|
Family.org
Home
PRC Centers
Find a PRC
PRC Directors
For Directors
Option Ultrasound™
Benevolent Resources
Hot Topics
Find an Answer
PRC Partners
BoardLink
Volunteer
Sanctity of Life
Support the Ministry
Donate Online
Volunteers
Pray for Focus
|
 |
| 
| 
This area is for Pregnancy Resource Centers wanting to get started in the
OUP program or needing information pertinent to the program. Giving a gift is easy. Simply follow our two-step process for safe, secure and private monthly donations.
This free monthly
e-newsletter provides guidance and practical information to Pregnancy Center boardmembers. Enter your e-mail address below to sign up. |
|
| Go for the Green!
Do traditional charity golf tournaments raise money?How much do you think the typical charity golf tournament raises in America after expenses — $20,000, maybe $50,000? You may be shocked, but try $3,500! Of course, some events do much better, but most traditional golf tournaments (those in which golfers pay an entry fee and corporate sponsors are solicited to sponsor the event) gross under $15,000. And by their very nature, most of the funds, as much as 80 percent of the total, are consumed by expenses. Is it worth pursuing a traditional charity golf event? It depends on your objective. If your objective is to host a large event for social or publicity reasons, the traditional format is very good. And yes, some do raise quite a bit of money. However, they are very time-and- labor-intensive and carry a higher financial risk. The traditional approach stacks the odds against your raising a significant amount of money. Work smarter, not harder If your event objective is to raise money, there is a much better way! Even if you are already conducting a successful traditional golf tournament, you can raise far more money under the format described below. Unlike traditional golf tournaments where the core emphasis is on golf, the format used by our clients is built around a core emphasis on fundraising; golf is simply a vehicle. In these events, which we'll call "smart events," your golfers (board members, donors, friends of the ministry) individually raise funds from their own networks. The event is volunteer-driven, not staff-driven, and you only need 8-12 weeks to organize one. Each golfer's aims to raise $2,500 in personal sponsorships through his or her own contacts. No method of raising money is more effective than the relationship-based request. People give to people, usually with little or no regard toward the cause. The result of the smart approach is that the vast majority of your funds will come from first-time donors, allowing you to broaden your donor base far beyond ardent pro-life supporters. A typical smart event is much smaller than a traditional tournament, usually involving about 30 golfers. Unlike the traditional tournament, you don't need a large event to be successful. To give you an example, we helped our local Young Life Ministry triple their 30-year golf fundraising record through a smart event, raising $100,000 with just 26 golfers! It's very important to emphasize the life-changing impact your golfers will have on others through their fundraising efforts. Money is a tool that can touch lives. By providing your ministry with greater financial resources, more lives will be touched. The more a golfer understands this fact, the more money he or she will raise because a personal vision and a sense of significance have been created. We recently introduced a new concept of bringing non-golfers to the event as a walking spectator gallery. These walkers raise funds just like golfers and can win prizes and free vacations. This concept is a fresh, innovative way to involve all of your supporters, not just golfers, in one unifying, family-oriented event. This walking event is essentially a walk-a-thon on a beautiful golf course. Our first client to try this was a small Christian school in rural Texas. They raised $104,000, with $70,000 coming from their walkers (mostly children with their moms or dads)! How do events fit in an overall development program? Your budget should never be totally event driven. The top priority should be cultivating donor relationships. Offering the right events can play a vital role in building these relationships. Smart golf events can become a strategic element of your program. They bring in large numbers of new friends of the ministry, broaden your donor base, energize your staff and constituents, and expand the awareness of your ministry. Place your new donors, who have introduced themselves to you by sending you a check, into an ongoing cultivation program to convert them into regular donors. Where do you go from here? If you want to maximize your financial return with minimized time and effort, the smart event is far superior to the traditional charity tournament format. If you are internally motivated and can find five golfers who are willing to raise funds and recruit others to do the same, you have the minimum foundation for a successful event. And to truly maximize your financial results, minimize your risk and avoid an extensive learning curve, seek the assistance of someone who has expertise in smart events. Experience is invaluable and events organized with professional expertise generally raise two to three times more money. Whatever direction you choose in your program strategy, have fun!
Copyright © 2005 Focus on the Family All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
| |||||
|
Copyright © 2008 Focus
on the Family |
|||||