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Sponsoring a golf tournament is an excellent way to raise money for an organization or cause. Golf tournaments have wide appeal, and avid golfers usually jump at the chance to play the game and benefit a charity at the same time. Even non-golfers enjoy brandishing a 9-iron for a good cause. It takes careful planning, but it's possible to raise thousands of dollars or more if your group is prepared for a little bit of hard work. A lot goes into planning a charity golf tournament, from securing a venue, to recruiting volunteers, to garnering prizes. Before you set the wheels in motion, consider some of these planning tips: *Enlist a good team of helpers. Planning and executing a charity golf tournament is not a one-man or woman job. A lot of work goes into pulling off a successful and profitable golf tournament. Make sure that you have a good team of volunteers behind you. Don't just limit yourself to volunteers from within your own organization though. Recruit volunteers from like-minded groups, from the community and from the beneficiary group/organization. The more hands on deck, the more efficiently it will run from planning to the final putt. More importantly, the more diverse your group of core volunteers, the more contacts you'll be able to make. More helpers means greater access to resources within the community. *Plan well in advance. It usually takes several months to one year to pull off a successful charity golf tournament. If you try to push through too quickly, you may be sacrificing the sanity of your volunteers and missing out on prime sponsorship opportunities. *Garner business support. Businesses are usually happy help a good cause. It helps them to raise their own profile in the community and gives them the chance for some inexpensive advertising and exposure. Recruit business sponsors to donate cash, prizes, giveaways, food, and just about anything else that you require to pull off your charity golf tournament. *Offer advertising opportunities. Charity golf tournaments are give and take affairs. When a business agrees to donate to your event, provide the business with a way to advertise before, during or after the event. You can print the logos of your major sponsor(s) on your fliers and newspaper ads. Get one or two businesses to sponsor golf trophies and have their logos on embossed on them. Distribute prizes and giveaways like water bottles, golf balls, tees and golf bags with sponsors' logos on them. Print banners listing the names of business sponsors. Publish their names in your program. Literally hundreds of creative ways exist to offer advertising in exchange for the support of business sponsors. *Flood the community with advertising. Make sure that you give plenty of advance notice to the community about your charity golf tournament. Newspaper advertising should typically begin 4-6 weeks before registration for the event ends. Other types of advertising can begin sooner, such as passing out fliers and hanging up posters. Take advantage of all of the free advertising that you can get. Hang up posters anywhere and everywhere that you can get permission to do so. If your charity golf tournament has a website, flood the Internet with links to it well in advance of the event, even up to one year before. Besides local newspapers, seek out other publications to advertise in. Many communities have free daily, weekly and/or monthly alternative publications, and some may even publicize your event for free. The great thing about sponsoring a charity golf tournament is that the event is mutually beneficial. First, it provides financial support and raises awareness for a particular cause. Second, it gives local businesses the opportunity to promote themselves and to show their philanthropic side. It's also an excellent vehicle for fostering team and community spirit, and if profitable, may even become a well-anticipated annual event.
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