GOLF TOURNAMENT FUNDRAISER

A plan to raise money for D.S.S.T. athletics

OVERVIEW

A question has arisen as to how additional revenue for both the middle school and high school athletics at D.S.S.T. could be obtained without going through normal donor channels that the school taps for academic donations. One idea that shows quite a bit of promise is to host a golf tournament fundraiser. This plan will lay out how the golf tournament will be planned, the revenue projected, the expense expected, and ideas for attracting donors and golfers. Additonally, we will consider how to attract volunteers.

The idea of a holding a golf tournament fundraiser is a popular one, and for good reason. It allows D.S.S.T. to be associated with an event that many people would be doing already. That is playing golf. By working with the golf course, in this case Common Ground Golf Course located at Alameda and Havana, much of the actual planning and supervision of the event is taken care of. The remaining work required focuses on attracting sponsors, attracting golfers, and putting together the peripheral items that will help make the event memorable.

The most popular format is a scramble. The rules for a scramble are that each group is a team. They all hit a drive then decide on the best one. They then hit their second shots from that spot, and so on. The team has one score for each hole and the team with the lowest total for 18 holes is the winner.

INCOME

TOURNAMENT FEES

Dave Troyer, the Director of Golf at Common Ground Golf Course has given me a tentative price of $80.00 per golfer to cover the cost of 18 holes of golf, cart rental, use of practice facilities, and food at the end. Drinks will be taken care of by the golfers, though we may consider paying for any non-alcoholic beverages like soda and water.

We will charge each golfer $100.00 to participate in the tournament, giving us a minimum of $20.00 dollars profit for each golfer participating. We have a conservative estimate in our budget of 60 participants giving us a projected income of $6,000.00. A full tournament is 144 participants, so we obviously have space for a higher number should our efforts to attract golfers, laid out later in this plan be successful.

SPONSORS

We understand that it isn't wise to keep asking the same donors that have been so generous giving money to D.S.S.T. for more. This is why we will be looking for a different set of donors. The first place we will look is at local businesses who may not have an affiliation with D.S.S.T., but may be interested in golf tournament sponsorship. We will also be looking at other local businesses who may be interested in working with D.S.S.T. but haven't had the means, or access to do so until now.

In our projected budget, we have planned for six hole sponsors. These sponsors will, for a fee of $750.00 will have a sign with their business on the tee at one of the holes. D.S.S.T. will be responsible for the signage, however the business may do more at the tee if they wish, as long as it is in accordance with the rules of Common Ground Golf Course. We are also projecting three

cart sponsors who will have their logos placed inside each of the carts, along with anything else they may wish to add to a guest bag that will be discussed later. The fee for each sponsor is set for $900.00. Finally, we have four Hole in One Sponsors who will be hole sponsors at each of the par three holes. At each hole there will be a prize for a golfer scoring a hole in one. The sponsor will not be responsible for the prize, but may do more than the signage D.S.S.T. will provide if they wish.

The projected revenue from the total of twelve sponsors is $13,200.OO. This number could rise if we can get addtionall sponsorship for the eight other holes, as well as other possible cart sponsors.

GOLFERS

The good news about attracting golfers is that there are many avenues to advertise an upcoming golf tournament that are either inexpensive or free. Places like Black Tie Colorado and Avid Golfer Magazine are two. We can also email parents, donors, and other interested parties to inform them of the tournament. Using as many of these avenues as possible to create awareness for this fun event will get enough golfers to make this event a success. As we mentioned earlier, our estimate of 10 teams of four and 20 individuals is a conservative estimate as a full tournament consists of 144 golfers.

ADDITIONAL REVENUE

Other areas of revenue for a golf tournament come from the extra games or incentives that golfers can buy to help their game during the tournament. We have budgeted for three of these incentives.

Mulligans: Mulligans are free shots that golfers can buy to replace a bad shot of some sort. Mulligans can be purchased for $5.00, with a maximum of two per person. We have projected that 80 will be bought for a total of $400.00 dollars of revenue.

Hole in One: Every golfer will have an opportunity on the par 3 holes to make a hole in one with their regular shot to each hole that they would normally have. Should a player want to take another shot, they can buy it for $10.00 at the hole. The mulligan shots will be purchased at $10.00 for a total of $400.00 dollars of revenue.

Gimme string: Each group that plays together will be given the opportunity to buy a 24 inch length of string. The string can be used when a group barely misses the hole with their shot. They may use some of the string to “hole the shot.” An example would be that a group leaves their par putt six inches short, they can use six inches of the string to “make that putt.” We have projected that 15 gimme strings will be purchased at $10.00 for a total of $150.00 of revenue.

