Virtual & Hybrid Golf Fundraisers Help Organizations Plan for Uncertainty
Uncertainty has many nonprofits wondering what to do with in-person fundraisers in the upcoming event season. Golf events have proven to be especially important amid COVID-19, giving organizations the flexibility to quickly adapt to local circumstances and comfort levels to hold a successful fundraiser. Socially distanced in-person events as well as virtual and hybrid tournaments provide event organizers with options and the flexibility they need to move forward one way or another. Here’s how they work and what you need to know to start planning.
WHAT’S A VIRTUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT?
A virtual golf tournament isn’t a video game, Zoom call, or online experience—it’s real golf that’s played remotely and leverages technology to collect registrations, scores, and digital sponsorships. Rather than gathering at the same golf facility at a specific date and time, golfers or teams play when it’s convenient for them and essentially donate their round to a good cause.
Virtual golf events have several innate advantages, safety and social distancing being key in the age of COVID-19. But the appeal of virtual events goes well beyond the pandemic. They present substantial fundraising opportunities, they attract more supporters, there are little to no overhead costs, and there’s essentially no limit to the number of people who can golf in support of your organization’s mission. With the right technology, virtual golf tournaments are easy, lucrative, and fun.
how a virtual event works:
One or more courses are chosen for the event and a duration is set (typically a weekend, week, or month).
Players and teams register online. Their registration is essentially a donation directly to your cause, and you collect their information to add to your donor database.
Sponsors purchase packages online and get broad digital exposure, all through the event website.
Golfers book their tee time directly with the course and play when convenient.
Players and teams check in to the tournament via a mobile app and submit their scores using the app’s scorecard. Aggregate leaderboards appear on the event website, which can be shared through your organization’s digital channels to keep supporters engaged throughout the event.
Winners are announced. Use this opportunity to thank players and sponsors and perhaps even make an additional ask.
WHAT’S A HYBRID GOLF tournament?
A hybrid event gives you the best of both worlds. It’s as simple as running a virtual round alongside your in-person event, perhaps the week or weeks before or after the tournament or over the whole month. The hybrid option gives golfers who would rather support your organization by playing a round on their own, have a scheduling conflict, or missed registering for the on-site event before it sold out the chance to participate.
The hybrid approach also gives your organization a built-in backup plan. Best case scenario—both events move forward and you attract even more players and sponsors than a traditional one-day outing. But if the in-person event needs to be canceled or modified, the virtual round can proceed without interruption. Further, adding a virtual round to a traditional event gives you another way to grow your golf fundraiser. If your event typically sells out, adding a virtual round lets more supporters play for your cause without having to add a second day to the traditional fundraiser and incur additional costs.
Here’s how a hybrid event works:
One or more courses (including the course being used for the traditional event) are chosen for the event and a duration is set (typically the weekend or week before or after the event, or the whole month in which it occurs).
Players and teams register online. When the field for the traditional event sells out, players and sponsors can still support the event via the virtual round. Those interested in only the virtual round also register online.
Sponsors purchase packages in support of the traditional event, virtual round, or both with broad exposure.
Virtual round golfers book their tee time directly with the golf course and play when convenient.
Those participating in the traditional event play their round on the specified date with social distancing protocols in place. Folks registered for the virtual round play on their own time and submit their score via mobile app to the aggregate leaderboard.
Winners are announced for both the traditional event and virtual round, keeping the overall event fair and competitive.
WHY SHOULD MY ORGANIZATION CONSIDER A VIRTUAL OR HYBRID EVENT?
If 2020 taught event organizers anything, it’s that they need to be able to seamlessly pivot events and that backup plans are more valuable than ever. The beauty of a virtual round, whether it’s the primary focus of the tournament or held in tandem with an in-person outing, is that it gives you options, flexibility, and the ability to quickly change formats if it becomes necessary.
A virtual event is also low risk, with the potential for high reward. Golf is more popular than ever, and a virtual round allows you to engage more supporters over an extended period of time. The ability to offer broad digital exposure makes sponsorships attractive to a wide variety of companies who want to get their brands in front of an affluent demographic of golfers. What’s more, the costs of a virtual round are minimal because there is often no need to rent the entire golf facility and incur green fees.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
Technology is crucial to a successful virtual or hybrid event. It all starts with a professional event website, where you can collect registrations, list and sell digital sponsorships, and easily communicate information and updates to supporters. You’ll also need live scoring functionality, online leaderboards, and the ability for supporters to make donations before, during, and after the event.
With golf event management technology available to qualifying nonprofits through GolfStatus.org’s Golf for Good program at no cost, it’s simple and low-cost to add a virtual option or go completely virtual. Get qualified for Golf for Good by clicking below or email us at [email protected] to get started.