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Fundraising tips

How to Organize a Golf Tournament Fundraiser + 30 Best Ideas to Raise Money

March 5, 2024

With more than 25 million golfers in the United States (statista) and over 6 million in Canada (Golf Inc.), golf fundraisers are a perfect a great way to raise money, attract new donors, and spread the word about your cause.

9.6% more rounds of golf were played in North America in 2022 versus last year. That includes a 7.5% increase in Canada, with BC (15.9), and Québec (8%) leading the upswing.
- CTVNews

While a charity golf tournament sounds like a lot of fun, planning a charity golf tournament is a whole other story. We came up with 10 steps to help you organize your next charity golf tournament, and included 30 of the best ideas to raise money on the day of your event!

10 steps to help your organize your next golf tournament fundraiser

30 ideas to raise money at your next golf tournament fundraiser

Here are 10 steps to help your organize your next golf tournament fundraiser

1. Define your fundraising goal.

What’s the only thing that can make supporting a great cause even better? A day on the greens. That’s why hosting a charity golf tournament is such a popular way for nonprofits to raise money. But how do you host a golf tournament fundraiser that meets your goals and leaves your guests wanting to come back? By focusing on what matters.

Before doing anything else, set a goal for what you want your charity golf tournament to accomplish. This will help you decide on the an amount you want to raise and guide you in the rest of your planning decisions. Your goal should be specific, attainable, and just challenging enough. You know, like a game of golf.

Properly defining your goal will make setting up a charity golf tournament a whole lot easier.

Download the checklist - How to organize a charity golf tournament

2. Plan your charity golf tournament for your golfers.

One of the first questions you need to ask when planning a charity golf tournament is: who do you want to attend?

If your fundraising goal is a bit lower, your tournament might be more of a family event, meaning guests will be paying out of pocket to attend. If you’re fundraising goal is on the higher end, you might want to consider corporate donors, meaning companies will be paying for the tickets.

Your choice of golfer will also depend on who your main donors are. For example, if you rely on many small individual donors from a close community, hosting a family-style tournament probably makes more sense. If you rely on large company donations, your target guests will be corporate groups.

Once you’ve landed on a target audience, you can then decide on the number of golfers you plan on inviting. A charity golf tournament on an 18-hole course can hold up to 144 golfers. 40 golfers is the suggested minimum for a fun and challenging tournament.$^1$

Once you figure out how many guests you think will actually make it—you can use attendance levels of past tournaments or post registration early—you’ll be able to properly estimate quantities, etc. for everything else on your todo list.

Things to keep in mind before going any further:

3. Form a planning committee to help plan your charity golf tournament.

To help you organize your charity golf tournament, and to keep from loosing your mind, we recommend recruiting a core group of people to help you out. The smaller the committee, the easier it is to communicate and be consistent. From there, you can delegate to other volunteers.

In a perfect world your committee will be made up of around five people who have at least a little experience doing the job their responsible for. But, we know that perfect worlds are pretty rare. So, when in doubt, choose people you trust and who you like to work with.

It’ll be nice to have committee members to lead the following tasks:

Budget:

Making and sticking to a budget is one of the most important tasks for any event and a charity golf tournament budget is no different. Try and find someone with an understanding of what things cost, is comfortable with numbers and knows how to say no.

A few things to keep in mind when planning out your charity golf tournament budget:

Sponsorship:

Sponsorships allow you to cut down on costs through cash or in-kind donations and can help make your charity golf tournament more exciting for your guests. Find someone who is outgoing, is well-known (and liked) in your community, and has a basic knowledge of what kind of donations would be the most helpful.

We’ve put together some possible sponsorship ideas:

Registration:

Regardless of the size of your tournament, your registrar will want to look in to options for online registrations. Free event registration platforms for non profits exist–Zeffy offers free nonprofit event ticketing and event registration forms, and can help keep everything from names and addresses to meal selection and raffle ticket sales organized and documented.

Promotions:

When done correctly, you won’t have to worry too much about the promotion of your charity golf tournament as most players should come from word of mouth. But, you may want to assign someone to look after updating your website, making flyers, any signs or informational materials you’ll need during the event, etc. and (if need be) getting the word out there.

