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Ron Strand

As with any special event, there is a long list of details anyone managing a golf tournament must compile and review. Based on my experience, here are the top five things golf tournament organizers should pay attention to:

1. Walk The Course

If possible, play the course, but not only play it, walk through what will happen from the time the players drive into the parking lot. There should be signs telling them where to register, directions to practice greens and driving range, gifts at time of registration, explanation of rules, and time they must be in their carts, ready to find the first hole. Once on the course, identify which holes are natural bottlenecks. These are the holes that will make the best locations for contests and booths. Make sure you note any local rules or grounds under repair.

2. Get a Drink in the Players Hands

When golf is over, make sure that you have the facilities to get a drink in the player’s hands as soon as possible. This is just common courtesy but also will keep player’s occupied until the lunch or dinner and presentation’s start.

3. Shadow Celebrities and Dignitaries

If you have celebrities or other dignitaries playing in your tournament, assign a volunteer or staff person to shadow them right from the time they arrive or even earlier if you are responsible for their pick-up from the airport. Shadowing means ensuring that they know where to go when they arrive, what their role is and having someone at their disposal to get things for them or expedite their movements. These are busy people who are not used to figuring things out for themselves.

4. Keep Presentations to a Minimum

The winners will want their moment of glory and sponsors should be thanked, but otherwise, respect player’s time and keep the program to a minimum. If it is a charity tournament, have some information at the tables or at a display. Keep the pitch for the cause out of the program, other than a thank-you to the participants.

5. Don’t Nickel and Dime Them to Death

If your tournament is a fundraiser, charge a reasonable price for entry and don’t expect participants to come up with five or ten dollars for draws and contests every time they turn around. Include as much as possible in the entry fee, making golfers feel like they got a good deal in addition to supporting a good cause. Of course, you will try to get sponsors to pay for as much as possible.

There are numerous other things that will fall into place if you manage the big things and pay attention to the details. Hopefully, these tips help make your golf tournament a great success.

Ron Strand

Golf tournaments have become a very popular way for charity to raise money. Probably the number one reason why most companies support a tournament is an affinity for the cause. But in addition to supporting a worthy cause, golf tournament sponsorship represents an opportunity for effective advertising. This article contains some anecdotal evidence to support this theory.

At a golf tournament a while ago, I happened to be on the same foursome and share a cart with one of that tournament’s major sponsors. This fellow was a marketing manager for a car dealership. His rather enviable job description included playing in tournaments that the company sponsored, which through the summer months amounted to about two or three a week. Of course, he had some other responsibilities like making sure the cars from the dealership were displayed properly and the gift bags his company sponsored got to every golfer. So it was a long day for him, showing up well before the tournament started and leaving long after the last after dinner speech was made. But even so, he still got to golf as major part of his job. He had a hard time garnering any sympathy from our group.

As we talked throughout the day, I learned that his job of playing golf had not come about by accident. A few years earlier, he had done some extensive research and analysis of the company’s advertising budgets, their media exposure and the cost effectiveness of the various types of promotion they were undertaking at the time. This analysis resulted in the very conscious and deliberate decision to drop their media advertising and focus their budget on event sponsorship.

In other words, they found that the caps and shirts they gave away at each golf tournament, the cars they had on display at hole-in-one and other contest holes, their logo on the program and on signs located around the golf tournament, and their name on the sponsor list in the paper and on the tournament website, and so on, resulted in more exposure and more people showing up at the dealership when shopping for a car, than the ads they used to run in the paper and on radio and television.

He would not divulge any numbers, but I can imagine what a major car dealership in a city of over a million would spend on advertising in a year. It would be millions of dollars. To divert this budget to sponsorships was a major decision. Given the money involved, I believe him when he talked about the homework they did before making the decision and the research they did on an ongoing basis to monitor the effectiveness of their expenditure.

He believed the strategy of sponsoring golf tournaments and other events was effective for a number of reasons. They appeared to be more a part of the community if they were associated with local causes and organizations. This elevated the perception of trust in the minds of consumers. The prizes and gifts they gave away, like caps and shirts, displayed their company logo to far more people for far longer, with that positive association, than any form of media advertising. And they could target their audience very carefully and specifically.

