April 18, 2023
Golf outings are an effective way to build revenue for your charity. Offering sponsorships will likely make up the majority of your fundraiser’s revenue, but you can advance your fundraising efforts with powerful add-ons to bring in more dollars and enhance your participants’ experience. There are endless possibilities to engage your supporters out on the golf course.
Below, we discuss 13 fun ways to enhance revenue at your golf fundraising event. While using ClickBid’s event fundraising platform, you can take your golf tournament fundraiser to the next level by incorporating a silent auction, raffle tickets, drink tickets, and contest tickets, and by accepting cash donations.
1. Mulligans
Purchasing mulligans is a win-win for both parties. Mulligans allows your players to replay a bad shot for a set price. You can have volunteers on the course selling mulligans or offer them for purchase at registration. Mulligans allow your organization to bring in extra cash with zero cost involved!
2. Hole in One Contests
No golf tournament is complete without the excitement of a hole-in-one contest! This contest allows your golfers the chance to win big prizes, should they make a hole in one at the designated holes at your event. Your winning prize could be donated by sponsors or budgeted within your event. By having this contest, you can promote the prize and game opportunity before your event to encourage golfers to register. You can also sell hole-in-one contests as a sponsorship to give brand recognition and raise additional funds.
3. Putting Contests
Putting contests are great ways to gain excitement from your golfers and also raise extra money. Start the putting contest by having all golfers pay a small fee. Then, make each player put from a shorter distance from the hole, while each round take a few steps back, eliminating players who miss and creating a more challenging put for your final golfers. Your golfer that makes it to the last round will win. It is important to hype this up during your pre-event marketing to encourage involvement and raise more funds. You can also sell this putting contest as a sponsorship to give brand recognition and raise additional funds.
4. Corporate Hole Sponsorships
Corporate sponsorships are a great way to offset the costs of your event. Plus, sponsoring provides a great opportunity for companies to receive brand recognition from your attendees. During your pre-event marketing, you can sell corporate hole sponsorships with different levels of benefits to attract all types of companies. Offering multiple levels of sponsorships will also provide unique benefits and opportunities at each level all while covering the costs of your golf fundraiser.
5. Longest Drive Contest
The longest drive contest will be a very recognizable and highly liked contest by your golfers. This contest adds a challenging element to your golf event with a guaranteed winner. In order to run this contest smoothly, we recommend having volunteers at the straightest and longest hole. This makes the competition easier for your volunteers to judge who has the longest drive. Mark the longest drive with the golfer’s name, then when someone outdrives the marker, you will move it to where the drive ended and record the new winner. This game will continue until everyone has been given the chance to play. You can offer a small entry fee to compete in this contest, adding extra revenue to your fundraiser.
6. Logo Accessories
It’s important to highlight your sponsors’ logos around your event (including on golf carts, throughout each hole, or throughout event tables). When selling sponsorships, you can include these logo accessories within the description of the sponsorship and increase the price for each level. There are multiple different accessories you can use, but displaying signs on each hole with their logos seems to be the easiest way to thank them for their contribution to your event. You can also have different accessories to hand out to your golfers including drink koozies, golf balls, or golf tees or including all these accessories within a golfer swag bag. Before you create these materials yourself, ask your sponsors if they have any materials they are interested in providing, which would limit your costs.
7. Food and Drink Tickets
Let’s face the facts — the best events come with food and beverages. Have your standard golf package include 1-2 food and drink tickets per golfer, but offer the ability to purchase more tickets if your golfers would like. Food and drink tickets allow your organization to raise money. Doing this can also help your organization offset your costs. Make sure to offer food and drink options for everyone, making these drink tickets more desirable.
8. Discounted Golf Packages
When deciding what prices to charge your golfers for individuals or teams, consider using discounted golf packages. By purchasing a team of 4 golfers, you can provide a monetary discount for those teams. For example, an individual ticket could be $125, but when purchasing a team of 4, it is $400. This process saves your individual golfer some money if they encourage their friends to join your fundraiser. Providing this option allows your organization to quickly fill the teams and reach a greater audience.
9. Celebrity Shot Opportunity
At a specific hole during your event, for a small fee, your golfers could purchase the ability to have a celebrity take a swing for them. When selecting your celebrities, ensure they have golf knowledge and are worth the golfer’s while. You can invite professional golfers or the local high school golf team to participate. Each swing is extra money for your charity.
10. Straightest Drive Contest
This contest typically occurs on a hole that is long and fairly straight. Have volunteers mark which golfer had the straightest drive, identify a winner, and issue a prize. When marketing this contest before your event, let all the golfers know that this is a guaranteed prize winner! This is also another chance to sell a contest sponsorship and add to your profit.
11. Closest to the Pin
The closest to the pin contest can be run at the same time as your hole-in-one contest. The object is to hit the ball the closest to the designated pin to win a prize. Make sure to mark and measure each shot in case two shots are very close You can announce the winner of this contest after your golf tournament is over. You can also sell this contest as a sponsorship to give brand recognition and raise additional funds.
12. Raffle Tickets
Raffle Tickets are a super-easy way to bring in extra money for your organization. Try coming up with a goal for a prize pot or collect donated items to put together raffle prizes! Through ClickBid, you can sell raffle tickets online or have a volunteer sell them at each hole. At the end of your event, you can choose a winner from all your raffle sales. Before selling raffle tickets online, check with your state’s laws regarding online raffles.
13. Donation Appeal
After the golf portion of your event is over, you can ask for donations for your charity. While asking for donations, you can give a speech to your golfers thanking them for attending this year’s fundraising event, while also showcasing what their funds are going towards. Having a short video clip about your charity or having a speaker highlight the importance of your charity also helps raise more money. Asking for donations, small or large, is always something you should be doing at a golf event to help create more revenue for your organization.
Take Your Golf Tournament to the Next Level
While using ClickBid’s event fundraising platform, you can take your golf tournament fundraiser to the next level by incorporating a silent auction, raffle tickets, drink or food tickets, contest tickets, and by accepting cash donations. Incorporating competitive contests and raffle prizes encourage your golfers to join your event and helps gain excitement. And always remember — before your event, it is very important to get the word out to help gain awareness. Also, be sure to provide your golfers with a great experience that will encourage them to return year after year!
Now’s your chance to raise more funds for your organization. Start planning your golf fundraiser tournament today by utilizing some of the options above.
