LINCOLN, Neb., June 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GolfStatus, the leading technology platform for charity golf tournament fundraisers, has launched a Marketplace to connect tournament organizers with third party vendors and enhance their event's experience.

GolfStatus's golf event management software streamlines golf fundraisers, saving organizers valuable time and effort, and ultimately, helping raise more money. Marketplace was created to complement the platform as a one-stop shop of trusted partners providing a wide variety of goods and services for golf fundraisers.

"In addition to our software, Marketplace is another solution GolfStatus provides for nonprofits and organizations hosting golf tournaments to raise money for their mission," said Ashley Watson, director of marketing at GolfStatus. "Organizers can leverage Marketplace vendors to offer additional sponsorships and add-ons that make the tournament more fun, more engaging, and more lucrative."

Current GolfStatus Marketplace vendors include:

• Custom Golf Products by Proforma

• Auction Software by Handbid

• Text Messaging by Rally Corp

• Custom Golf Balls by GolfBalls.com

• Professional Long Drivers by Charity Golf International

• Custom Event Flags by Prestige Flag

• Celebrity Appearance by The Celebrity Source

• Hole-in-One Contests by GolfStatus

• Video Messaging and Collection by KindKatch

Find out more by visiting golfstatus.com/marketplace.

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. Visit golfstatus.com.

Media Contact:
Ashley Watson
[email protected]

Source: PR Newswire

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Golf has grown in popularity during the pandemic and proved a valuable way of fundraising for many nonprofit organizations.

Source: Forbes, David Hessekiel Contributor -- The pandemic’s restriction of big group events have made the last two years very challenging for nonprofits so development executives are on the lookout for ways to enhance their fundraising efforts.

Interestingly, one growth area has been golf tournament fundraising which has been on the rise for several reasons:

• Since golf is played outdoors, tournaments can easily be arranged to enable social distancing.

• The sport saw record rounds played during 2020 and then continued to increase by 5% in 2021, according to the National Golf Foundation.

• After years of primarily being managed manually or using very unsophisticated systems, online technology has emerged that streamlines golf tournament fundraisers and handles golf-specific elements like hole assignments, team pairings, facility information, and sponsorships.

• Golf remains a generally upscale activity with golfers having a median household income of $125,000 and a high penetration of upper level executives.

The Cameron Steinberg Foundation is an example of a small nonprofit that has successfully leveraged these trends. The organization was founded by the parents of Cameron Steinberg who passed away at just two months old from hyproplastic left heart syndrome. The foundation raises funds to help other families dealing with congenital heart disease.

Nationwide Children's Hospital was one of the beneficiaries of the Cameron Steinberg Foundation's 2022 golf tournament.

The Ohio-based foundation raised $30,000 at its first golf event in 2021, and was selected as the winner of a $10,000 donation through the inaugural Play It Forward campaign. After using inefficient platforms and systems to plan and manage the tournament in 2021, the event converted to an online golf tournament management platform for the 2022 event, held May 23, 2022, and raised $64,000, more than double the amount raised in 2021.

A more sophisticated, technology-empowered approach to managing the event led to such positive outcomes as selling more and higher priced sponsorships, a 50% reduction in the administrative workload and better tools to promote the program and enable people to make direct donations, according to cofounder Sam Steinberg.

Back in 2021 the group used Venmo to collect credit card payments, had to process cash and checks and tracked everything in spreadsheets which were a “huge headache,” Sam explained.

A good way for nonprofits to determine whether golf tournament fundraising could work well for them would be to review this introductory guide.

Source: Forbes

Organization Snapshot

Sarah Valentine’s vision for Riverside Ranch was simple—combine her love of horses with her innate desire to help people with special needs. She grew up riding horses, but after her grandfather passed away, she discovered therapeutic riding and felt called to create a nonprofit dedicated to using this medium to help people coping with challenging circumstances in their lives.

After intensely fundraising for over a year and a half, and a postponement due to COVID-19, Sarah opened the Ranch’s doors in July 2020. “We literally built this from the ground up, with dirt and a dream!” Sarah says. She’s grateful for the strong community support and dedicated volunteers who help empower clients dealing with autism, Down syndrome, vision impairment, cancer treatment, grief, and other conditions through therapeutic riding. Most of their riders aren’t able to participate in traditional recreational activities, so therapeutic riding not only lets them have fun, but helps with muscle strength, cognitive skills, and confidence. “At Riverside Ranch we empower different abilities and give them an opportunity to shine,” Sarah says. “When they ride, they build strength and belief in themselves and walk away feeling celebrated.”

