Benefit Tournaments & Fundraisers

[ryanwrightphoto]

I'm sure like many of you, junior golf and high school golf got me hooked and I was able to spend a lot my formative years on the golf course. I worked as a greenskeeper for 5 years during high school and college too.

My high school is small and the golf course I grew up playing is not in the best of shape, I live far away in Denver now but I was kicking around the idea of a benefit tournament for my high school golf team as well as the golf course. I'm not coming to you all to ask for money, certainly not.

Actually looking for advice, I've never put on a tournament before. I would like to do this, maybe in 2025, but obviously a lot of details need to be ironed out.

What do I need to know about putting on a benefit tournament / fundraiser?
I was thinking two day / two course tournament, scramble format. What recommendations on format do I need to know?

What reminded me about this was the superintendent of the course that I grew up at sent me a text last night inviting me to a fundraiser dinner next weekend. The golf course is trying to build a new clubhouse and raise money for the course in general. I've told a few people about what I was thinking about hadn't made any plans, so I think this opportunity aligns pretty well.

I turned 40 this year and I know that golf is bigger than my scores. I want to contribute to help others fall in love with the game I did so long ago. Would love to hear your ideas.

 

[JB]

It’s a nice thing to do.
Is it not possible to host the donation campaign at the course that it’s for?

 

[Stryker]

It usually takes a team of people to do even 1 charity match successfully. I have run the local association of realtors charity tournament a couple years ago for 3 straight years.

While I do like the idea of having the events at that course, there are multiple things to consider when choosing a location. It needs to be a course people like for starters. It needs to be a location people are willing to drive out to. That limited me because most realtors wanted to drink more then golf and didn’t want to drive far because they knew they were going to be drinking. The other side of picking the course is having a good partnership with whoever runs the events at the course. A good one knows how to make it flow well and works with you on selecting dates, setting up the course, and making other suggestions.

Getting sponsors is a huge deal when raising money. You will make more off sponsorship then you will off team entry fees if done correctly. I can charge a team $400 around here but that has to pay for the round of golf and typically a meal. You aren’t making much per golf team that way. But if you sell different levels of sponsorship you can do better.

We set up 3 levels. Bronze, silver, and platinum. Bronze was $500 and got a hole sponsorship and recognition for bronze level on a banner we had up. Silver was $750 and that got all bronze did plus half a team fee. Platinum got it all including a full team fee for $1000. Then you sell hole sponsorships at $100 per hole for just the hole sponsorship.

Day of your event, you sell cheat packages with a string, mulligan, and a throw, or whatever you want them to have. We only allowed 1 of each cheat per team member so scores are low but you can’t buy the win. We sold those at $20 a team. We also sold the ability to tee off from the ladies tees or around 200-250 out for ladies in the middle of the fairway on a par 5 for $10 per person that wanted a go at it. I have also seen people get a guy with an AR-15 modified to fire golf balls down range or a well know big hitter guy they pay to hit or launch balls for them.

There are lots of creative ways to make extra. All in all we used to pull down $15k or more at a tournament. We also did ball drops, 50/50 raffles, silent auctions on donated items, etc.

Hope that helps some. Happy to discuss more if you have any questions.

 

[mikewohlwend]

It usually takes a team of people to do even 1 charity match successfully. I have run the local association of realtors charity tournament a couple years ago for 3 straight years.

While I do like the idea of having the events at that course, there are multiple things to consider when choosing a location. It needs to be a course people like for starters. It needs to be a location people are willing to drive out to. That limited me because most realtors wanted to drink more then golf and didn’t want to drive far because they knew they were going to be drinking. The other side of picking the course is having a good partnership with whoever runs the events at the course. A good one knows how to make it flow well and works with you on selecting dates, setting up the course, and making other suggestions.

Getting sponsors is a huge deal when raising money. You will make more off sponsorship then you will off team entry fees if done correctly. I can charge a team $400 around here but that has to pay for the round of golf and typically a meal. You aren’t making much per golf team that way. But if you sell different levels of sponsorship you can do better.

