Marketing

To have a successful charity golf tournament, you need to get the word out and get players to register. To do that you'll need to market it well and strategize player recruitment tactics. Below we will discuss different marketing avenues you could use for your charity golf event.

External Marketing

Word of mouth has changed from the days of seeing someone at the store or calling them on the phone to tell them about an event to short texts or emails. Because of this shift, having a website should be an important part of your marketing strategy. That way people can easily send their friends the tournament's information through a quick link via text or email.

Golf Tournament Website Should Include

Times
Costs
How much money to raise
Online registration capabilities
Sponsors
Sponsor sign up form through the site
Well known players' photos and bios
Information about the course
Contact information
Information about the cause/charity
Event day activities
Items up for auction (if there's an auction)
Contests
Prizes available
Food available
How to volunteer for the event

Local Media Outlets

Local news outlets are very beneficial when putting together a tournament. Putting together a press release to alert local news, radio, and event websites is an important step in promoting your event. However, don't stop with just a press release. Many local TV news companies, and local newspapers are looking for lighthearted stories to feature. Ask them to do a small interview about the golf tournament and what your charity's cause is. Be sure to also see if the event can be posted in the local news' online event guides.

Another great option is to find out what regular donors are business owners. See if any of them or your sponsors have radio blocks they purchased that they're not going to use. If they're not going to use them, they could possibly donate them to you.

Expand Marketing Efforts

Not only the charity but the golf course benefits from hosting the event at their course. Since the golf course is going to get more business by hosting an event at their course, don't be shy when it comes to asking them about helping you market the tournament. Ask if they will mention it in their monthly newsletter or send out a separate email mailer to all of their members and subscribers. Encourage them to advertise the event on their website with a homepage slider or event logo that links to your website.

Internal Marketing

Don't forget to market to your audience. The community your organization has built over the years is an excellent group of people to market to. Make personal phone calls to all your top donors. Send out an email to all your past donors. Include new information each month leading up to the tournament in the monthly newsletter to get people excited about it. Make the event prominent on the charity's homepage and link to the tournament page/website.

To get the registration process rolling, there are a few tactics you can harness. Require board members to reach out to their network to gain sponsorships. Ask all your supporters and suppliers to sign up and spread the word. One idea is to give recruiting incentives to those who sign up other people or a foursome. Incentives don't need to be costly, they can be items such as golf gloves, golf balls, or golf towels that you personalize on golfballs.com. You could take it one step further and turn it into a contest for referring the most amount of players.

Social media can reach people you would never expect it to. That's why it's important to market the event on popular social networks actively. Set up a Facebook event and ask people on the charity's board, your volunteers, well-known players, and other relevant people to invite people to the Facebook event to get the word out.

Schedule regular unique posts on all outlets. Instagram and Facebook are great places to feature auction items and prizes given away during the event. Tweet about who's sponsoring, the number of players already registered and the amount of money already raised.

Facebook Ads

Online ads are a great way to do focused advertising. Facebook ads allow you to target people based on Facebook pages they've liked, age, location, and other variables. Target people living near the tournament that have liked neighboring courses, community pages, and sponsors' pages.

Marketing at the Tournament

The day of the event doesn't mean marketing is over. You'll want to market your sponsors and your charity throughout the tournament. Some ideas include having an option for sponsors to sponsor a hole. Also, you could set up a factoid about your charity or cause at each tee box. Be sure to keep the marketing going by adding personalized sayings or the charity/sponsors' logo on welcome gift bags. Remember to incorporate branding on the trophies and prizes.