How to Maximize Your Non-Profit
Fundraising Events
By Joe Garecht
Bonus Guide:
Raising More Money through
Golf Tournaments and Walk-a-Thons
The tips and strategies presented in this class will work for almost any type of fundraising event,
including golf tournaments and other participatory fundraising events, such as walk-a-thons. The
best golf tournaments and “a-thon” fundraising events utilize sponsorships, event committees,
and the other revenue enhancing concepts presented in the previous course modules.
That being said, when you are holding participatory fundraising events, there are some unique
hurdles that you face, and some additional strategies you can use to increase your revenue while
reducing stress. In this bonus guide, we present great ways to raise more money through golftournaments, walk-a-thons, and other participatory events.
5 Strategies for Maximizing Revenue from Golf Tournaments
Thousands of non-profits run successful golf tournaments each year. But… organizing a golf
tournament takes a lot of time, organization and preparation. Because tourneys are so resource
intensive, it is important that you raise as much as possible at your next golf outing. Here’s how:
1. First, Focus on Sponsorships
One of the most amazing things about great golf tournaments is their ability to bring in revenue
from multiple streams, all from the same 50-200 golfers and meal attendees. Golfers come to
have a good time on what would normally be a work day, often on the company’s dime. Use this
to your advantage by maximizing revenue-producing opportunities.
The first focus for your team as you plan your golf tournament should be on sponsorships. Many
tourneys feature a title or presenting sponsor, a lunch sponsor, a dinner sponsor, individual hole
sponsors, a refreshment station sponsor, a hole in one contest sponsor, and more. While your
event may not feature sponsors for each of these items, spend a significant amount of time
finding larger sponsors for your event prior to doing any other fundraising around the
tournament.
2. Second, Focus on Foursomes
The second primary focus for your golf tournament fundraising should be selling foursomes.
Foursomes can run from $500 - $4000 or more, depending on the event. Many times, businesses
will cover the cost of a foursome for their employees as a sales and marketing or networking
expense, but will limit the number of golf outings that the company will pay for each year. Thus,
start selling foursomes early, to get your golfers on board before the corporate funding dries up.
3. Third, Focus on Post-Golf Revenue
The larger your tournament is, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to raise a significant
amount through post-golf fundraising. This is the fundraising that takes place at the cocktail
reception and / or dinner after the tournament is over. Many organizations use these after-golf
activities as an opportunity for a silent auction, live auction and / or raffle. In many cases, the
golfers will be in a good, competitive and lubricated mood at this point, and will gladly try to
outbid each other or try to win raffle items.
4. Fourth, Focus on Ancillary Revenue
Ancillary revenue encompasses all of the little “extra” fundraising opportunities you create
during the day. Be creative! Some examples of things you can add include:



Putting Contest - $5 for 3 attempts to sink a long putt. Golfers who sink the putt win $50
Mulligans - $5 for 1 mulligan ticket.
Rent-a-Pro – Have the golf pro out on one of the tricky holes. Golfers can pay $10 to
have the pro take their tee shot for them.
5. Create a Competitive Atmosphere
The best and most profitable golf tournament fundraisers foster a competitive atmosphere, both
before and during the event. Get people excited about the event by playing competitive
businesses off of each other. For example, if some of your foursomes are from real estate firms,
use that fact to interest other real estate agents and firms to come and compete as well. Offer a
special prize for the top performing real estate firm, and talk up the competitive angle.
Similarly, you should try to get the competitive juices flowing during the actual event. This will
result in golfers trying to outbid each other on auction items, buying more raffle tickets, etc.
3 Tips for Running Stress-Free Golf Tournaments
Golf tournaments can be stressful. Really stressful. Very few other events feature a full day of
activities for 200+ people, both indoor and outdoor across hundreds of acres, all in a facility you
don’t own. Cut down on the stress using these three tips:
1. Recruit and Train Responsible Volunteers
Of all the types of fundraising events non-profits hold, golf tournaments are one of the most
volunteer-intensive. You’ll need staff or volunteers for event registration, the pre- and postevents, to man things like the hole in one contest and ancillary fundraising opportunities, to serve
as runners to different holes when things go wrong or things get backed up, and to help set-up
and clean-up.
Your best bet is to recruit responsible volunteers early on and train them properly so that you are
not trying to explain to 30 volunteers what they need to do 15 minutes before the event starts.
Consider having a volunteers meeting prior to event day to explain and divvy up responsibilities,
identify task leaders, etc.
2. Start Early
Much as with silent auctions, one of the best ways to ensure success with your golf tournaments
is to get started on the fundraising process well in advance of the event. It takes time to find
silent auction and raffle items, sell sponsorships and foursomes, and find event committee
members. Start early. You’ll be glad you did.
3. Put a Long-Term System in Place
The best golf tournament fundraising events build over time. Each year, you’ll have more
golfers, more silent auction items, more sponsors, etc. People will get more competitive with
each other, as a corporate foursome that came in second the year before tries to win the following
year, or a CEO that lost out on a big ticket live auction item one year tries to win the item the
following year.
