Having a way to thank guests with golf tournament awards is important.  In the time it takes to read this article, there will have been at least one golf tournament started in the world somewhere, and during peak times of the year, more than one.  Almost every one of them has a purpose of raising money or awareness for a cause, or both.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is by providing the setting for a very memorable day on the golf course for the right group of people who may be inclined to donate and support the cause with their entry fee or other money they donate while at the event.

To provide a memorable setting, nothing can be overlooked, from the tournament committee meetings months before the event takes place, to getting celebrities involved, all the way down to the volunteers stationed on first tee, the welcome gift bags, lunch, the talent and MC’s for the ceremony and dinner afterwards.  The more you give, the more you get. It’s that simple in golf.

You should look at the people who help sponsor these events as the most important component of a golf tournament.  Without them, there is NO tournament, and no funds raised.  Sending thank you letters is also important, and calling to give a personal thank you message, and making good on any advertising claims you made in your pitch to get sponsors in the first place.

Most tournaments try to get as many items as they can donated which can save money.  But we should never overlook the personal touch, which can be much more impactful.  It’s like the difference between  getting a handwritten note vs. a computer generated literature promotional package in the mail, Sure, the literature looks like it cost more, but the old-fashioned hand-written note means a lot to people.  Therefore, a free donated 16” computer monitor may be less of a thank you than a personalized laser-etched marble plaque with the sponsor’s name read aloud to everyone at the ceremony after the tournament.

Anything that you can personalize or add the sponsor’s information on is always better.

Having celebrities get involved is also a great way to increase tournament and sponsor participation, even if they are not physically there.  What, you say?  How does this work?

Here is an example of a tournament I use to play.  A distributor of mine when I was in the software industry, the CFO had lost his son in a skydiving accident.  He was and is a great guy who decided to turn his son’s tragic death into something that could do something good for inner city kids in the Minneapolis area.  Their tournament raised money to send disadvantaged kids to camp, something his lost son would have approved of.

Like all tournaments, they started small the first year with realiastic goals for the amount they could raise.  The main thing was that they spared no expense to make the golf guests feel welcome.  They were not trying to raise it all in one year, a mistake many charities make.

Before you know it, they were including a full lunch in addition to the goodie-bags and tee prizes, which got better every year, along with golf and a sit down dinner after the day of golf & fun.  Then, the sponsors started to get more involved with having their logo put on giveaway items that also got better.  Then, people like Michael Jordon sent autographed basketballs for the after-dinner auction, and even the misic artist formerly known as Prince got involved by donating autographed items.

There were many, many, high dollar value items won and bought at auction at these events over the years but there were two things I remember the most.  One was how the lost son’s family stood up together at the end of the dinner before the auction and ceremonies to personally thank sponsors and those who made a special effort by giving them an award with their name on it.  And the second was the film they played which was complied with the help of one of their sponsor’s who would drive around the course all day putting on funny skits and interviewing us all about our thoughts.  At the end of this very professional video, they would again say thanks to all of us and then a montage of pictures and video of their family in better days when they were all together would play on the screen.  This was set to Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beuatiful To Me”.

In all the years I played in this tournament, I never saw a dry eye in the house when this video was finished playing.  To put it plainly, you could tell this family cared deeply about what their son, and brother, meant to them.  By going the extra mile in putting on a great day on the golf course and finding the right way to thank people, they were ensuring that a lot of other kids had the chance to grow up with the experiences that molded their son into the great young man he was when he passed away.

That is how to say “thank you” in the golf tournament business!

Practice, practice, practice…Enjoy Golf!

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