So when a charity calls asking your company for sponsorship of its golf tournament, think about supporting the cause, but also think about the win-win that can be accomplished by strategic placement of some of your promotion budget into golf tournament sponsorship.

Ron Strand

Staging a special event is a reliable method for fundraising and a good way to publicize your organization and your cause. This article contains some practical advice for event planning, promotion and management.

1. Decide on the Right Type of Special Event

There are several types of special events. Each has its own purpose and can be very effective if used for that purpose. Confusing the type of event can result in disaster. There are fundraising events, in other words, events that are run to make a profit for the organization. People pay to attend, buy something at the event, or gather pledges and then participate in the event. Similar to these types of events are what is often called third party events. These events are staged by someone or some organization other than the charity for the benefit of a charity. Another form of event is used for cultivation of prospects, recognition of donors or volunteers and to make announcements, such as the launch of a campaign. The purpose of this type of event is not to raise money at the event but to publicize the charity and inform potential donors about something new, with the intention that they will follow-up with a donation.

2. Make Appropriate Decisions Based on Type of Event

If you are running a fundraising event, you need to decide how you will make money with the event. This may seem obvious, but it is sometimes overlooked. Ask yourself if the funds will come from admission tickets, sponsors, sales of items in additional to the admission cost, a silent or live auction, door prizes, and so on. For third party events take these things into consideration. If you are working on the charity side, make sure that you have an understanding of what your role will be. It is easy to get asked to do more than your organization may have the resources to do. If you are the third party, understand how exactly how your event will benefit the charity. If the main purpose of your event is to make announcements and cultivate prospects, you will make more if you offer something for free and make the request for a donation later. Pay attention to how the media are managed at the event

3. Planning the Event

Cover the basics first – secure the venue, have enough food and drinks, book entertainment or speakers, look after details like parking, coat check, security, and washrooms. Prepare a budget based on these basics then adjust as more things are added or sponsors are secured. Prepare a detailed checklist of everything you will need – invitations, RSVP, who orders what and do it well in advance. Make a timeline working back from the day of the event and mark the deadlines for getting invitations out, placing ads in media, payments of deposits, to suppliers and entertainers, and when the RSVP must be received. Walk through the venue and imagine how people will move as they come to the event. Anticipate people’s needs and if at all possible, don’t have people waiting in lines at any time, get them a drink ASAP, and get them seated or involved. Double check everything.

4. Promoting Your Event

Brand your event. Even if it is a relatively small event, a unique name, slogan and logo can help to sell the event. Consider building a special website for the event, with a link from your organization’s website. A unique URL can help to brand the event and this can also make tracking registrations easier. If you are sending invitations to your mailing list, usually about six weeks to a month is an appropriate time to mail invitations. Use email lists and email invitations and have people register for the event on your website. If the event is open to the public, advertise in the media, using the media that will target your audience. As an example, if your event is upscale, advertise in business media or if your event is family oriented, advertise in community newsletters. Issue press releases when the date of the event is set, about a week before the event and just after the event.

5. The Day of the Event

Rehearse the program – time speakers and make sure they know where to stand and what to say. Test the audio visual equipment and have backup systems in place. If you are doing something that requires some technical skill, like a video presentation or sound feeds for media, hire a technician to be on standby. Always have a contingency plan for bad weather, late speakers, and emergencies.

6. If You Are in Charge of the Event

Never forget that you are working. It can be easy to relax with a few drinks and get into the mood of the event, especially if things are going well. Never forget that you are working. Be prepared to deal with the unexpected. Keep review your check list. Remember that key people - celebrity guests, speakers, entertainers - want to be taken care of and told what to do. Never leave them alone or ask them to decide something. Meet people where they arrive, assign someone to be with them at all times and respond to whatever they request. The most common breakdowns at an event are poor venue (too small, inadequate parking, not enough washrooms), poor food service, a/v breakdowns, and key people who don’t show up or show up late. Try to anticipate these problems and solve them if they occur.

7. Wrap – up

Do a final accounting for the event as soon as possible. If a fundraising event, take all costs and revenue into account but also all take other benefits into account, such as an assessment of the value of the publicity you gained, new people you met and so on. If the event is for an announcement or donor cultivation, make sure you have follow-up planned – follow-up calls and letters to participants and to media. Get thank-you letters out to sponsors, suppliers and volunteers as soon as possible.