Volunteers:

Hosting a charity golf tournament takes a lot of work and that means a lot of volunteers. Finding someone to recruit, assign, guide, and keep track of your charity golf tournament’s volunteers is an important step in setting up a charity golf tournament.

4. Outline your charity event budget.

A clear budget (with a little wiggle room) will help you attain your fundraising goal or maybe even exceed it! You’ll want to keep your overhead investment at a necessary and reasonable level—and knowing where and what to spend your money on will help with that.

Always build a buffer into your event budget of at least 10% for unexpected expenses. - Ally R. Potel

Sponsors can be a big help here. With the help of your designated sponsorship committee member, create sponsorship packages with different levels and associated perks. Make it clear what sponsors are getting for the different amounts they choose to donate. When outlining your budget, be sure to include:

Two members of the planning committee should be in charge of tracking the banking accounts for the event. Whether you already have a separate account set up for your events or you need to open a new one for the tournament, all payments made and received in the account should be monitored to make sure the budget is being respected.

You’ll also need to decide how much you will be charging your guests. Golf tournaments are some of the pricier fundraising events for donors so, again, sponsorships and the type of deal you make with the golf course can go a long way to keeping the ticket prices reasonable for the type of participant and event you have in mind.

Last point: it never hurst to do a little market research to see how much other tournaments are charging and what the price of a ticket includes.

5. Find the right local golf course.

One thing that can make or break the success of your tournament is the golf course you choose. We know, no surprise there. But we’ve got a few things for you to keep in mind when choosing your golf course.

First, you want to work with a golf course that understands the importance of your tournament, and with a staff that will provide a memorable experience for your guests! If you can, try to choose a sought after course—especially for more corporate charity golf tournaments.

Let the type of guests and tournament guide your short list golf courses. It could even be a members-only course to make it a unique game for attendees who may not normally play there.

Reach out to any contacts you may have on the boards of various golf courses and ask about what they offer in terms of fundraising event packages. Golf courses that host events often have employees dedicated to assisting you with your event, which will make your job easier!

Helpful considerations when choosing your golf course:

For some of your donors, what’s most important is not choosing the greens, but the venue for the party afterward! This is where all of your guests will end up (keep in mind that some won’t be golfing and will only come for dinner) and where they’ll pass the afternoon and evening. The day of, your work will be a little less stressful when it comes to the golf course, because your guests can entertain themselves with their game and the staff and volunteers on the course will take care of the rest. At the dinner, you and your committee need to take the reigns and make it a party they won’t want to leave.

If you’ve found a great golf course that doesn’t have the right venue for the after party, you can always look for a venue close by or consider asking the golf course if they’ll let you host a BBQ, food trucks, etc. on site.

One last thing, once you’ve confirmed everything with the golf course and any other necessary venues, insist on signing a contract. This will ensure that hosting your charity golf tournament goes as planed and you’re both clear on your expectations and the cost.

6. Reserve the golf course.

Speaking of contracts… It’s one thing to ask for one, it’s another to know what to look for before you sign it. We can’t help you with all the finer details, but here are a few things to double check:

Date and time:

If you can, consider being flexible with these. If you’re open to a date that is less busy for them (a week day or early or late season) because your attendees are retired, you might just get a discount or coupons for your charity golf tournament.

Course services:

Make sure what’s included for each guest’s ticket price. This could be golf balls, score cards, carts, gratuities, etc.

Settle on the unknowns:

When do they need your guest numbers by? Can they accommodate any changes?

Costs:

Get a clear breakdown per golfer. Make sure it includes food and drinks (if that’s part of the deal). Gratuities, service fees, etc. Decide when deposits and final payments are needed.

Cancellation and weather policies:

This one’s important and easily overlooked. Make sure there’s a clear understanding of their rainy-day policies an what’s the last date you can cancel or make changes.

7. Begin promoting your event.

When it comes to getting golfers to attend your event, word of mouth works wonders! But, if that doesn’t sell all the tickets, there are a few different audiences you can reach out to come support your organization. (And not everyone has to play golf.)

Supporters of your cause:

Your donors want to support your mission and your cause, so they’ll be more likely to participate in your event. One idea to attract them is to offer separate ticketing for your engaged donors that don’t golf: tickets for the dinner afterwards, silent auction invites, raffle sales, etc.

