Running a charity/fundraising tournament?

[drivinatwork]

Was wondering when running a charity/fundraiser tourney, how do you have a good payout, so players feel rewarded, and still raise money for the cause. Do players expect the payouts to be less at these type events? I know sponsorship is a big part of, but with player packs, prizes, etc. it seems like there wouldn't be much left to go toward the cause which is the reason for the tournament.

 

[zenbot]

You can make it trophy only with a minimal player's pack.

 

[JSurmann]

You can make it trophy only with a minimal player's pack.

Good advice. I'll add to this, ask companies for sponsorship in either money or in merchandise. It really doesn't even have to be DG specific items. Bottle openers, beer coozies are always welcome additions to packs. If you make it clear up front that this is going to be for charity and have a limited players pack, I doubt anyone will mind.

 

[1978]

Allow Mulligans 1 of the 2 rounds and sell them. Up to 1 per hole, have to use the mulligan shot if you take it. Who cares about the score, you are playing for the charity and hand made trophies. This format always does well in Charlotte.

 

[DiscJunkie]

I state up front that 50% of the Pro payout will go to the charity.
The AM payouts are prizes donated by business supporters.
On the other hand, we make sure that the Player's Pack is loaded (and free to us) with donations. For example, we give away two Champ discs every year to everyone who pays the $25 entry.

Edit:
Also sell Mulligans, but limit the amount that can be purchased (one two per nine holes).

 

[_MTL_]

Sanctioning is an option through the PDGA Competition Endowment Program.

The per Player fees (as long as they are matched) are donated, non members don't have to pay $10 for their non-membership fee and sanctioning is only $25.

I ran the very first ever one of these and have now ran the Raleigh Winter Jam for 7 years and it's the longest running Competition Endowment Program event.

The $25 I pay for sanctioning easily draws in 60 extra people so the fee is a small one to pay when you consider the rewards sanctioning brings.

 

[BlackAce]

I am running one this weekend and this is my format...

$20 to play. You get a player pack disc and there are not payouts.
$5 for the 50/50 CTP hole
$5 for the CTPs We have a bunch of discs donated by players/retailers as well as a bunch of items donated by local businesses. They are much more apt to give you a $20 gift card than $20 cash. So, we build these CTP packages for each hole so you may win 3-4 prizes if you hit it.

So, you are only having to pay for the player pack disc which the $20 easily more than covers. The $5 50/50 nets you $2.50 per person for free and the $5 CTP nets you all of the cash as it is all donations.

That should raise a nice pile of cash for a small investment and allow everyone to at least take a disc home but the opportunity to win a lot of prizes through the day.

 

[mashnut]

Raffles are great money makers too, like BlackAce said it's really easy to get local businesses to give small items/gift cards, have local players bring some plastic they're never going to throw etc.

 

[BlackAce]

Ah yes, raffles too! I did leave that off. Our club, which I run, stashes away collectible discs throughout the year to raffle off. Proto Stars or other First Runs are always sought after.

 

[Royal Hill]

Was wondering when running a charity/fundraiser tourney, how do you have a good payout, so players feel rewarded, and still raise money for the cause. Do players expect the payouts to be less at these type events? I know sponsorship is a big part of, but with player packs, prizes, etc. it seems like there wouldn't be much left to go toward the cause which is the reason for the tournament.

My answer: when running a charity or fundraiser event - do not hesitate to simply do that ... Run a charity or fundraiser event.

Do not lose sleep trying to serve two masters, the fundraiser and the players wanting to "their their money back"

Sure, It can be done elegantly to do some of both, but there is a freeing nature to running an unabashed charity event. if you think you can do both, then by all means go for it.

To that simple charity focus end, one can have reasonable entry, drop all risks of operation and keep the focus where you want it. Yes, you can drop the plastic end if you want. (discs, player packs, commodities) The plastic is what drives the risk. Costs of orders, minimums, carrying costs, worries over turnout and losing your shirt on something that could be much easier.

Door prizes, raffles, on course CTPs are perfect using even non DG commodities.
(prizes that are generally thought of as non skill or unearned)
Even the most simple of score recognition will suffice for recognizing "earned recognition"

There is a reason why charity ball golf fundraisers are very popular, and they generally don't revolve around commodities, trophies, or payout.

 

[Discette]

If you have a specific project in mind, such as raising money for course improvements, skip the PDGA and just charge minimal fee and get donated prizes. Raffles are an excellent way to raise funds without having to worry about providing "value". People are willing to spend $2.00 (or $20.00) to have a chance at winning a DISCatcher Sport target. They don't feel cheated if they don't win.


If you don't have a specific project or charity in mind, consider running an EDGE TCP event.

I run an EDGE Tournament Charity Program event each year. Because of this event, three schools in So Cal now have EDGE Disc Golf program as part of the curriculum. I run the event as a normal PDGA C-Tier and actually raise the funds for EDGE through a raffle held as part of the event. The event pays over 100% to both the Pros and Am players.

Here is a link to the EDGE TCP flyer: http://www.edgediscgolf.org/files/EDGE_Tournament_Charity_Info.pdf