Quick tips and advice on how to put together a golf tournament for a good cause. If done right, these events can raise a lot of money, but you need to plan ahead.
Need help planning a golf tournament for a good cause? There are many things to think about, but I'll just talk about the four most important ones here. Your charity golf event will be a success if you get as many people as possible to play, get bigger donations, get prizes donated by businesses, and follow some planning tips.
Players Showed Up
Your success will depend on how many people sign up for your golf event and how hard you make your players try to find sponsors for their rounds.
To get the most people to your event, you need to tell a lot of people about it. That means sending out a lot of press releases, getting local newspapers and TV stations to write about it, and putting ads in the sports section of the local paper.
PR Web is the best way to get your press releases out there. Choose a spokesperson who will handle all contacts with the media and follow-up. Read my article on getting the word out about a fundraiser for more ideas.
Gives to charity
The important thing is for each player to get a certain number of pledges. I think that each player should pledge at least $100. I have also played in tournaments where each player had to pay $250.
Of course, you want to get people to raise as much money as they can. Some groups give rewards to the people who get the most pledges. Others try to get companies to sponsor the players on that team.
Get advice from experienced golfers and golf pros in your area about how to get people to pledge money for your charity golf event.
Top Golfer Prizes
In general, you'll get more golfers if you have great prizes for longest drive, closest to the hole, hole in one, lowest team score, lowest actual score, and best adjusted score (handicap).
You ask local businesses to pay for the prizes. For things like the hole-in-one contest, work with a prize company that deals with insurance. So, you can give away a bigger prize for much less money.
Your small group could easily raise $10,000 or more if you can get 100 golfers (25 foursomes). Some charity golf tournaments have as many as 500 golfers competing for big prizes. This will bring in even more money.
Think ahead.
Bigger donations, more golfers, corporate sponsorships, and a lot of publicity will do wonders for your charity golf tournament's bottom line. With the right mix of these things and some planning ahead, you can definitely raise $75,000 or more for a good cause.
Contact local courses to find out about group rates. Make sure to mention that you are planning a charity event and ask for discounts on cart and greens fees. Once you've decided where you want to play, book the date and tee times far in advance.
Last Tips for Charity Golf Event
Plan ahead to make sure that your charity golf event goes as well as possible. For the best results, choose a weekday when it will be easier to book courses and large blocks of tee times. Most of the time, you'll get the best deal if you go to the course and talk to the pro or pro shop manager.
Another good idea is to get corporate sponsors. Get some famous people to play golf with high-level business people, and you can easily raise $100,000 to $150,000. It's not easy to get famous people to give their time, but it's well worth the effort.
If this is your first golf tournament, listen to what other golfers have to say. Think about hiring a consultant who specialises in putting together charity golf tournaments. They work for a share of the money made, but because of their experience and connections with sponsors, you usually raise more money with their help.