Riverside Ranch empowers kids and adults coping with autism, Down syndrome, vision impairment, cancer treatment, grief, and other conditions through therapeutic riding.

The Challenge

Because Riverside Ranch opened during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah knew her options for traditional fundraising events would be limited. The idea for a golf fundraiser came simply from observing the golfers that flocked to the golf course near where Sarah lives. “The golf course never closed,” she says, leading her to team up with the organization’s board president to explore launching a new charity golf tournament. Beyond raising mission-critical funds, Sarah says the idea for a golf tournament meant they could spread the word about what the Ranch does and who it serves.

Neither had planned a golf fundraiser before, and though both were concerned about COVID-related restrictions, they felt confident moving forward with a golf event. Unsure of where to start or how to make the process less cumbersome, they initially tried setting up registration through Riverside Ranch’s website. “That ended up making things way too complicated and not at all user-friendly,” Sarah says. They decided to seek out simpler, more efficient options.

The Solution

A Google search led them to GolfStatus as the solution to online registration and streamlining planning. “We saw GolfStatus and knew it was just what we needed,” Sarah says. In the golf tournament’s first year, the software helped give the tournament some structure and saved hours of time on administrative tasks. As a nonprofit organization, Riverside Ranch qualified for GolfStatus’s Golf for Good program, which allowed them to use the platform at no cost, which was a huge selling point for Sarah and her team.

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“We saw GolfStatus and knew it was just what we needed.”

— Sarah Valentine, Executive Director at Riverside Ranch

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The Results

In the tournament’s first two years, Riverside Ranch raised over $40,000. These funds help support the Ranch as a whole and add a third horse to its stable, allowing them to serve even more riders. Over 40 teams and sponsors supported the tournament in its two year tenure. 

Tournament format

Four Person Scramble

Dollars raised

$40,000

Additional fundraising

Mulligans, red tees, silent auction

Managing Registrations & Sponsorships

The event website was the home base for the golf fundraiser, and where all promotional materials sent golfers and sponsors. With just a few clicks, folks could purchase teams and sponsorship packages right on the spot. Sarah says creating custom sponsorship packages and being able to carry those over from year to year was super helpful, and the software made it easy to manage sponsor logos and assets. Sarah approached local businesses and contacts from families and friends as sponsors and sent them directly to the event website. “When people hear about our mission and what we’re doing at the Ranch, they want to be a part of it!” she says. The tournament involved 40 sponsors over two years

What’s more, online registration meant no dealing with multiple platforms, spreadsheets, checks, or receipts. “Online registration was so great,” Sarah says. “It’s the expectation for events anymore and made everything so easy.” She could log into the tournament management system’s back end and see who had registered, which sponsorships had been sold, and manage all the details in one easy-to-access place.

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“Online registration was so great. It’s the expectation for events anymore and made everything so easy.”

— Sarah Valentine, Executive Director at Riverside Ranch

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An event website makes it easy to promote the tournament, share information about the event, and sell team and sponsor packages.

An Easier Year Two

The first year of the golf tournament came with building the event’s infrastructure, including processes, sponsorship and team packages, pricing, designs, and promotional materials. Because Sarah employed GolfStatus from the get go, she didn’t have to manage multiple spreadsheets, process a ton of checks and receipts, and spend hours and hours doing administrative busywork. Instead, she could focus on promoting the event to attract teams and sponsors and making the tournament experience top-notch.

In year two, Sarah says the entire process was easier from start to finish. She worked with the GolfStatus team to simply copy the 2021 event for 2022, so there was no need to start from scratch. A few quick updates to the event date, course information, team and sponsorship packages, and the event website was up and running and ready to accept registrations.

GolfStatus and Dormie Network

After Sarah signed on to use GolfStatus for the tournament’s first year, she discovered the connection between GolfStatus and its sister company, Dormie Network, where her husband, Matt, and several of his friends are members. Dormie Network is a network of private destination golf clubs across the U.S. The Dormie Network Foundation donated a Stay and Play Package for the golf tournament’s auction, which helped raise several thousand dollars both years.

Connecting to the Cause

Though Riverside Ranch already had deep, meaningful connections with the community, the golf fundraiser was another opportunity to share its mission, attract new volunteers, and steward new donors and supporters. “I’m truly in awe of the positive impact therapeutic riding makes on the amazing individuals we serve. We want to share that excitement with our supporters,” Sarah says. 

