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Publicity and getting the word out are essential to a charity golf tournament's success. The committee's Rolodex is important, but so are your friends and spouses. How about asking them to tap their database to acquire donations and attract more golfers to the event? Here are some of the things I remind tournament committees to do each year: TEE GIFTS People are spending up to five times the amount it would normally cost to play the course, so honor that commitment and be generous with your gifts. A rule of thumb is to give golfers something worth 10 percent to 20 percent of the entry fee. If you charge $200 to play, spend $20 to $40 on your golfers. If a sponsor donates a gift - such as a $7 sleeve of golf balls for every golfer - deduct that $7 from what you would have spent. Give golfers and sponsors a creative gift that will remind of them of the good time they had at your event. Stay away from golf hats, shirts and towels. Most golfers have enough of those. VALUE YOUR SPONSORSHIPS You're likely to be asking for a lot of money, so be sure there is real and perceived value for the person or company putting up the cash. Contact a local professional golf tournament managing organization, such as the L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce for the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Ask them to send you sponsorship information to see what's offered. Learn from what they do. One small charity tournament I was involved with wanted to have their event seem big, so they copied an idea from the big boys. Their title sponsorship package - besides signage and playing spots, etc. - offered a hospitality tent at the turn. This particular sponsor saw this gesture as something that could be beneficial to his company. The sales and operation staffs were asked to invite non-golfing clients and vendors to the tournament for a buffet lunch and some afternoon sun. It worked well for this company because the tent was busy all day. The $800 tent rental delivered a $15,000 sponsor. Not bad. LOGISTICS AND VOLUNTEERS Don't leave these crucial details to chance. How your tournament operates is a key determining factor for golfers thinking about returning to your event.Think about how a business looks at its outside events. Companies earmark jobs to people with strengths in those areas when assigning team leaders and people who may be good at details under pressure. Do the same for the people who will work with you on tournament day. There's no way around it. The volunteers or office staff will be your organization's goodwill ambassadors. Give them a sense of "team" and put everybody in some sort of uniform. It can be as simple as T-shirts, golf shirts or matching hats. Determine the roles that need to be filled on tournament day - from registration and banquet cashier to hole-in-one witnesses and people in carts passing out refreshments. Most importantly, spend the time to define the roles and train your volunteers before tournament day. These tournaments are about raising money for charity. So raise the level of attention your guests get and have your event run like clockwork. The long-term benefits will pay off for years to come. Eric Tracy is a professional tournament consultant. You can reach him at eric@themulliganman.com. |
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