Avid golfers:

They might not know about your nonprofit, but they won’t pass up a great day of golf. So, be sure to sell it as more than just another day on the greens. Tell them how they get to do what they love AND support a great cause AND a delicious meal afterwards. Treat is as an awareness campaign to attract potential new donors.

Locally known personalities:

One way to make your event even more memorable is to get a local celebrity to attend! Reach out to some well known personalities in the area and let them know how they can make a difference. If they support your cause, they’ll be able to attract donors that have the means to make larger contributions and up your overall awareness. Reach out to athletes, TV personalities, musicians, politicians, etc. Reach out for those you know like to golf or who’re known to take part in charitable events.

Younger golfers:

You can attract a younger crowd by offering tickets for golf lessons from the course pro, a BBQ, food trucks add activities like raffles, auctions, local bands and more. They may just hear about how much fun the day of golfing was and choose to pick up golfing for next year!

Our tip: Come up with some incentives to get guests to buy tickets early! You’ll need to give a deposit and pay for the spots on the course early, so you want to make sure you have a minimum number of attendees. Offer early-bird prices, free drink tickets, exclusive merchandise, free raffle tickets, anything you can think of so people buy and commit early.

8. Choose a free event registration and online ticketing platform for nonprofits. (Such as Zeffy.) 

This may sound like we’re promoting ourselves, and we are. But, hear us out. Choosing a nonprofit event ticketing platform that fits your needs while saving you money is an important step in organizing any charity golf tournament.

You’ll want a platform that’s customizable so you can create as many different ticketing options and events as you need. This will give your supporters the opportunity to contribute what they can and allow you to attract a variety of current and new donors. And, most importantly, help you keep track of sales, attendees, meals, raffle tickets, merch sales, etc.

A few examples of what Zeffy (or other event registration platforms for nonprofits) can help you with:

Most ticketing platforms will cost you around 7% of the ticket price. Zeffy's different. Zeffy doesn’t charge any fees (we even cover transaction fees) for any of our services. So, 100% of what is paid actually goes to your nonprofit.

9. Recruit volunteers.

Work with your volunteer committee member to recruit volunteers to help you plan and run your charity golf tournament to keep it running smoothly. It’s a good idea to plan ahead and ensure their tasks and schedules are clear so that your volunteers can prepare and know what they’re going to be helping with pre, post and during the event.

We definitely haven’t thought of everything, but here are a few tasks to find volunteers for:

Setting up and taking down at the golf course:

Designate volunteers to set up for the day. The staff at the course can help guide them, but be sure to prep them yourself too with:

Fundraising activities:

Have two volunteers for each game or activity set up on the course. Make sure there’s one person supervising that all games are going well and that volunteers are being supported and receiving snacks, refreshments and breaks from the sun.

Recruit some volunteers to help sell snacks and refreshments to players. Selling beer and other alcohol can be a great way to increase fundraising revenue during the tournament and at the dinner afterwards, especially if an in-kind donation has been received from a sponsor.

You’ll also want some volunteers to watch over the silent auction, help with the raffle, and just generally be available to help your golfers if they need it.

Preparing the dinner:

Setting up and taking down the after tournament fundraising dinner is just as much work and needs just as many volunteers. The event space will need to be set up and decorated so your guests can seamlessly transition from golf to what ever you have planned post golf. Find volunteers to help with decorations, seating, etc.

10. Say thank you.

Thank everyone. Your volunteers, the golfers, donors, the golf course, your sponsors. This probably isn’t news, but a friendly reminder never hurts. ChatGPT can help you write your thank you emails, but a personal touch is always a good idea.

30 ideas to raise money at your next golf tournament fundraiser

The fundraising potential of your golf fundraisers doesn’t end with registration fees. Sponsorship opportunities, food carts, raffles, mini-put tournaments, skill contests… There are yards of ideas.

To help you tee off, we’ve come up with a list of 30 golf tournament fundraiser ideas:

Plan your next golf fundraiser for free on Zeffy

Ideas for a successful golf fundraiser.

1. Dinner and awards ceremony.

No charity golf event is complete without a dinner and awards ceremony. Host a charity auction, present the day’s awards, set up a photo booth… (You can even host it online as a virtual event for donors who can't make it.)