To help make this connection, a father of one of the riders, Addy, spoke at the tournament’s luncheon and shared what the Ranch meant to his family. He described how riding has helped Addy gain confidence and the joy she experiences while on her favorite horse, JaRule. 

The Riverside Ranch Charity Golf Tournament was listed on GolfStatus’s master event listing, where avid golfers go to find and play in tournaments in their area. Sarah was pleasantly surprised at several teams finding the fundraiser in this way. “That meant some brand new people learned about and supported Riverside Ranch!” Sarah says.

Tournament volunteers were able to chat with golfers and sponsors about Riverside Ranch’s mission.

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Get Started With Golf for Good

Through the Golf for Good program, GolfStatus serves nonprofits and provides access to its entire golf event management and fundraising platform at no cost. Qualifying nonprofits get an event website, with online registration and secure payment processing, plus golf-specific tools, robust reporting, and the ability to collect donations to save organizers a ton of time and raise even more money for organizations’ missions. Want to learn more and get qualified? Click the button below or email [email protected].

Play It Forward seeks to reward those who are using golf for good.

LINCOLN, Neb., June 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GolfStatus, the leading technology platform for nonprofit and charity golf fundraisers, is teaming up with its giving partners at Dormie Network and Dormie Network Foundation for the Play It Forward campaign to give back to organizations that are using golf to make an impact.

Now in its second year, the campaign is a unique opportunity to "play" it forward. Individuals nominate a golf fundraiser to receive a $10,000 donation and have the chance to win a one-year honorary membership to Dormie Network, a national network of private golf clubs, plus a $10,000 credit toward onsite golf and lodging.

"From small, local fundraisers to massive charity tournaments, golf is a great way to bring people together in support of a cause," said Brian Schenk, Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Dormie Network Foundation. "Play It Forward celebrates organizations golfing for good and doing incredible work in their communities and beyond."

The 2021 Play It Forward nonprofit winner was the Cameron Steinberg Foundation's inaugural golf fundraiser, which was nominated by Dr. Michael Gaies. The Foundation honors the life of Cameron Steinberg, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tragically passed away at just two months old. Cami's parents, Mel and Sam, created the Foundation to help families affected by congenital heart disease. The $10,000 donation was made to the Foundation's second annual golf tournament, held May 23, 2022. The event's second year utilized GolfStatus's golf event management platform—which is available at no cost to qualifying nonprofit organizations through the Golf for Good program—and more than doubled the dollars raised from its first year.

The giveaway launched May 31 and nominations will be accepted through July 4. Winners will be announced via press release and on GolfStatus's and Dormie Network's social media channels in August.

Visit www.golfstatus.com/play-it-forward for official rules and to submit a nomination.

About GolfStatus

GolfStatus is golf's premier tournament management solution and golfer engagement platform. Its full-service tournament management software streamlines outings from start to finish, yielding professional, high-end events that add value for golfers, sponsors, and golf facilities. Through GolfStatus.org, we make our powerful technology accessible to nonprofits to streamline fundraisers and help charitable organizations engage more supporters, raise more mission-critical funds, drive impact, and do more good. Learn more at golfstatus.com.

About Dormie Network and Dormie Network Foundation

Dormie Network is a national network of private destination golf clubs that includes ArborLinks in Nebraska City, Nebraska; Ballyhack Golf Club in Roanoke, Virginia; Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas; Dormie Club in West End, North Carolina; Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey; Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana; and a seventh course built from the ground up in the Nebraska Sandhills, with a planned opening of 2024. Each offers a premier golf experience in a relaxing and accommodating environment ideal for business or leisure. The Dormie Network Foundation supports nonprofits through in-kind donations and direct cash grants, and seeks to build long-term relationships with its nonprofit partners to help them raise the bar on fundraising opportunities. Learn more at dormienetwork.com.

Media contact:
Ashley Watson
[email protected]

Source: PR Newswire

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Golf is an incredible force for good. Whether it’s a brand new tournament or decades old tradition, a small golf fundraiser or a massive charity event, or anything in between, golf brings people together to support the important work nonprofits are doing in their communities and beyond.

GolfStatus is once again teaming up with our giving partners at Dormie Network and Dormie Network Foundation for the Play It Forward campaign to give back to organizations that are using golf to make an impact.

For the second year, the Play It Forward campaign will award a $10,000 donation to a nonprofit or cause raising money through golf. Individuals nominate their favorite golf fundraiser and get the chance to win a one-year honorary membership to Dormie Network, a national network of private golf clubs, plus a $10,000 credit toward onsite golf and lodging.

