Planning a Fundraising Charity Golf Tournament. What Not To Do

Planning your Tournament is Easy When You Know How

Background for this Blog:

From 1993 until 2007 I was the golf tournament director at Braemar Country Club in the city of Tarzana, in the Los Angeles area. During those years our tournament team help hundreds of charities in the planning to raise millions of dollars when they held “One Day Charity Fundraising Golf Tournaments”. One tournament was so large both of our two 18 hole courses had to be used. The player count was an impressive 386.

Realizing there was no book on the market

To help guide nonprofit organizations in the planning of a fundraiser golf tournament, I decided to share everything I’d learned over the years. In 2012 my book “Golf Tournaments 101” was published with the sub title “The Guide Book for Charity Fundraiser and Corporate Golf Outings”. In 2018 a Second Edition became available from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon Europe and Amazon Australia.

Its nineteen chapters cover all aspects of planning a successful one day fundraiser tournament. 

Because all the fundraising blogs

I’ve written to date focus on what to do, a friend commented that because I must have seen many mistakes made and opportunities missed, I should write about those. When thinking about it I realized that there are three different areas covering the subject:

• Charities new to running fundraising through golf making rookie mistakes
• Lost opportunities to bring in more dollars
• Cutting back on activities in the effort to reduce tournament costs

Every one of the mistakes

And lost opportunities to raise more fundraising dollars could easily be avoided if the charities “tournament coordination” had read my book, used the guidelines and suggestions and taken advantage of the over thirty-five downloadable Excel and Word files.

ROOKIE MISTAKES

• Negotiating with the Host-Club for an overall tournament cost and not a “Per Player Fee”
• Not having the “Player Entry Fee” set at the right price
• Missing all the ways sponsorships can dramatically increase fundraising dollars
• Not providing the Club’s tournament staff an acceptable list containing all the player names
• Tournament morning: Not having registration tables and player check-in sheets ready before the player/guests arrive
• Not having someone to welcome the players as they arrive
• Having volunteers who don’t know what to do. Always assign volunteer tasks
• Having too many volunteers
• No player bag-tags showing the player’s name, team number and starting hole
• Not considering an on-course barbeque viable
• Not providing enough on-course beverages
• If there are celebrities in the tournament, what to look out for and consider

LOST OPPORTUNITIES

• The Big One: Not having multiple sponsorships. So many costs and improvements to the players’ tournament experience can be covered by sponsorships
• During player registration time, not having at least one volunteer mingling with the players selling raffle tickets
• Not offering the discounted “Buy-In-To-Win” on-course competitions package
• During registration time, not running a “Pay to Play Putting Competition”
• Not holding an after golf “Silent Auction”, “Live Auction” or both
• Not having a sponsored automobile as a “Hole-in-One” prize

 THE EFFORT TO REDUCE TOURNAMENT COSTS

• No coffee and food for players as they arrive. That equals “Grumpy Golfers”
• No “Golfer Goodie Bags” for every player. They really enjoy those
• Not having enough on-course competitions. Competitions adds to fun out on the course
• Limiting the number of tournament prizes and trophies
• Not having an “After Golf Awards Dinner”

 The above are by no means complete lists of all the mistakes, missed opportunities and pit-falls that can occur but you get the picture. Use “Golf Tournaments 101 Second Edition” as your guide book and the journey to a smoother and more profitable fundraising day.

 In Conclusion;

The Tip of the Iceberg

If you’ve read any of my many blogs on planning and running a one day charity fundraising golf tournament, then look at them as being just the tip of the iceberg.

Golf Tournaments 101 Second Edition is full of much more detailed information, guidelines and tips. Much more than blogs alone can cover. It’s unique in that there’s not another guide and planning book on the market containing as much information to assist charities and nonprofits raise money through golf.

Downloadable Tools

Through the book’s website https://charitygolf101.com the second edition makes available over 35 downloadable tools. These Excel and Word files are set up to assist in pre-tournament planning along with a tournament day timeline. Some files are ready to go; others can be modified to suit your own requirements.

Wishing you every success with your fundraiser tournament.

Mel Lewis