We reached out to an event planning expert for some help and solid advice.

2. Branded merchandise for your next golf tournament.

Photo by Peter Drew on Unsplash.

Branded golf merchandise is a creative (and lucrative) way to outfit your golf fundraisers. You can host a presale (Zeffy’s eCommerce feature can help) and sell and giveaway your merchandise at the tournament.

Partner with a vendor to create custom merchandise that features your logo and the golf club name. Think branded golf balls, towels, shirts, socks, hats...

3. Most golf tournaments have food and drink carts.

Golf makes you thirsty. And hungry. So, recruit volunteers to drive around in golf carts full of drinks and snacks—you can even ask local sponsors (think breweries, restaurants and grocery stores) to donate or sponsor the cart.

Free tap-to-pay apps will let your nonprofit collect donations by debit and credit in person.

4. Photo opps.

Set up a photo booth or hire a photographer to wander around and take pictures during your tournament. Golfers can donate to use the photo booths or purchase photos as souvenirs.

5. Golf skills clinic.

Planning a charity golf tournament wouldn’t be complete without a golf skills clinic. Create a registration form using a fundraising software, and allow participants to sign up for golf clinics.

Good to know: Most golf courses have a pro on site that can lead the clinics.

6. Dress up contest.

If there’s one thing all golfers have in common, it’s that they love to dress the part. Up the ante with a dress up contest that encourages participants to take their golf look to the next level.

7. Local celebrity guests.

If you’re looking for a way to attract new participants to your golf fundraiser, convincing a local celebrity to attend, is a fail-safe way to spread the word and up your participation.

Once you’ve got a local celebrity signed up, encourage them to share your event on their social media accounts and, if they’re feeling generous, host an after party!

8. Interactive scoreboard.

Renting a digital scoreboard is a fun way to encourage a little friendly competition, while keeping golfers and their families up-to-date.

Allow participants and their families to make donations that influence the scores or outcomes of the game. For example, you could make a donation to subtract strokes from a team's score.

9. Mini put tournament for kids.

Organizing a charity golf tournament is an excellent way to engage donors while fundraising for your nonprofit. But, have you ever thought of organizing a mini putt tournament to raise funds?

With a mini putt tournament, the whole family can join in and, if you time it right, you can even use the fundraising event to hype-up your golf tournament fundraiser.

Plan your next golf fundraiser for free on Zeffy

Golf fundraising ideas: Skill contests.

10. A golf a thon—aka: make a pledge per hole, birdie, par, swing, etc.

Every golfer hopes their next game will be their best. Why not hype-up this mentality with a mini peer-to-peer campaign? Ask participants to sign up online and create their golf a thon campaign.

Once they’re up and running they can start collecting pledges from friends, family, or colleagues based on their upcoming performance.

Donors can pledge a certain amount per hole, birdie, or other golfing achievements.

11. Sell mulligans (extra chances to replay a stroke).

Photo by Peter Drew on Unsplash.

There isn’t a golfer out there who will buy a mulligan in advance, but when they need one, they’ll be willing to pay for it.

Offer a mulligans package at registration and mention that mulligans will also be available during the tournament for a much more generous donation.

(Zeffy’s Tap-to-Pay app even lets you accept debit and credit card payments in person—no fees attached.)

12. Longest drive contest.

This golf fundraising idea is pretty straight-forward: just choose a hole where golfers can compete to hit the longest drive, charge an entry fee for each attempt, and the golfer with the longest drive wins a prize.

13. Speed golf challenge.

Another easy one, a speed golf challenge combines golf and fitness, while mixing up the (sometimes) monotonous game.

Ask golfers to pay to attempt completing a round in the fastest time—without sacrificing accuracy.

14. Hole-in-one contest.

A quick way to earn a few extra donations is a hole-in-one challenge.

Golfers can pay to participate, and if someone successfully makes a hole-in-one on the designated hole, they win a spectacular prize. (Maybe the golf course will offer membership for a year, etc.)

15. Closest to the pin.

This is another fun way to up the friendly competition quota of your golf events.

All you have to do is choose a par-3 hole and create a contest for participants to hit their ball closest to the pin.