Designed by famed golf course architect Tom Fazio, Dormie Network’s Victoria National Golf Club boasts gorgeous views amid challenging holes.

2021 winner

The 2021 Play It Forward nonprofit winner was the Cameron Steinberg Foundation’s inaugural golf fundraiser, nominated by Dr. Michael Gaies (who was the recipient of a year-long membership to the Dormie Network). The Foundation honors the life of Cameron Steinberg, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tragically passed away at just two months old, and helps families affected by congenital heart disease.

The $10,000 donation was made to the Foundation’s second annual golf tournament, held May 23, 2022. The event’s second year utilized GolfStatus’s golf event management platform (which organizers used at no cost through the Golf for Good program) to manage registrations, sponsorships, and live scoring, and saw an increase of more than 66% in dollars raised when compared to the tournament’s first year.

Mel and Sam Steinberg post with Dr. Michael Gaies at the inaugural Cameron Steinberg Foundation’s golf fundraiser in May of 2021.

nominate a fundraiser today!

The golf fundraiser can be any size or format—a memorial tournament raising money for a favorite cause, alumni golf event, celebrity pro-am, nonprofit fundraiser, or corporate golf outing. The event simply must be raising money for a charitable cause to be eligible for the $10,000 donation. Tell us about the event, what it’s raising money for, and why it’s important to you.

The campaign launched May 31 and nominations close July 4.

The winners will be announced via a press release and on social media, so make sure you follow GolfStatus.org (Facebook and Instagram) and Dormie Network (Facebook and Instagram) for the latest.

Don’t miss out on this chance to make a difference and use golf for good!

Golf tournaments are an especially great option for third parties looking to raise money for an organization or cause they care about. The sport has seen its popularity grow over the past years and its capacity as a fundraising tool is unmatched. What’s more, people tend to be passionate about golf, and when given the opportunity to marry two of their passions—golf and a good cause—they tend to jump at the chance.

Perhaps more than any other fundraising events, golf tournaments have unique advantages for the benefiting nonprofit as well as for the organizer. Nonprofits gain a passive income stream that doesn’t require a dedicated staff member or line item in the budget, while also increasing visibility for the organization, mission, and programs. Event organizers, particularly corporate entities, get a strong brand lift from being associated with a good cause and broad exposure to an affluent demographic.

Nonprofits of all types and sizes can activate passionate supporters, corporate partners, volunteers, and others to hold a golf fundraiser that benefits them. Here’s how:

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1. Reach Out To Your Networks

Your best bet is to start with the lowest-hanging fruit—your organization’s past supporters and partners. If your organization has run golf tournaments before, consider creating a campaign to target folks who have played in and sponsored those events, whether it’s by email, a survey, a direct mail appeal, individual phone calls, or a combination of these (which will depend on your organization’s staff capacity). Social media is another great option to engage people simply by asking if they like to golf or like organizing events. You may want to include information in your annual giving appeals or even create a dedicated page on your organization’s website that outlines the process of holding a golf tournament on your behalf.

Do some pre-planning before you reach out so you have some pieces and resources already in place to provide to people who are interested. Beyond just making the process easy (see #2 below) you want to set these golf tournaments up for success, so make sure you’re prepared to be a partner in the process.

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Pro Tip:

GolfStatus’s online resource library is packed with guides, templates, checklists, and other free downloadables with information on how to plan a charity golf tournament. Share these with current and potential event organizers to help set them up for success.

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2. Make It Easy

Even when someone is dedicated to your organization or cause, putting on a golf tournament is no small task. Having tools in place to streamline and simplify the process for organizers means they’re more likely to move forward and keep these events running—and raising money for your cause—year after year.

Golf tournament software can automate time-consuming administrative tasks so organizers can focus on the fun parts of the golf tournament, with built-in fundraising features to help them raise more money for your cause. You might also consider putting together a media kit with logos, messaging, and brand standards to provide to tournament organizers to help your brand stay consistent. When it’s easy, it’s more fun, more rewarding, and more likely that they’ll keep the effort going.

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PRO
TIP:

Pro Tip: Say thank you, whenever and wherever you can, to these third party organizers. Public shoutouts are great—on social media, in newsletters or blogs, on your organization’s website, etc.—but a personal touch will go a long way in expressing your gratitude. Send a handwritten note and follow it up with a phone call.

