Bringing in the Green
Ready to spice up your fundraising efforts? Consider a golf scramble. It's a great way to get the community involved It doesn't matter whether you're a scratch golfer or a beginner; it's all about the cause, and all can enjoy.
First, you'll want to talk with local pros at the city course or maybe even the local country club to find out the possibility of scheduling a date and get all the specs. It may be that you need to schedule a year in advance, but some courses are a bit more flexible with scheduling. Just be sure to make the call as early as you can so it's not left to chance. This can be a great way to raise funds.
Here's a sample checklist of things you'll want to consider as you plan:
- Get a list of possible dates from your committee, and then check with the golf pro for availability.
- You'll want hole sponsors, so put your heads together to decide who will contact which businesses. You can determine the amount you will charge for sponsorship, or you may even want to have that business donate a prize for that hole and set up a contest, such as longest drive, longest putt, etc. Don't forget to mention that hole sponsors are getting advertising, always a plus in business.
- Contact local businesses for a donation of any prizes you might want to give away. Have your committee think of things they might want to win to get them started brainstorming about whom to contact. Again, emphasize the advertising opportunity and the chance to contribute to a great cause for the community. Make a list and decide who will contact which business.
- Decide how much you will need to charge for entry. You may, for example, charge $40 per person and allocate certain portions of that such as $18-19 for green fees to the course, $2 purse, $2 prize money for gift certificates bought at the pro shop (they will appreciate this since they are hosting your scramble), $4 for a drink at the 9th and 18th hole, $7 to the playground or skatepark project, $6-8 for a luncheon afterward at the course concessionaire.
These are just ideas; make sure you talk this over with the committee to make sure your numbers add up to benefit all. Decide what type of tournament you'll have, whether it's a blind entry, or maybe you want to let people choose their teams but do a blind draw for combining scores at the end to determine the winner.
If you give participants team choice and then do the blind draw, it can make all happy as they can go ahead and choose who they are comfortable golfing with, and then it levels the playing field in some cases, so there's no guaranteed win with four scratch golfers taking all as a team.
You may even want to do a shotgun start to speed play up a bit, but it seems most courses only want to do that if you have about 200 players. If you have a smaller group, the course pro may arrange tee times for your participants.
You'll also want to just have one person take care of signups for the tournament to alleviate any confusion regarding whether a person got the word to enter someone. Also, consider a paid entry at signup time so that there isn't a lot of money to collect the day of the tournament. This way, it's taken care of; people walk in, check in, and are able to get on the course faster as well.
For prizes, don't be afraid to go for bigger ticket items to draw a crowd. It's always fun to win something, and it can help with signups to have something such as a four-wheeler and a set of clubs. Just be sure to check state and local lottery laws to make sure you don't have an item that is over the monetary amount allowed for a raffled item. For instance, in some states, if you were to raffle a car, you would need a lottery license. Just make sure you are aware of and follow any laws such as this.
If you are considering a luncheon, it would probably be appreciated by the golf course concessionaire if you were to schedule them to take care of this portion for you. After all, it's likely they have closed down for this time, other than the business you bring on this day. So if you are able to designate four or five dollars toward a luncheon, let them take the work out of that for you; it seems a win-win situation for all. You also don't have to worry about scheduling something off-site for later, and as your participants come off their last hole, there could be food waiting for them.
A golf scramble is a great way to raise funds and following these tips can help make it a success.