16. Putting contest.

A putting contest pits golfer against putting green. All you have to do is choose the hole and get putters to sign up for a chance to sink a long putt or navigate a challenging green in the fewest swings.

17. Beat the champ or pro.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Golfers sign up to compete against last years champion or the course pro. They can donate more for extra swings and other advantages.

You can assign a winner per hole and an overall winner for the course.

18. Target golf.

Set up target areas on the course, and charge participants to hit balls as close to the targets as possible.

Different targets can have different point values, and the golfer with the highest score and the end of the game, wins a great prize!

Plan your next golf fundraiser for free on Zeffy

Golf fundraising ideas: Raffles and auctions.

19. A caddie auction.

We know, this one sounded weird to us too. But, hey, it's a creative way to raise additional funds!

A caddie auction is exactly what it sounds like: an auction for a personal caddie.

Before your golf fundraiser (use your event website), auction off the opportunity for golfers to have a celebrity or notable figure (Or, if all else fails, anyone will do.) as their caddie for the tournament.

The winning bidders get someone to carry their clubs for them.

20. Set up a silent charity auction.

Golfers love the latest swag and that means a silent auction is a great way to earn a little extra at almost any fundraising event.

Ask sponsors to donate silent auction items. Swag, clubs, gift cards, memberships, anything and everything that a golfer and their family will want to bid on.

You can even host an early bird silent auction on your event website.

21. A 50/50 raffle. (Or any raffle really.)

Selling raffle tickets during your golf fundraiser is a great way to raise more for your cause.

You can hold a traditional raffle for golf course memberships, swag, or lessons; or a 50/50 raffle where half of the proceeds go to the winner and the other half to your nonprofit.

22. A classic golf ball drop. (AKA: helicopter ball.)

A golf ball drop is a creative and fun way to raise money for your cause during your golf tournament.

All you have to do is sell numbered golf balls before and during your tournament. And, at some point during the day of the event, drop them from a helicopter or a designated height.

The ball that lands closest to a target wins.

23. Everyone loves golf bingo.

Golf bingo is a great way to engage golfers and spectators.

Create bingo cards with various golf-related challenges or achievements (e.g., birdie, longest drive, first player to order a beer, etc.). You can get really creative with these and include more personal elements too.

Participants pay to participate, and they mark off spaces on their cards as they accomplish the challenges.

The first to complete a line shouts "bingo" and wins!

Golf fundraising ideas: sponsorships.

24. Sponsorship packages.

Offering different levels of sponsorships for local businesses or individuals can really help your nonprofit raise money, while spreading the word.

Your packages can include sponsorships for specific holes, events, or activities during the tournament.

25. Dedicated holes.

Every golfer has a favourite hole—one they know (or think they know) they can birdie or maybe even get a hole-in one.

By allowing donors to dedicate a particular hole to someone, you’ll be helping players claim their hole and earn a few extra dollars for your nonprofit.

26. Golf cart sponsor.

Photo by Gene Gallin on Unsplash.

This one is exactly as it sounds: get a sponsor to cover the cost of renting golf carts for the tournament. In return, they can have their logo displayed on each cart.

27. Golf cart parade.

This one is pretty creative!

A cart decorating contest and parade is a fun way to get the whole community involved in your golf tournament fundraiser.

Participants and sponsors pay an entry fee to decorate their carts. During the lunch break, the carts can pass by one after the other.

28. Hole sponsors.

By allowing businesses or donors to sponsor individual holes on the course, you can let participants literally brand their favourite holes.

Local businesses can display their company signage, distribute promotional materials, and interact with participants at their sponsored hole.

29. Beverage cart sponsor.

Partnering with a local brewery, distillery, grocery store, or restaurant to sponsor your beverage and snack carts is a creative way to raise a little extra while providing drinks and snacks to participants throughout the tournament.

Sponsors can deck their carts our with signage, free swag, prizes, whatever they can think of!

30. A few dedicated awards.

Allow local businesses and donors to sponsor awards during your golf tournament fundraiser is a fun and creative way to keep your community involved.

Awards can be named after individuals, businesses, ideals, impresive feats, anything!