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3. Use a Common Technology Platform

There are a ton of options out there to manage fundraising events, but these don’t help organizers manage the unique components of a golf tournament. Employing technology that’s specifically built for golf tournament fundraisers is a huge part of #2 above. Any golf tournament software platform should offer an attractive event website with built-in online registration (which saves a ton of time and duplicative labor), plus easy access for multiple members of your team to work together and keep all your event information organized and accessible in one place. A dedicated landing page listing all events that benefit your organizations is a great way to easily promote events to your networks. A platform designed just for golf means you can quickly make hole assignments and pairings and auto generate scorecards, cart signs, and alpha lists—all without having to work across multiple spreadsheets or tools.

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PRO
TIP:

Pro Tip: Standardizing the tech across all your third party events means your donor data will be uniformly collected (see #4 below) and reported. This data should be added to your CRM for additional donor stewardship, using source codes, tags or other batch notations to track who participated in these golf events and how.

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With GolfStatus’s golf event management and fundraising platform, every golf event benefiting your organization is listed on a dedicated landing page.

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4. Capture & Manage Data

Donor data is invaluable, particularly when it comes to golf events planned by someone outside your organization. You can’t use the information you don’t have! Seamlessly collecting and managing this information is crucial to understanding who is supporting your organization through golf—planning, playing in, donating to, and sponsoring these tournaments. Having this information in aggregate lets you see the entire picture, across each and every event held to benefit your organization, and make data-driven fundraising decisions. Golf event management technology makes this process super simple and efficient.

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PRO
TIP:

Pro Tip: Your event management platform should be intuitive enough to collect this vital information without frustrating or overwhelming registrants (which may make them abandon their cart instead of completing their registration) and include robust reporting capabilities to get the data you need.

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No Cost Technology Built Just for Golf

GolfStatus is the industry leader in technology for golf fundraisers and charity golf tournaments. The user-friendly software makes it easy to onboard third party events, manage donor data, and provide resources to event organizers. Plus, through the Golf for Good program, 501(c) organizations and those holding events that benefit them are eligible for no-cost access to the platform. Ready to get started? Click the button below or email [email protected].

In his first six weeks on the job as Director of Development at Brazos Christian School (BCS) in Bryan, Texas, Clay Jackson settled into a new job, battled COVID-19, was appointed varsity golf coach, and even welcomed a new baby to his family. He also planned and executed a lucrative golf fundraiser from start to finish—for the first time.

Though it’s not ideal to plan a golf tournament in a matter of weeks, with the help of GolfStatus’s golf event management platform, the event went off without a hitch and raised over $47,000 for the school’s Thomas Scott Moore Memorial Scholarship Fund.

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DOLLARS RAISED

$47,000

SPONSORS

25

FIELD SIZE

17 TEAMS

TECH SPONSORSHIP SELLING PRICE

$7,500

Organization Snapshot

BCS is a non-denominational school that serves roughly 450 students in preschool through 12th grade. Since 1981, BCS has provided families with the same academics, activities, and opportunities as public school, but with a Christian focus. 

The longstanding annual golf tournament had traditionally been held in the fall over its 17 year tenure, but after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, it was moved to February. The event raises money specifically for the Thomas Scott Moore Memorial Scholarship Fund, which honors a 4th grade student who tragically passed away in 2010 and provides financial assistance to families to attend BCS. The fund has grown from $50,000 to an endowment of $1.2 million, thanks to the proceeds of the golf tournament. “We really want folks to understand that the tournament is raising money for a great cause,” says Clay.

The Challenge

When Clay started on at BCS in January, he found a long list of things undone for the golf fundraiser. First and foremost, he locked in the date with the Traditions Club at Texas A&M. Once the date was finalized, Clay turned his attention to promoting the tournament. He knew he needed a place to send folks to register and pay online. “Our school didn’t have any means of online payment processing,” Clay says. The tournament had previously relied on paper mailers and registration forms, but with the tournament just weeks away, there simply wouldn’t be enough time to go this route.

The Solution

Clay first started exploring generic event management platforms, not thinking that a solution existed specifically for golf tournaments. He stumbled onto Nonprofit Tech for Good’s website and came across a guest post by GolfStatus. “I thought, here’s everything I need to make this golf tournament happen!” Clay says. What’s more, because BCS is a nonprofit, the tournament qualified for GolfStatus’s Golf for Good program, which gave Clay access to the entire golf event management and fundraising platform at no cost.