For this reason, your non-profit should put a system in place for your golf tournament that can be
replicated year after year. Type up a 2- page sheet for host committee members outlining their
responsibilities that can be used every year. Build strong relationships with big-ticket auction
item donors to make sure that they want to give for each annual event. Put systems in place that
you can use each year and you’ll find that each year, as you refine your processes, your event
gets easier to run, more efficient and more successful.
5 Strategies for Maximizing Revenue from Walk-A-Thons and Other “A-Thons”
One of the most significant mistakes non-profits make when planning participatory fundraising
events is the tendency to put form before function. Organizations spend lots of time and energy
planning the logistics of the event (what route the walk-a-thon will take, what music to play at
the dance-a-thon, what will be served as post event refreshments, etc.) rather at the expense of
fundraising. Logistics are important, but remember that the primary goal of these events is to
raise money. Here are some ways to help maximize your participatory event fundraising:
#1 – Make it Easy for Teams to Participate
The easiest way to get someone to sign-up for a walk-a-thon or other “a-thon” is to let them
know all of their friends or co-workers are signed up as well. The easiest way to get someone to
raise more money for a walk-a-thon is for all of their friends to be raising money as well,
because then it becomes competitive.
The takeaway here is that instead of just focusing on signing up individual walkers, you should
focus a significant part of your efforts on signing up teams of walkers – sign up whole
companies, church groups, clubs, large families, etc. Scale your recruitment efforts!
#2 – Utilize Your Host Committee
Another great way to raise more money, find more sponsors and recruit more walkers or dancers
for your a-thon event is to establish – and use – a host committee. As with all fundraising
events, your walk-a-thon host / event committee should be focused on fundraising, instead of
logistics. Set them up, provide them with the tools they need to raise money on your behalf, and
give them plenty of motivation and recognition for their efforts.
#3 – Consider a VIP Add-On Event
Many organizations have found great success in holding a VIP pre-event or post-event for their
participatory fundraising events that raise additional funds through ticket sales and/or that serve
as rewards for event sponsors.
For example, before your walk-a-thon, you could host a VIP tent that offers comfy couches, live
entertainment, food and drink and costs $25 per ticket. Or, at your dance-a-thon, you could have
a hospitality area for sponsors to watch the event with an open bar, hors devours, etc.
#4 – Add Ancillary Revenue
As with golf tournaments, a-thon events can have ancillary revenue opportunities before, after
and during the function. These fundraising streams can include food sales, carnival games,
rental of space to vendors, and family fun like face painting and arts and crafts. Be creative!
You’re already working to hold the event, you might as well make as much money from it as
possible!
#5 – Partner with Schools, Churches, Companies and Other Organizations
Have you thought about having your non-profit partner up with a local business, school, church
or other organization to hold a walk-a-thon or similar event exclusively with the employees /
students / members of that organization?
Many companies, schools and churches enjoy supporting local non-profits and are looking for
team-building service events. For example, a local law firm may want to hold a family fun event
for its staff on a spring Saturday and include a walk-a-thon for the local homeless shelter, with
lots of competition to see who can raise the most. Likewise, a local prep school may be willing
to hold a dance-a-thon one evening to support a local hospital, with prizes to the top student
fundraisers.
3 Strategies for Running Stress-Free Walk-A-Thons and Other “A-Thons”
As you plan your participatory fundraising events, look for ways to reduce costs and keep stress
to a minimum so that the event can be as profitable as possible while also being enjoyable for
staff and volunteers to run. Here are three ways to run lower-stress “a-thons” and other
participatory events:
#1 – Be Organized, but Not Over-Organized
Have a plan to stay organized with the fundraising and registration process for your “a-thon”
events. Many non-profits launch an event, hand out registration forms for participants, and then
are overwhelmed when the responses come back in… they struggle to set up a system for
keeping track of participants, pledges, and payments.
On the other side of the coin, I have seen non-profits that are so organized that the event
becomes tedious. These organizations require too much information from participants and create
bottlenecks in the information gathering system that causes gridlock in the registration and
collections process.
Aim for the middle ground – set up your registration / event database early and be clear on your
registration procedures, but don’t create work that doesn’t need to be done.
#2 – Look for Volunteer Teams
Walk-a-thons and participatory events are phenomenal opportunities to seek volunteer teams to
work on event day. Approach local college groups or companies and ask them to support the
event by sending a team of volunteers to work the event, rather than by participating in the event.
In return for a certain number of volunteers, provide signage or other benefits for the
organization / business.
#3 – Seek In-Kind Sponsors
“A-thons” are also great for in-kind sponsorships because they offer good marketing
opportunities and often have large requirements for physical goods.
For example, if you’re holding a walk-a-thon with 200 participants, there may be 500+ people at
the event when you take into account the families and friends of the walkers. At this event, you
will need lots of items… perhaps 2,000+ paper cups, 200 directional signs, 200 race bibs, fully
stocked snack stations, etc. Find companies that want to get in front of your 500 attendees and
ask them to sponsor specific in-kind needs, in return for exposure at the event, VIP tent entry,
etc.
Conclusion
Golf tournaments, walk-a-thons and other participatory fundraising events provide lots of
opportunity for non-profit organizations. In order to be successful with these events, focus on
sponsorships and your event / host committee, offer multiple creative fundraising revenue
streams, and keep costs and stress low.
If you have any questions about this or any other module in this class, please do not hesitate to
contact me at [email protected]