How to host a golf tournament fundraiser:

A charity golf tournament sounds like a lot of fun—and is a great way to raise funds for your nonprofit. But, planning a charity tournament is a whole other story.

These 11 steps are here to help.

1. Define your fundraising goal.

Before doing anything else, set a goal for what you want your charity golf tournament to accomplish. This will help you decide on the an amount you want to raise and guide you in the rest of your planning decisions.

Download the checklist here.

2. Plan your fundraising golf tournament for your golfers.

One of the first questions you need to ask when planning a golf event is: who do you want to attend?

Maybe your tournament is more of a family event, meaning guests will be paying out of pocket to attend. Or, you might want to consider corporate donors, meaning companies will be paying for the tickets.

Once you’ve landed on a target audience, you can then decide on the number of golfers you plan on inviting. A tournament on an 18-hole course can hold up to 144 golfers. 40 golfers is the suggested minimum for a fun and challenging tournament.

3. Form a fundraising team to help plan your charity golf tournament.

To help you organize your charity event, and to keep from loosing your mind, we recommend recruiting a core group of people to help you out. The smaller the committee, the easier it is to communicate and be consistent. From there, you can delegate to other volunteers.

4. Outline your charity event budget.

A clear budget (with a little wiggle room) will help you attain your fundraising goal or maybe even exceed it! You’ll want to keep your overhead investment at a necessary and reasonable level—and knowing where and what to spend your money on will help with that.

Always build a buffer into your event budget of at least 10% for unexpected expenses.
- Ally R. Potel

Sponsors can be a big help here. With the help of your designated sponsorship committee member, create sponsorship packages with different levels and associated perks.

You’ll also need to decide how much you will be charging your guests. (Golf tournaments are some of the pricier fundraising events for donors so, sponsorships can go a long way to keeping the ticket prices reasonable.)

Plan your next golf fundraiser for free on Zeffy

5. Find the right local golf course.

One thing that can make or break the success of your tournament is the course you choose.

We’ve got a few things for you to keep in mind when choosing your golf course.

Helpful considerations when choosing your golf course:

One last thing, once you’ve confirmed everything with the golf course and any other necessary venues, insist on signing a contract.

6. Reserve the golf course.

Speaking of contracts… It’s one thing to ask for one, it’s another to know what to look for before you sign it. We can’t help you with all the finer details, but here are a few things to double check:

7. Begin promoting your event.

When it comes to getting golfers to attend your event, word of mouth works wonders! But, if that doesn’t sell all the tickets, there are a few different audiences you can reach out to come support your organization. (And not everyone has to play golf.)

8. Choose a free event registration and online ticketing platform for nonprofits. (Such as Zeffy.)

This may sound like we’re promoting ourselves, and we are. But, hear us out. Choosing a nonprofit event ticketing platform that fits your needs while saving you money is an important step in organizing any event.

9. Find additional fundraising ideas for your charity golf tournament.

Make your golf tournament even more successful by adding additional opportunities to give to your cause—and if those opportunities are original, it’ll also make your event unforgettable.

There are 101+ fundraising ideas in this article.

Explore more fundraiser ideas for college clubs and sports teams here.

10. Recruit volunteers.

Work with your volunteer committee member to recruit volunteers to help you plan and run your charity golf tournament to keep it running smoothly. It’s a good idea to plan ahead and ensure their tasks and schedules are clear so that your volunteers can prepare and know what they’re going to be helping with pre, post and during the event.

11. Say thank you.

Thank everyone. Your volunteers, the golfers, donors, the golf course, your sponsors. This probably isn’t news, but a friendly reminder never hurts.

Check out our thank-you letters for donations (with templates and tips) here.

Make your golf tournament fundraiser a success with Zeffy.

You’ll want a platform that’s customizable so you can create as many different ticketing options and events as you need and, most importantly, help keep track of sales, attendees, meals, raffle tickets, merch sales, etc.

A few examples of what Zeffy (or other event registration platforms for nonprofits) can help you with:

Most ticketing platforms will cost you around 7% of the ticket price. Zeffy's different. Zeffy doesn’t charge any fees (we even cover transaction fees) for any of our services. So, 100% of what is paid actually goes to your nonprofit.

Plan your next golf fundraiser for free on Zeffy