Clay reached out to GolfStatus and in less than 48 hours had an attractive, fully-functioning, live event website ready to accept registrations and sell sponsorships. The GolfStatus team worked closely with Clay to walk him through the software and make sure he was comfortable navigating the software’s back end. “GolfStatus literally took ¾ of what I was worried about off my plate and made it work,” Clay says.

An attractive event website with online registration saved Clay a ton of time and made it easy to promote the event to golfers and sponsors.

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“GolfStatus literally took ¾ of what I was worried about off my plate and made it work.”

— Clay Jackson, Director of Development at Brazos Christian School

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The Results

Event Website & Online Registration

The online platform saved time and money almost immediately. Historically, the school spent around $1000 to print and mail flyers and registration forms (and as a result, was forced to track down payments and send receipts weeks or even months after the tournament). Clay simply included a QR code with a link to the event website on flyers that were sent home in students’ backpacks and a direct link in emails, social media, and on the school’s website where people could purchase team and sponsorship packages instantly. “It’s so much easier to send folks to a website!” Clay says. 

When golfers and sponsors registered through the website, their information automatically populated the software’s back end, where Clay could see who had registered, which sponsorships had been sold, and the sponsor logos uploaded. “Online registration was awesome—it was exactly what I was looking for and more,” Clay says.

Sponsorship Success

The additional digital exposure provided through the GolfStatus platform—on the event website and the mobile app—allowed Clay to raise the price of hole sponsorships from $200 to $400. Hole sponsorships sold out, leading to an extra $3,600 raised without any additional costs to the school. What’s more, the presenting sponsorship (which included GolfStatus’s exclusive technology sponsorship plus additional recognition) sold for $7,500. The tournament also added a hole-in-one contest with a $10,000 cash prize and sold a sponsorship for $3,000.

Live Scoring

Clay and his wife welcomed a new baby the day before the golf tournament. He had wisely connected a co-worker with the GolfStatus team the week before, who walked her through starting the tournament and the basics of the software so everything would run smoothly. The tournament utilized live scoring for the event—golfers entered their scores via the free GolfStatus mobile app, which synced to live leaderboards so Clay (and others) could follow along with the round’s progress and even solicit additional donations. “It was a great way for me to follow along, and let staff on site know when they should prep for the awards ceremony,” Clay says. He heard from golfers who loved being able to track other teams on the live leaderboards and trash talk across the golf course.

Teams submitted scores on the GolfStatus mobile app, which automatically synced to live leaderboards where golfers and spectators could follow along.

Responsive Support

GolfStatus’s responsive, in-house customer success team was there every step of the way, answering questions from golfers trying to register and addressing any issues. A snafu with the golf course’s updated course layout meant a last minute panic on incorrect scorecards. “I reached out via the support chat during the Super Bowl!” Clay laughs, and says that by halftime, everything was fixed and new scorecards ready to go. “I was blown away by the customer success team and their amazing response time,” he says.

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“I don’t know how I could have successfully pulled off this event at the level we did without using GolfStatus.”

— Clay Jackson, Director of Development at Brazos Christian School

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“I don’t know how I could have successfully pulled off this event at the level we did without using GolfStatus,” Clay says. “The short turnaround meant there wasn’t enough time to do it the way that it had always been done. GolfStatus made my life a million times easier.”

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Planning a Golf Fundraiser?

Leverage GolfStatus’s robust event management platform built just for golf, with built-in fundraising tools to help you raise more money for your organization or cause. Qualifying 501(c) organizations and those holding events that benefit one can get access to GolfStatus’s golf tournament management software at no cost, including a free event website, online registration, 24/7 support, and features to handle all the golf logistics that save you a ton of time. Click the link below to get qualified or email [email protected].

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

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

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1. A User-Friendly Platform is a Must.

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

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2. Sell a Leaderboard Sponsorship.

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

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

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

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

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

5. Share the Tournament’s Final Results.

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

6. Employ Golf-Specific Event Management Tech

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

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Get Started—No Cost, No Risk

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

Originally published June 2020

LINCOLN, Neb., April 9, 2022 /Nonprofit Tech for Good/ --

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 are 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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Second-to-None Support & Resources

Chris and Brian 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.”

Golf for Good

Through GolfStatus and the Golf for Good initiative, qualifying 501(c) organizations and those holding events that raise money for one can get access to GolfStatus’s full-featured golf event management and fundraising platform at no cost. Get started at golfstatus.com/demo or email [email protected].

Source: Nonprofit Tech for Good