A friend and I have been putting together plans over the past few months to start our own fundraising event (hopefully) next summer, benefitting one of the local charities. We've decided that the format won't be a scramble, but a 2-man best ball. Verifiable handicaps will be required. We're hoping to drum up enough local support to afford some nice prizes for the first three (net) places... and we'll also award a top prize for low-gross.
We'll also throw in an optional skins game ($20/team) that will be paid out to each team winning a skin. And we won't shame the skins winners into donating the money back to the charity... we will encourage them to keep it.
The way I see it - if you run a good tournament, if you can host it at a reasonably nice course, and you can get golfers who enjoy competing in a fair and competitive event that offers something real in return for playing well - you stand a very good chance of having good turnout the next event you host. But finding volunteers to help and establishing a committee has been more difficult than we anticipated. But we're still trying.
Unfortunately there is a negative stigma attached to most run-of-the-mill charity fundraisers at the local level, and even more unfortunate is the fact that most of the time the stigma is well-deserved. Some of the most enjoyable fundraisers I've ever played in were hosted at nice venues, were well managed, offered nice prizes and decent food afterward. We're not talking steak dinners, but beer, burgers and dogs and a BBQ grill. Trying to make money off of food is a major pitfall imo. I've never made a decision to play in a tournament because of what was on the menu, but I have made a decision based on how much the entry fees cost. Quite frankly, I'd rather have baked beans, burgers and dogs than some of the crap I've eaten at these events over the years. Keeping the food expenses reasonable is an important part of the overall deal imo.
It's an enormous amount of work, but it's no less necessary. It doesn't hurt that a good friend of ours is very much involved in local business circles, and is acquainted with some of the local sports celebrities in Philly and NY. He very much believes we can get at least a couple of groups of former NFL/NBA players to play, which could be extremely helpful as far as turnout goes.
We have a blueprint, we know what we want, we know what needs to be done. And a lot of what needs to be done needs to happen over the next few months, so it will be a time-sensitive endeavor to be sure. But I think the proceeds could be significant and could certainly help the local charity we're involved with, which makes it worth the time and effort.