Quality, complete donor data is imperative to a nonprofit's fundraising efforts. Donor data is more than just contact information; it allows organizations to track what’s important to their donors and reach them with targeted messaging, helps development teams hone in on targets for major gifts, provides insight into which outreach efforts are working and how well, and allows organizations to segment supporters in ways that maximize fundraising outcomes.

The benefits are numerous, yet there are key areas that escape the data capture and tracking mechanisms of even the most savvy, data-centric organizations. In particular, while the golf outing attracts a crucial demographic of high-capacity donors, existing and potential corporate sponsors, and their contacts, without the right tools, it’s quite common for those supporters to go unidentified. This is especially true for organizations benefiting from events run by third parties. Here’s why this data is so important and how to collect it.

Capturing golfer information is just as crucial to outreach as it is fundraising and donor stewardship.

Why Golfer donor Data Matters

The basic reality is this—you can’t use information that you don’t have. If your golf event participants aren’t in your donor database, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to steward potentially major donors over time. Golfers typically represent an affluent, influential audience:

When these supporters tap into their personal and professional networks to field a team, your organization is exposed to even more high-level supporters. What’s more, tournament sponsors are ideal candidates for corporate partnerships, with the potential to become even more valuable to your organization over time. In short, capturing golfer donor data is just as crucial to outreach as it is to fundraising and donor stewardship.

Easy & Seamless Data Collection

Collecting donor and sponsor data from your golf fundraiser is simpler than you might think. The key is online registration. Instead of tracking emailed signups or manually entering golfer and sponsor information from mailed registration forms into multiple spreadsheets that quickly become outdated, online registration automates the process. That means no additional work from you or your committee and an all-around easier planning experience. You save time and golfers and sponsors have all the information they need to register online, purchasing teams, add-ons, and sponsorships.

If your organization is the beneficiary of one or many events hosted by a volunteer, business, or other third party, the process of gathering donor and sponsor data for these events might be even more convoluted. Smart, nimble technology centralizes these events into a single platform, while still allowing them to run independently. This gives you the best of both worlds as a beneficiary: others raise funds on your behalf and you’re still able to capture data for longer-term donor stewardship initiatives.

Well-thought-out hole assignments ensure that donors and sponsors form meaningful connections at your golf outing, making the event an important networking opportunity they won’t want to miss year after year.

What Do I Do With This Information?

As they say, knowledge is power. Data helps you maximize donor relationships, giving you valuable insight into who supports your organization and why. Having a strong handle on who’s participating in your golf outing (whether for the first time, year over year, as part of another donor’s foursome, or in some other fashion) allows you to maximize fundraising efforts.

And while attracting new participants is important, repeat attendees, sponsors, and donors are typically more engaged and more generous than new participants, so getting these people to your fundraiser year after year should be a focal point. Re-engaging with participants who have missed a year can also be an effective way to attract active supporters to your organization.

When your golf event data is organized in one easily accessible place, you can be intentional about using it to maximize the value of your golf event, both to your organization and to donors. For example, you wouldn’t put a major donor’s table in the back corner of a gala’s dimly lit ballroom. Instead, you would strategically group tables with sponsors who may form meaningful connections near each other. This is perhaps an even bigger consideration for a golf event, where many major sponsors are eager to talk business over their hours on the course—making well-thought-out hole assignments (and an easy way to coordinate them) especially important.

The right event management platform will be intuitive enough to collect basic information right at registration without frustrating or overwhelming registrants (leading them to abandon cart instead of following through with their registration). An intuitive golf event management system makes it easy to export event data and seamlessly add it to your organization’s CRM. Using source codes, tags, or other batch notations is important to track who played in, donated to, or sponsored the event and at what level during what year or years. This information can then be leveraged with the other relevant donor information in your CRM to make meaningful and timely asks, including donations, support for other events, and invitations to future golf events.

Getting Started

Whether your golf fundraiser is right around the corner or months away, there’s one simple, impactful thing you can do right now to make sure you’re ready to capture and capitalize on the data it produces: Launch an event registration website that’s backed by a platform that can handle the nuances of capturing the golf event’s important donor data.

Online registration is your best bet to easily capture and manage your event’s donor information, eliminating time-consuming, duplicative data entry. Most event management platforms aren’t equipped to handle the unique set of details that come with a golf event, so it’s critical to choose a platform that’s built for golf. You’ll want tools and features to track golfer information, sponsorship levels, team pairings, and hole assignments so you don’t have to do all that work manually. Be sure the technology you choose allows for custom sponsorship packages and recognition, digital sponsorship exposure, and the ability to collect online donations before, during, and after the event. Finally, it needs to have the capacity to easily export data so it can be loaded into your donor CRM for future asks and outreach.

Event website backed by a platform that can easily manage all your events needs.

Get a Free Event Registration Website With Golf for Good

Worried that an event website will take a huge chunk out of your limited event budget? Qualifying nonprofits (and third parties planning events that benefit a nonprofit or charity) can get a free event website, plus access to GolfStatus’s golf event management and fundraising platform at no cost through the Golf for Good program. Click the button below to get qualified or contact us directly at events@golfstatus.org.

GolfStatus is a golf event management platform designed for all this and more. Access to this technology is available at no cost to qualifying nonprofits (or event organizers planning events that benefit a 501(c) organization) through our Golf for Good program.

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