EXPENSES

FACILITIES

As we mentioned earlier, the fee that Common Ground Golf Course quoted was $80.00 per person. That price pays for the round of golf, the cart, the use of the practice facilities and a meal. This includes any labor, tables and chairs, and usage of their tent faciliy. We projected that 60 golfers will participate for at total cost of $1,600.00. However, we would only need to pay $200.00 beforehand to reserve our spot.

INSURANCE

There are two types of insurance that we must buy in order to make this golf tournament successful.

Hole in One: This is the insurance we use to make the prizes for the contests available. By purchasing this insurance, the responsibility for paying out prizes should a participant make the shot would rest with the insurance company and not us. We have projected a total of $500.00 needed to purchase the Hole in One insurance.

Rain Insurance: Golf is an outdoor sport, so it's important to protect ourselves should our event be rained out. We have projected a total of $200.00 needed to puchase Rain Insurance.

GIFTS AND PRIZES

There are three types of presents that we should purchase for the golf tournament.

Gift Bags: We want to make the tournament memorable so we would have gift bags for each golfer that they would receive upon check-in. This bag would include snacks and a few inexpensive, golf related items like golf balls and tees. Additionally, any donations from the cart sponsors can also be added. We have projected a total of $450.00 dollars needed to create the gift bags for each golfer.

Prizes: Many tournaments offer prizes like gift shop gift certificates for the winning team and this is a possibility, though it will cost a bit more. Our thought was to purchase trophies for the top three teams as well as for last place, best dressed, etc. Trophies are usually cheaper than gift certificates and are more personal. We have projected a total of $500.00 needed to purchase the prizes.

Sponsor Gifts: As you know, It's propor to give our sponsors gifts of thanks for helping to make our tournament a success. This can be any number of items from etched glass trophies to wine. A choice of gifts appropriate for this tournament can be made at a later date. We have projected a total of $1500.00 needed to purchase the gifts.

SIGNAGE

As mentioned earlier, it will be up to us to purchase signage for the sponsors, for check-in, the Hole in One contest, etc. We have based the cost of the signage on the twelve projected sponsors, along with a registration sign. Each sign costs roughly $18.00 giving us a projected total of

$200.00.

PUBLICITY

We believe that we can do the majority of our publicity very inexpensively, however we have projected a total of $500.00 for printing and photocopy costs. This would include letters to sponsors, registration confirmation, and possibly a sign-up website.

EVENT PLANNING

The fee for planning this tournament and coordinating all the above items needed will be 10% of the total profit. We have projected a total of $1400.00 for event planning, plus reimbursement for individual money paid to acquire materials for the tournment.

COLLECTION AND OUTLAY

At first glance, there are a lot of costs that are associated with a golf tournament, however the initial outlay of funds is not that large. The only up front costs would be for reservation of the golf course and for the insurance, a sum of $900.00. Everything else can be paid for from the money collected by the golfers signing up early, as well as from the sponsors. A pay as you go model would be the best way to make sure that D.S.S.T. is not putting out a large amount of money.

VOLUNTEERS: Because the money raised from this tournament will be used for D.S.S.T. athletics, we thought that the kids playing on the teams could help with parts of the tournament. This would serve two purposes. The first is that the golfers and sponsors can meet and interact with the people their participation is helping. The second is that the kids could see that there are people in the community who are interested in helping them. There are three main areas where kids could be used as volunteers.

Registration: We could have kids helping to make sure that golfers know where to go, help them get their bags to their carts, and make sure they feel welcome.

Caddies: Kids would ride with the groups and help make the golfers round more enjoyable. Common Ground Golf Course already has a high school caddy program so it would be easy for the kids to be trained.

Reception: At the post-tournament reception, kids could help with food service, clean up , and prize distribution among other things to help make the after event more memorable.

Tips for the kids' services would be accepted at several locations around the golf course. The money would then be pooled together to buy those kids that volunteer D.S.S.T. warm-up suits. CONCLUSION:

There are several ways that D.S.S.T. can raise additional money for the athletics department. A golf tournament is just one, but we believe that a tournament gives D.S.S.T. the opportunity to

reach out to different populations of potential supporters. The tournament will, hopefully, allow us to obtain the monetary resources that will help athletics flourish without taking resources away from D.S.S.T.'s ultimate objective, creating a first class education.