy,” he says, explaining that it would be simple to collaborate with a planning team in the future. “I don’t know that I can ever go back to how I used to do it!”

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Golf for Good

GolfStatus’s Golf for Good giveback initiative through GolfStatus.org helps nonprofits and those holding events benefiting them streamline their golf events to save time and raise more money. It starts with a free event website and no-cost access to GolfStatus’s event management and fundraising platform for qualifying organizations and events. Get qualified here or email [email protected].

The past nearly two years have tested nonprofits’ ability to rapidly pivot everything from programs and priorities to events and fundraising. The sector is still recovering in many ways as organizations look ahead to 2022 fundraising events. As the world slowly returns to varying levels of normalcy, organizations are beginning to reignite strategic fundraising events and longer-term donor stewardship—both of which golf can help accomplish. Here are nine predictions for golf fundraisers in 2022.

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1. Golf’s popularity will level off but remain steady.

Golf grew exponentially during 2020 and into 2021, but the National Golf Foundation reports that the sport’s growth has cooled slightly in the second and third quarters of 2021. That being said, golf is still more popular now than it was pre-pandemic, and after a winter of being indoors, folks will be eager to golf and play in tournaments that support worthwhile causes. Keep in mind that golf fundraisers traditionally use the scramble format, which means golfers don’t need to be highly skilled to participate in a charity tournament, which gives your event an even larger pool of participants. 

2. Expect to see second- and third-year events gain momentum.

Nonprofits of all types and sizes saw the value of the golf fundraiser during 2020 and 2021, as golf events provided a safe, in-person fundraising option amid hit-or-miss online and virtual events. Many first-time golf events were launched out of necessity during this time, which in turn have become annual events. This means more golf tournaments on the calendar, so planning ahead is crucial. Get save-the-dates out as early as possible so your event is on players’ radars sooner rather than later and your tournament is included in sponsors’ budgets. It’s also a good idea to get an event website for your golf outing launched so you can list available team and sponsor packages so supporters can commit to your event as soon as they hear about it.

3. Tournaments will be business as usual.

Golf tournaments were able to be held during the height of the pandemic, thanks to technology and creative modifications and adaptations that either eliminated or significantly reduced touchpoints and large groups of people gathering in one place at one time. In 2021, many tournaments were able to safely resume some or most of their usual activities—tee time starts, on-course games and contests, pre- and post-golf gatherings, and awards ceremonies. This is likely to continue across the board in 2022, with golf tournaments returning to pre-pandemic protocols. That being said, the technology that helped nonprofits proceed with golf fundraisers proved to be helpful beyond COVID-19, providing time and resource savings, additional sponsor exposure and options, and an elevated tournament experience.

4. Golf events will continue to provide Fundraising options and flexibility.

Though normalcy is inching closer, if COVID-19 taught us anything it’s that staying nimble is key. Local situations and circumstances can change rapidly, which means organizations may need to once again adapt events on the fly. Golf fundraisers are unique in that any modifications made, whether it’s switching to tee time starts instead of a shotgun start, eliminating banquets or cocktail hours, or even going virtual, don’t affect the heart of the event—the golf and the fundraising it drives. It will continue to be important for organizers to have the right technology in place to make the adaptations, as well as communicating them to golfers and sponsors, easy and seamless. 

5. More organizations will rally third parties to hold events that benefit them.

Corporate partners, businesses, passionate supporters, volunteers, avid golfers or other third parties often plan golf events that benefit a nonprofit or cause. Organizations benefit from the passive fundraising and, if done correctly, collect the information of the golfers and sponsors participating in these golf tournaments for further donor stewardship. It’s important for organizations to make it as easy as possible for third parties to hold these events, so using a common technology platform that simplifies planning and seamlessly and uniformly collects donor data is crucial.

6. Live scoring will become the norm.

Scoring via mobile app eliminated the touchpoint of paper scorecards at golf fundraisers, but came with a plethora of other benefits that make organizations unlikely to want to go back. Mobile scoring is linked to live leaderboards, which allow tournament participants to score their round in real-time, letting golfers, spectators, and other supporters see current standings at any time. Live leaderboards make the event more competitive and allow for virtual rounds and even completely virtual events that are connected by a common leaderboard. What’s more, they open the door for additional sponsor exposure which can be sold at a premium and a place to collect online donations from event participants as well as those following along.

7. Sponsors will be eager to support golf fundraisers.

The adoption of technology to plan and manage golf fundraisers has led to additional sponsorship offerings and, in turn, more dollars raised for organizations. Digital exposure is mutually beneficial for the organizer and the sponsor. For organizers, they’re easy to manage (you simply upload a logo to an event website, mobile app, or event leaderboards), can be sold at a premium, and often have little to no overhead costs compared to signage or branded merchandise. For the sponsor, this digital exposure provides high visibility among your tournament’s golfers, getting their brand in front of an affluent audience of potential clients and customers. Indeed, over the last nearly two years, sponsoring businesses have also shown a propensity to support the technology that helps nonprofits run more effectively and efficiently, making digital sponsorships a key opportunity for organizations evolving to leverage technology.

8. Responsibly collecting event & donor data will continue to be crucial. 

Data has been a buzz word in the nonprofit sector for years, but some events and programming still seem to escape data capture and tracking mechanisms. The golf tournament has historically been one of those events, but there’s no reason it should be. Statistically, the golfer demographic is affluent and influential, so golfers tap into their personal and professional networks to field a team, particularly with a scramble format that can involve all golf skill levels. Even more importantly, golf events can open the door to corporate sponsors and long-term partners. But unless you know who’s playing in and supporting your golf tournament at what level and during what year or years, this information can’t be leveraged by your organization. The easy fix here is to make the switch to an event website with online registration and built-in payment processing, which makes it easy to capture this critical information and seamlessly export it for inclusion in your organization’s donor CRM. For third party events, this becomes even more important and is a huge missed opportunity if this information isn’t being collected.

9. Time & resource savings will be vitally important. 

Much of the nonprofit sector is still recovering from reduced revenue, fewer fundraising opportunities, budget cuts, and a labor shortage caused by the pandemic. Remaining staff have more on their plates than ever and are looking for ways to save time and reduce costs on things like fundraising events. Event organizers need to be able to seamlessly collaborate with volunteers and planning committees using tools that provide efficiency and are easy to use. What’s more, with budgets stretched thin, organizations have to get creative to adopt technology to save time without adding more line-item expenses. 

Holding a Golf Event in 2022?

GolfStatus’s all-in-one golf event management and fundraising platform streamlines the details of a golf fundraiser, letting organizers focus less on the minutiae of the tournament and more on connecting with donors and sponsors. Through the company’s Golf for Good initiative, nonprofits and those holding events that benefit them can qualify for no-cost access to the platform to save time and raise more money. Get started here or email [email protected].