We set up 3 levels. Bronze, silver, and platinum. Bronze was $500 and got a hole sponsorship and recognition for bronze level on a banner we had up. Silver was $750 and that got all bronze did plus half a team fee. Platinum got it all including a full team fee for $1000. Then you sell hole sponsorships at $100 per hole for just the hole sponsorship.

Day of your event, you sell cheat packages with a string, mulligan, and a throw, or whatever you want them to have. We only allowed 1 of each cheat per team member so scores are low but you can’t buy the win. We sold those at $20 a team. We also sold the ability to tee off from the ladies tees or around 200-250 out for ladies in the middle of the fairway on a par 5 for $10 per person that wanted a go at it. I have also seen people get a guy with an AR-15 modified to fire golf balls down range or a well know big hitter guy they pay to hit or launch balls for them.

There are lots of creative ways to make extra. All in all we used to pull down $15k or more at a tournament. We also did ball drops, 50/50 raffles, silent auctions on donated items, etc.

Hope that helps some. Happy to discuss more if you have any questions.

This covers most of what I was going to say.

Other things I’d add are:
If doing a cheat package, don’t have skins.
If doing a cheat package, don’t have proximities
Limit the payout or it will be the team with the sharpest pencil wins it. Or do a random draw and pick a team that wins the money.

 

[Alan4014]

Good info above.
Only thing I’d add is stick to a 1 day tournament.
And reinforce, sponsors are where you make your money.

 

[ryanwrightphoto]

It’s a nice thing to do.
Is it not possible to host the donation campaign at the course that it’s for?

It would be possible to do a donation campaign, no doubt.

The reason why I've been more focused on hosting a tourney is to get the golf team involved too.

 

[ryanwrightphoto]

Good info above.
Only thing I’d add is stick to a 1 day tournament.
And reinforce, sponsors are where you make your money.

Curious why you'd recommend sticking to a 1 day tournament?

 

[Stryker]

Curious why you'd recommend sticking to a 1 day tournament?

The cost is going to be significantly more for 2 day. That’s 2 rounds of golf instead of 1 and yes the courses are not going to let you use them for free when they could have paying customers there. It would also be a bigger headache to organize. If you want 2 days then do it early spring and late September. I always tried scheduling them 3-4 weeks minimum after greens were punched as well.

 

[mikewohlwend]

The cost is going to be significantly more for 2 day. That’s 2 rounds of golf instead of 1 and yes the courses are not going to let you use them for free when they could have paying customers there. It would also be a bigger headache to organize. If you want 2 days then do it early spring and late September. I always tried scheduling them 3-4 weeks minimum after greens were punched as well.

If it's not a super popular course and you can get enough people to have a morning and afternoon tee time or a 2 day outing, then I would think they'd be all for it. It's guaranteed people playing and not hoping to fill the tee sheet.

 

[Raiderboost]

Curious why you'd recommend sticking to a 1 day tournament?

As previously mentioned, a lot of the money raised is through sponsorships from local businesses. Many of the can probably swing for some of their guys to play 1 day but probably not 2 days. Some of these people are not huge golfers either and just like to get out for the occasional charity scramble but may not want to commit to two days of it.

Some other things I've seen to raise money are 50/50 raffles, bet on a par 3 to get in a circle, and a potato gun launcher to launch balls on a par 5. For the raffle you sell tickets for a certain amount and however much is raised the winner gets half and the rest goes to the donation. I've seen some people just go ahead and donate their half as well. On the Par 3 deal I've seen it a couple different ways. You can have one circle at say 20 ft and if you are inside it you win and outside you lose. I've also seen where they may have it at 10-15 ft to win, another circle at maybe 20-25 ft to push, and outside of that you lose. Most I've seen have a max of $100.

 

[Stryker]

If it's not a super popular course and you can get enough people to have a morning and afternoon tee time or a 2 day outing, then I would think they'd be all for it. It's guaranteed people playing and not hoping to fill the tee sheet.

They still have to charge you there to make money. They’re not gonna let you use everything for free. So if you’re planning on say $100 a person or 400 per team but it’s costing you $60-$80 you’re not making any money.

 

[russtopher]

My wife and I run a scholarship scramble fundraiser every year for our town's music association, lots of great advice in here already.

