Fore!mula For Success - Hosting Charity Events - April 2009
While the economic downturn is certainly affecting everyone's bottom line, this is especially true for charitable organizations. National organizations and local community services alike are struggling to maintain service levels as their survival remains largely dependent on the generosity of others. The opportunity for golf courses to partner with charitable organizations is more important than ever and is a great way to generate goodwill within the community while developing rewarding partnerships with worthwhile charities.
For many charity organizations, fundraisers - and golf outings in particular - are an important revenue source, offering donors a day of fun and relaxation while supporting an important and valuable cause. Fore! Reservations Users have successfully executed charity golf events that support aid worthy causes, while in many cases, also generating revenue that enhances their own bottom line.
For Jeff Hoag, Co-owner and General Manager of Scott Lake Country Club in Comstock Park, MI - a 27-hole, public golf course serving the Grand Rapids/Western Michigan area - what started as an annual memorial tournament honoring the life of a former employee who died 23 years ago from Cancer, has blossomed into a five-event, Women's Charity Challenge benefiting four different local or regional charitable causes.
"We determined the area is underserved when it comes to competitive women's events, so we decided to focus more on women's golf events," Jeff says. "We added $5 to the entry fee to put into a challenge pool, and if registrations reach 400 participants, Scott Lake Country Club matches the $2,000 in the pool." At the conclusion of the first ever event series last summer, the full $4,000 amount was donated to four chosen charities.
"Our goals are now and always to play golf, have fun and raise money for charities," Jeff says. "The arrangement creates a relationship where there is ownership in the event." Jeff uses Fore! Reservations to search for and generate a list of registered female golfers, including high potential customers who receive a special personal letter inviting them to participate in the Women's Charity Challenge and to bring three friends, as well as to identify low potential customers who receive a postcard inviting them to participate.
This year, Scott Lake will host six Women's Charity Challenge events, and anticipates doubling participation resulting in increased donations to the charity recipients. Scott Lake also serves as the official home for six to eight other charity events each summer.
Since 2007, Hawk's View Golf Club, a 36-hole public golf course located in Lake Geneva, WI, and Chuck Dammeir, the Director of Golf for the club, have helped plan and host the annual Reggie White Celebrity Golf Tournament, named for the former Hall of Fame Green Bay Packer Reggie White, who died unexpectedly from sleep apnea. This highly successful outing sells out quickly and raises between $50,000-60,000 to benefit the Reggie White Sleep Disorders Foundation.
"We hold about 20 different charity events each year, and in addition to providing important links on their web site, part of our service is to offer creative suggestions for raising funds like ‘No Hassle Raffle' events and Chopper Drops," Chuck says. "By helping event organizers create a memorable and unique event we make it easy for them to return each year. The Fore! Reservations system helps us take an eclectic group of people and attract them to our facility over others."
Heron Ridge Golf Club in Virginia Beach, VA, generates a tremendous amount of goodwill in the community each year by planning and hosting a winter blood drive. The 2009 blood drive generated 50 pints of blood - which according to www.bloodcenters.org can save up to 150 lives. Head PGA Professional Glen Pierce employs e-mail marketing strategies to attract interest and offers a free round of golf to anyone who donates a pint of blood.
"This year's blood drive was a great success. It's a wonderful feeling to give back to our community," Glen says. "We use Fore! Reservations to promote the event by sending e-mail blasts to our customer database. Though I keep our databases separate and do not solicit our database for charity events, I do post it on our web site which is also helpful."
Olde Homestead Golf Club in New Tripoli, PA created and offers event organizers their own exclusive "Guide to Planning and Executing a Successful Golf Tournament Fundraiser." The guide provides step-by-step assistance including a time line, meeting agendas, an outline of duties and responsibilities for committee members, sample sponsorship levels, and templates for a sponsorship request letter, tournament brochure and press release.
"One thing we've learned is that it is easier to recruit for fundraisers than it is for tournaments," Justin Smith, General Manager of Olde Homestead Golf Club says. "We make sure the organization makes money and the tournament runs well, and we give them tools to be successful."
Justin and his staff assist organizations by providing fundraising guides, creating custom web sites for the tournaments offering online registration, sponsorship opportunities, videos and central marketing pieces. They also generate automated e-mail reminders and surveys for the participants in the event and all the information is sent directly to the event organizers or tournament committee. "Organizations have a 10-15 percent higher participation rate if they have online registration," Justin adds.
According to Justin, Olde Homestead - which hosts some 30 charity events each year - doesn't compete on price, but focuses on offering value to customers. In addition, he has initiated a new fundraising program offering organizations additional ways to raise funds for their causes. With this new fundraising program, Olde Homestead offers organizations the opportunity to sell passes to the general public for the club's practice facility, par-3 course and 18-hole course. Olde Homestead in turns provides 15-25 percent of the sales back to the organization - the more passes sold, the higher the return.
"It's a fast, simple and reliable way for an organization to raise funds," Justin says. "And if we help them raise money, they will come back to us next time."
Upcoming issues of Fore!mula for Success will feature courses that have had success with the software's Point of Sale System. If the Back Office and Accounting features or the new Bar and Grill functionality have helped your operation, we'd love to hear about your successes. Call us at 630-789-9705 or contact us via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will include your story in a future issue of Fore!mula for Success.
