End-of-year giving is crucial for nonprofits. Motivated by the generosity of the holiday season and a last-minute opportunity for a tax-deductible donation, donors give about $48 billion to nonprofits in the last two months of the year (on average). What’s more, nonprofits see about 30% of their annual giving occur in December.
If your nonprofit hosted a charity golf tournament this year, you have a unique pool of engaged supporters who can help boost the success of your year-end efforts. Here are eight strategies to connect with golfers and sponsors to increase your nonprofit’s year-end giving results.
1. Capture Donor Data
The importance of this step can’t be understated—capturing this valuable information when folks register for your golf tournament or make a donation during the holiday season not only lays the foundation for additional donor stewardship and long-term support, but reduces stress on you and your staff. Collecting this data online significantly cuts down your administrative time, making the dollars go further. Simply download this information and add tags for tracking purposes and include it in your organization’s donor database.
Pro Tip: Golfers are a valuable demographic to have in your donor database. They’re typically generous, affluent, and influential, with an annual household income twice the national average and a net worth of over $760,000.
2. Reconnect With a Personalized Appeal
The people who participated in your golf tournament—whether by playing in the event or sponsoring it—have already demonstrated their support for your cause. As you launch your year-end giving campaign, reconnect with them with a personalized appeal that acknowledges their previous involvement with your nonprofit. Remind them of the impact they helped make with the golf tournament (in tangible terms) and invite them to continue their support by making a year-end gift.
Pro Tip: Use the donor data collected in your golf tournament management software to help segment your email list to specifically target participants. Reference the tournament in your messaging and stress how their year-end gift will build on the success of the event.
3. Leverage the Tournament Experience
Golf tournaments are memorable experiences, leaving participants with a strong connection to your nonprofit's cause and the community. Capitalize on these emotions by sharing highlights from the tournament in your year-end appeal. Leverage photos, videos, and testimonials from the golf tournament to remind folks of the fun they had and, more importantly, of the impact they made. The reminder of the tournament experience can be a powerful motivator for additional giving!
Pro Tip: Create a short video montage of tournament highlights, ending with a call to action to keep the momentum going with a year-end gift. Share it with your email list and on social media. Be sure to tag sponsors and participants when possible and appropriate.
4. Highlight Specific Needs, Projects or Programs
Donors are generally more likely to give when they know exactly how their gift will be used. In your appeal to golfers, sponsors, corporate partners, and volunteers from the golf event, highlight specific needs your nonprofit has or special projects their donations will support. Whether you’re looking for funds to launch a new initiative, expand an existing program, or even cover operational costs, it’s important to clearly communicate how their donation will make an impact.
Pro Tip: Offer present giving amounts on your donation website or giving page with descriptions of what each level will do—in tangible terms. For example, “A donation of $250 provides equipment for 10 kids in our after-school sports program” or “Your gift of $100 helps prepare two dogs in our shelter for adoption.”
5. Offer a Matching Gift Challenge
A matching gift challenge can double the impact of each donation. Knowing their gift will go even further is an enticing proposition for potential donors! Reach out to your golf tournament’s title sponsor or other major sponsor to see if they are willing to provide matching funds for your end-of-year campaign. You might even target such a campaign to tournament participants and emphasize that their donation will be doubled! Work directly with the sponsor to see what kind of recognition or exposure they would like for their role in the challenge, such as updating your tournament website to reflect their support.
Pro Tip: Your tournament website is a great place to collect donations from golfers and keep all tournament-related funds in one place. Use the site and social media to keep supporters updated on the campaign’s progress toward its goal.
6. Incorporate Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that kicks off the year-end fundraising season. It typically occurs the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving (following the retail-heavy days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday). The idea is to encourage people to do good, and in many cases, that means donating to their favorite nonprofit(s). Re-engage your golf tournament participants by launching your year-end campaign on Giving Tuesday and using it as a springboard for the rest of the year. Share stories of impact from your golf event and encourage golfers to donate and challenge others to do the same!
Pro Tip: Run a social media campaign leading up to Giving Tuesday, using any photos or videos from the event or testimonials from attendees or beneficiaries. Combine the social media campaign with targeted emails to your golf tournament segment leading up to and on Giving Tuesday.
7. Utilize Your Event Website for End-of-Year Giving
Your tournament’s website is a great place to capture year-end donations from golf tournament participants (and other supporters). Reactivate it for your giving campaign and direct calls-to-action to the event website. The familiarity of the site can make it easier for supporters to contribute with a few easy clicks and without the need for any additional setup.
Pro Tip: Update the content of your event site to focus on year-end giving, highlighting the impact of the golf tournament. You might even drop a save the date on the site if you have next year’s tournament date and location set!
8. Recognize & Thank Donors (More Than Once!)
Donor recognition and appreciation are key to building long-term relationships and encouraging future gifts. As part of your year-end giving campaign, ensure you promptly acknowledge and thank your golf tournament participants for their donations. Your golf tournament management platform should include the ability to customize receipts and donation acknowledgment emails. Use this to help automate the process of providing a donation receipt, but don’t skip following up with a personalized thank you.
Pro Tip: Tap into your golf tournament’s planning team or board of directors to write handwritten thank you notes or make a quick thank you phone call to golfers and sponsors who donate to your year-end giving campaign.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
By strategically engaging your charity golf tournament participants in your nonprofit’s end-of-year giving drives, you can build on the momentum created at the golf event and boost fundraising results. These supporters have already demonstrated a commitment to and connection with your nonprofit and its cause—use this time of year to your advantage and deepen the connection by encouraging them to make a lasting impact as the year comes to a close.
A golf-specific event management platform is key to a successful golf tournament and can be leveraged to further engage with golfers and sponsors throughout the year. Look for a platform that includes an attractive, customizable event website; a seamless checkout and donation process; robust back-end reporting capabilities; and a responsive support team there to help every step of the way.