We hold our event at a higher end course right in town to attract golfers who might not normally play there, we've been lucky enough to have 18-25 teams every year save for this one, which brings me to something I wanted to highlight - PROMOTION PROMOTION PROMOTION. You can have great pricing, lots of contests, added things like raffles & 50/50, but if word doesn't get out, you can't get much done.

Make sure you have a team of people who can help you get word out via things like Facebook, email lists, posted flyers around town, etc. Start planning a few months before you think you need to start planning.

Work with a company to offer Hole In One prizes, we work with one where it's roughly $2/golfer to offer trips on every par 3 hole on the course. You can spend more to offer prizes like new clubs, cars, etc. It cuts a bit into the proceeds but lets you get a lot more attention.

Happy to answer any questions you might have!!

 

[Stryker]

A good point I thought of too is I would suggest getting a group of like minded people and make it annual. If the event goes well it will grow until you have to turn people away and you can make a long term impact.

You can probably also obtain the help of the high school golf team to do things like set up and registration. Keep them involved as well.

 

[Raiderboost]

My wife and I run a scholarship scramble fundraiser every year for our town's music association, lots of great advice in here already.

We hold our event at a higher end course right in town to attract golfers who might not normally play there, we've been lucky enough to have 18-25 teams every year save for this one, which brings me to something I wanted to highlight - PROMOTION PROMOTION PROMOTION. You can have great pricing, lots of contests, added things like raffles & 50/50, but if word doesn't get out, you can't get much done.

Make sure you have a team of people who can help you get word out via things like Facebook, email lists, posted flyers around town, etc. Start planning a few months before you think you need to start planning.

Work with a company to offer Hole In One prizes, we work with one where it's roughly $2/golfer to offer trips on every par 3 hole on the course. You can spend more to offer prizes like new clubs, cars, etc. It cuts a bit into the proceeds but lets you get a lot more attention.

Happy to answer any questions you might have!!

When I helped organize one we gave a sponsorship and team to one of the local Auto Dealers and they provided the Hole-in-one package with a vehicle for one hole and trips/bags/clubs for the other holes. We also got lucky and the Sign Company provided the signs and banners for a sponsorship and team.

 

[cmon man]

Much wider audience if you have a 1 day tourney. Two days is a much bigger commitment for sponsors and players. Draw on officials from the school to help organize, raise funds, and help run the show. Involved parents can be a great resource in many aspects.

 

[ryanwrightphoto]

My wife and I run a scholarship scramble fundraiser every year for our town's music association, lots of great advice in here already.

We hold our event at a higher end course right in town to attract golfers who might not normally play there, we've been lucky enough to have 18-25 teams every year save for this one, which brings me to something I wanted to highlight - PROMOTION PROMOTION PROMOTION. You can have great pricing, lots of contests, added things like raffles & 50/50, but if word doesn't get out, you can't get much done.

Make sure you have a team of people who can help you get word out via things like Facebook, email lists, posted flyers around town, etc. Start planning a few months before you think you need to start planning.

Work with a company to offer Hole In One prizes, we work with one where it's roughly $2/golfer to offer trips on every par 3 hole on the course. You can spend more to offer prizes like new clubs, cars, etc. It cuts a bit into the proceeds but lets you get a lot more attention.

Happy to answer any questions you might have!!

Thank you, this is a trove of great information. I'm sure I'm going to have lots of questions, so I'll probably be reaching out.

If it's a one day tourney, I'm looking at having it at a higher-end semi-private course where the former head pro is a good friend of mine. Thanks for all of the information!

 

[ryanwrightphoto]

A good point I thought of too is I would suggest getting a group of like minded people and make it annual. If the event goes well it will grow until you have to turn people away and you can make a long term impact.

You can probably also obtain the help of the high school golf team to do things like set up and registration. Keep them involved as well.

This is exactly what I would like to do, make it an annual thing. A dream of mine would be to have a series of tourneys and be able to benefit multiple high school programs.

 

[Stryker]

Thank you, this is a trove of great information. I'm sure I'm going to have lots of questions, so I'll probably be reaching out.

If it's a one day tourney, I'm looking at having it at a higher-end semi-private course where the former head pro is a good friend of mine. Thanks for all of the information!

From my experience, a good course will get better turnout. Especially one that many people don’t have the opportunity to play regularly because of being semi private.

