As we’ve all heard plenty of times, “money makes the world go round.” In an ideal world, golf would be free and grades wouldn’t exist but hey, this is the real world. I might not be able to help you hit it on the green but I can definitely help you keep your #ClubGolf team in the green.
My experience with fundraising a college golf club team at University of Florida has been very rewarding, mainly because the more work and time the team put into it, the more money the team were able to fundraise. The money your club raised can go to regional tournaments, hotels, car rentals, gas, food, Nationals, team gear, weekend golf trips, and everything in between.
This is the part of series of tips intended to help NCCGA students run their clubs. Let me know if you want to see me tackle a specific issue.
Through the School
The first place to go for fundraising is to the school. This is because most colleges have funds set aside for students organizations and sport clubs. Every college is a little different on how they allocate funds but it shouldn’t be too hard to get in contact with student government or the recreational sports department at your college to see what options are available. I find fundraising through the school to be very similar to scholarships; they are there, most people just don’t know about them or don’t apply to them.
Outside of the School
The Delaware Club Golf team's fundraising page
Fundraising through your school is the first place to go because some colleges can be very generous. However, fundraising outside of your school is equally important.
The first place to go is to the NCCGA’s resources. The first way to better your fundraising campaign through the NCCGA is by actively using your club golf teams fundraising page, which can be found here. This is a really simple and easy way to have friends, family, parents, etc. donate to the page. People will be willing to donate because the wesbsite looks good and official. Secondly, you club golf team should compete in the #ClubGolf campaign. Just use the hashtag #ClubGolf on all of your social media posts and your team could win free dues for the semester! More information can be found on our contest homepage.
Another way to rack in some cash is to send out donation letters. We did this when we first started the Florida Club Golf Team and received about $1,400 in just a few weeks. My advice here is to get together for a practice and have everybody sit down and send out some letters. You can send letters via email, text, or phone calls but if you really want to seem official, definitely mail physical letters to their homes.
Partnerships
The UF Club Golf team participating in a club bake sale to raise money.
Next best method of fundraising is to collaborate with a business to have a fundraiser. A good example of this is a restaurant fundraiser where all of the business you bring the restaurant within a time period will not only get your friends a discount but the club golf team will also get a portion of the sales. This is called profit-sharing and most restaurants will be willing to do this because it is beneficial to both the restaurant and the club golf team.
Lastly, there are always the typical methods of fundraising we all did when we were younger such as bake sales, car washes, etc. While these can be time consuming to plan, they can be a lot of fun for the college golf team and raise some money to help the club travel, play, and by gear.
***Brandon Harrold is the 2015 NCCGA President. If you have any further questions, Brandon would like to help! Reach him on Twitter @NCCGAPresident.
