FundRaiser Blog

The FundRaiser Software Blog is an excellent resource for nonprofit organizations looking to learn more about fundraising, donor management, membership management, and much more.

Organizing a charity golf tournament

Organizing a charity golf tournament

by Tom King

Far too often, if we'll be honest, the motivation for organizing a special event, like golf, is to avoid having to do basic fund-raising. We hate making the calls. We hate asking for money.  So, to avoid having to do things we don't like, we have a golf tournament because we do like that!

There are lots of reasons for doing a golf tournament. Some poor ones include:

  • An organizational budget crisis
  • Because you have always done one
  • Because a golf tournament will make your organization look classy
  • Someone else will do all the work for you (they promise)
  • The board wants to make money quickly
  • Everybody likes golf
  • You want to build you organization's reputation
  • To avoid basic fund-raising

There is only one reason to organize a golf tournament-- TO MAKE MONEY!!

That's it.

Even though the only reason to do a golf tournament is to make money, the event should not be an outgrowth of pressure from within the organization to make money.

Special events are at the bottom of the pyramid of giving. They should be low effort, for by and large they will yield only a small part of your annual budget. Unless you are a very small organization with a very big golf tournament, it doesn't make sense to put most of your development staff time into an event that doesn't make much money.

If you have to raise $120,000 a year and you make only $10,000 on your golf tournament, then you should figure on putting about 1/12th of your time into it. In other words, don't spend more than a month total on the tournament.

Golf tournaments are fun and flashy, but don't fall into the trap of spending more time on them than they are worth.

The best way is to CREATE A UNIQUE EVENT. If you can come up with an event that is exciting and provides something other golf tournaments cannot or do not offer, you stand a better chance of drawing a crowd. If you can make your tournament attractive to players, you'll have a good turnout. If you're just another tournament, you are not likely to draw more than a handful of friends and supporters.

Excerpted from FundClass Topic #25, March 2001, A Pleasant Walk Spoiled... The Charity Golf Tournament: A Survivor's Notebook.

If you'd like to learn about how FundRaiser can help you with your event management, including how to figure out ROI

Check out the excellent features in the Campaign Management Console of FundRaiser Professional

 

Schools improve donations by focusing on their mos...
Getting over the fear of asking for money

Related Posts

Wait a minute, while we are rendering the calendar
legacy giving FundRaiser Basic data analysis #GivingTuesday appeal letters texting donors animal rescue endowment campaign letter lapsed donor Personalizing donor attrition rate Snow Birds passwords publicity materials Thank You new donors Task List add ons phoning donors event management Facebook general disaster relief large donations Facebook campaign National Change of Address Codes salutation LYBUNTS understanding giving trends training tip donor relations donor source Crowdfunding Campaign donor loyalty tech tip user spotlights budget planning Volunteer module operating systems membersip benefits new nonprofit ticketsales change of address updating letter templates motivation new leadership board members New Year holiday backing up data spare fields holiday letters PayPal Network for Good gift entry gift acceptance policy tribute gifts flash sales auction spreadsheets mission driven accounting software donor attrition holiday giving grants upgrade annual maintenance plan donor recognition online donations correspondance in honor of donations giving history communications raffle small donations ticket sales donor prospects memorial giving foundations technical support Congratulations FundRaiser Hosted updates targeted mailings In-Kind gifts training corporate sponsors monthly giving banquet development director Resiliency social media premiums office pledges community supported gardens SYBUNTS membership programs password protection donation history prospects appeal welcome packet merge notes thank you letters Constant Contact entering auction gifts operational costs anonymous donors Tickles on site training donor contact information giving levels how to handle auction gifts upgrading donors donor targeting GivingTuesday repeat donors government grants building donor relationships direct mail charity golf tournaments Reminders gift notes field product news security tax summary letters online donations email personalizing letters arts data entry increasing giving amounts grassroots campaign volunteers features pictures transparency overview donor slip role of nonprofits ROI adding personal notes to letters motivation code moves management custom page volunteering Excel donor recurring gifts donor retention how-to videos follow up fundraising customer service planned giving case study donor engagement mode code relationship tracking major donors word processor FundRaiser Spark happiness community broadcasting support merge fields Reporting to IRS fundraising letters correspondence customer portal annual campaign solicitors Thanksgiving segmenting donors campaign NCOA processing capital campaign donor profile brick campaign nonprofit fundraising user interface Company culture major gift prospects GoFundMe project advanced tab importing csv donor preferences vacation donor advised funds community arts nonprofits announcements new features mailing Importing Data reports End of Year Letters campaign management the Ask Cloud Donor Portal donor retention rate alumni look and feel membership benefits data conversion new version Groupings Alternative Addresses

Connect With Us

  800-880-3454 ext 3
  Email Us
  Request More Information
  Monday-Friday
      8:30AM-5:30PM CST

Customer Portal Login Form

   

The customer portal is unavailable. If you need support please reach out to support@fundraisersoftware.com Thank you.

 

  User Name:
  Password:

If you are not sure about your Customer User Name, please call 800-543-4131 and we will be able to help you.

Or you have lost your password, Request Password