Crestwood Golf Club, Marcy, NY Fairways fore Freedom Event Blueprint

Led by Steve Nacewicz, PGA Vice President of the Central New York PGA Section and Barb Presky, Crestwood Golf Club hosted this small event

that had a BIG impact raising over $27,000

Committee: The first step in a successful fundraiser is a vibrant committee. We looked for individuals that were connected in the community, had served in the military, and were passionate about golf. To make sure we caught people’s attention from the start, we sent a compelling meeting invite, coupled with the lure of a nice breakfast. Having had many opportunities to meet with Dan and hear the Folds story firsthand, we were able to share the history and mission of Folds of Honor in a compelling manner that had the committee hooked from the start. We were fortunate to have representation from the various branches of the military, the strong support of our local American Legions, plus the “Pink Hats in Combat” ladies. In particular, I knew which businesses I was targeting for sponsorships, and recruited individuals with ties to those entities. The committee decided our event would be called Fairways fore Freedom. By the second meeting we had all the particulars worked out and were able to provide the committee members with all the documents they needed to start securing support in the community. Click Here to view the Patriot Committee Letter Click Here to view the Folds of Honor Story

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Crestwood Golf Club, Marcy, NY Fairways fore Freedom Event Blueprint

Sponsors: In tandem with identifying committee prospects, it’s important to identify potential event sponsors. I believe the most successful | long term sponsorships are those which have a good fit with your organization and the charity. Title Sponsors: We immediately had two $5,000 sponsors. Unfortunately these fell through for unforeseen circumstances. We quickly regrouped by developing a sponsor target list and leveraging committee relationships to make “the ask”. Since it was now April, we recognized that more sponsors for smaller amounts would probably be more attainable. We ended up with (2) Gold sponsors at $5,000, (2) Silver at $2,500, a Cart sponsor $1,250, (2) Bronze at $1,000, and a few Corporate Cup. In addition, Four Square media donated over 200 radio ads on their 4 different stations. Our local Budweiser distributor was a key factor in our success, donating all the beer and assisting with event promotion through many signs and banners. Click Here to view the Title Sponsorship Packet Hole Sponsors: We tasked the committee with securing hole sponsorships for $100 each, plus a hole in one sponsor. We also leveraged our vendor accounts by mailing hole sponsor requests back with our invoice payments. Click Here to view the Sponsors & Donation Form Donations | Doorprizes: We secured high end raffle donations, longest drive and closest to the pin donations by reaching out to our equipment vendors and securing their support. PING, Bridgestone, Rife, Taylormade, Titleist, Oakley, PING Apparel, Monterey, Callaway, Antiqua, etc… all extended their generous support. We also reached out to fellow PGA pros in the area requesting green fees to be used as prizes.

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Crestwood Golf Club, Marcy, NY Fairways fore Freedom Event Blueprint

The Event: Owning a golf course, on a routine basis we see tournaments that believe they will sell out the event, but end up with 30-60 players. Our priority was to organize a great day of golf that would support the Folds of Honor, while also creating the foundation for a successful event for years to come. A full field was important to us. To achieve this, the committee felt a responsible price was critical. We set the price at $85 per golfer, which included skins, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus 2 sleeves of Bridgestone B330 golf balls with the Folds of Honor logo. Our intention was to cap the event at 124 golfers to best accommodate pace of play. To generate buzz for the event, we created a huge Folds of Honor display board in the middle of our clubhouse Great Room. This accentuated the Folds of Honor, our sponsors, the tournament perks, and most importantly the official team sign up list. We were sold out months prior to the event and had a waiting list for participation. We ended up with 132 players. Click Here to view the Registration Form Raffles: Recognizing that we wanted opportunities to raise money from sources beyond the tournament participants, we secured two significant raffle items. A $1,000 gift card from a very popular local jewelry store and 2 VIP tickets for the week to the PGA Championship at Oak Hill. We sold these tickets in the months prior to the event, which secured over $2,000 in additional revenue. On the day of the tournament we sold these raffle tickets and also ones for our miscellaneous donated items. Click Here to view the Jewelry Raffle Flyer Click Here to view the PGA Championship Raffle Flyer $10,000 Putting Contest: As part of our sponsor commitment, we also held a $10,000 putting contest that tournament participants could have the opportunity to participate in.

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Crestwood Golf Club, Marcy, NY Fairways fore Freedom Event Blueprint

Expenses: Aside from identifying ways to raise money, we looked to secure all the necessary tournament items on a donated basis. While we had some food expenses, the majority of the food was donated. Our Executive Chef delivered a first class meal for the event. Patriot Theme: We worked to build awareness and generate patriotism through a variety of approaches. From the moment our tournament was announced, we posted materials and literature, plus talked up the event at every opportunity. •  We participated in morning shows with the local media •  The Pink Hats in Combat ladies made a Patriotic Quilt to be raffled •  Military Personnel played TAPS at the opening ceremony •  The New Hartford American Legion Color Guard performed at the opening ceremony and

provided the National Anthem •  Volunteers greeted players at the 10th Hole, thanking them for their support and offering

Patriot Day pins and ball markers Tony Biata greeted each foursome on the 6th Hole, expressed his appreciation to all and told the moving story behind the Patriot Day coins before the official handshake to grant each participant their coin. Tony is an excellent ambassador for the program, maintaining his passion and enthusiasm through many hours and countless renditions of the story. This was one of the highlights of the day! Our CNY Section PGA office had an abundance of American Flags in various sizes which we were able to borrow for the event. We used these to line our driveway and decorate the facility. Our team prizes ran deep as we were able to recognize 13 places, plus a corporate team. All the event materials were packaged with high quality tags recognizing the Folds of Honor and our sponsors and coordinated with a Patriotic theme.

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The Follow-up: We are pleased to say that we’ve had nothing but enthusiastic feedback following the event. Our two title sponsors that fell through have both been in contact to say they are confirmed for 2014 sponsorships. Our current sponsors have confirmed we can continue to rely on them for support. Area golfers are all clamoring to be a part of the 2014 event. Looks like we’ll have a much higher goal for the 2014 Fairways fore Freedom event.