 

[mikewohlwend]

From my experience, a good course will get better turnout. Especially one that many people don’t have the opportunity to play regularly because of being semi private.

Totally agree with this. Even if the price is higher, if it's a better course or Country Club that makes it worth it.

I have a buddy holding a benefit for his dad here in a few weeks. It's at our local course that charges around $40 for weekend rates. He is charging $85 a person because it comes with a steak dinner. I think he's getting over charged but claims people will play because of the steak.

 

[russtopher]

Thank you, this is a trove of great information. I'm sure I'm going to have lots of questions, so I'll probably be reaching out.

If it's a one day tourney, I'm looking at having it at a higher-end semi-private course where the former head pro is a good friend of mine. Thanks for all of the information!

If there's anything I've learned over the past 5 years of running the event, it's this:

Drunk golfers love to spend money on raffle tickets.

Make sure you have a raffle set up during the dinner portion (if you're having that after golf) as we make an absolute killing during that. We get local businesses and crafters to donate something, we make a small sign with their logo at each item to thank them, and we get more tickets than you'd think, even on the less-than-stellar items.

 

[BigMac]

Curious why you'd recommend sticking to a 1 day tournament?

Charity/benefit tournaments are usually 5-6 hour rounds. A two day tournament is a big time commitment for a lot of people, it's going to basically take up the entirety of those two days for them once you factor in arriving early for check-in/warmup, the meal/cocktails and raffle drawings afterward, etc. If it's a weekday tournament, people would have to arrange to take two days off work for it; if it's a weekend tournament, it's going to take up their entire weekend and you'll probably have a substantial number of golfers who would get some static on the home front for being gone the whole weekend.

Courses also might not be as crazy about it because it excludes all other golfers from the course for two whole days - if it's a private or semi-private club, there are probably going to be a lot of members getting bent out of shape about that unless the entire club is all-in on the tournament. And unless the tournament is completely sold out, the course could potentially be losing revenue on the lost tee times.

I've played in a lot of charity tournaments and they've all been one day gigs. I'd think it would be a lot harder to sell out a two day tournament because of the increased costs to the golfers and the increased time commitment.

 

[Alan4014]

Curious why you'd recommend sticking to a 1 day tournament?

Many answers already, but costs 1, easier to organize and I think a lot of the golfers who would participate are not hardcore golfers. One and done is all most got in them.
I ran our local rotary club tournament for years. In our case the golf was just an excuse to get sponsorship money. Some years the golf barely made money after paying the course, lunch and prizes. Most sponsors were local businesses who were more interested in supporting our cause than the golf.
Given it’s for the golf team, I’d reach out to as many former players you can for both teams and sponsors. I could see each graduating year having/putting together a team. All of them work somewhere, so any self employed former players are great sponsorship prospects. Bigger companies are usually harder to get sponsorship money from, but if you have an in, they can be larger donors.

 

[ryanwrightphoto]

Many answers already, but costs 1, easier to organize and I think a lot of the golfers who would participate are not hardcore golfers. One and done is all most got in them.
I ran our local rotary club tournament for years. In our case the golf was just an excuse to get sponsorship money. Some years the golf barely made money after paying the course, lunch and prizes. Most sponsors were local businesses who were more interested in supporting our cause than the golf.
Given it’s for the golf team, I’d reach out to as many former players you can for both teams and sponsors. I could see each graduating year having/putting together a team. All of them work somewhere, so any self employed former players are great sponsorship prospects. Bigger companies are usually harder to get sponsorship money from, but if you have an in, they can be larger donors.

That's a great idea, I hadn't thought about reaching out to former players.

I have a few friends who are fairly well connected in the golf industry who used to be players at my high school. Great ideas, thank you!

 

[Slowmo]

I’m playing in a charity scramble on Monday that I’ve played every year for 20 years now. They have 34-36 teams every year. It’s 135$ and includes golf and lunch (and they usually have Chic fill a donate breakfast biscuits). They usually have 5+ hole sponsers on each hole and they usually have a good 30 raffle prizes ranging from a dozen top flite balls to a top of the line current driver. They sell the raffle tickets 3 for 10$ and people buy TONS of tickets.