It's been just over two weeks since we held our first charity golf tournament, LAFF for the Cure! We were thrilled, excited, pumped up, and exhausted! What a lot of work but what a lot of fun! We couldn't have asked for a better tournament in our inaugural year! Based on the feedback we've received from the players, sponsors, volunteers, and golf course staff, it was a great event and we've set the stage for an even greater event next year.MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!
Next year's tournament will be on October 8, 2012 and the theme is OKTOBERFEST! Get your lederhosen and beer steins ready! We'll be serving kielbasa, soft pretzels, wiener schnitzel, and lots of beer! No need to go to Helen, Georgia in October next year, just come to Brookfield Country Club on October 8 and play in the LAFF for the Cause tournament!Oh, did you notice the name change? We've decided that we absolutely love raising money for charities! So, in addition to the Pink Angel Street Walkers and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, we will be adding some more charities to our recipients list for next year. Our goal is to donate more than 50% of everything we collect to various charities.
We learned a lot in our inaugural year and wanted to share it with you in case you are planning a charity golf tournament in the future (or are just curious about how this stuff works).
7 Lessons Learned from the Inaugural LAFF for the Cure Golf Tournament
2. Start planning and telling people about LAFF for the Cause as far in advance as possible. This year, we came up with the idea for the tournament just 90 days before we held it! We were SOOOO naive (but SOOOO optimistic)! This year, we got 81 people to play and gave 25% of all the revenue back to the charity, so we think we didn't do too bad in our inaugural year! We're starting NOW to tell people about 2012!
3. Men should play from the blue tees and women should play from the forward tees. We heard from quite a few folks that a lot of the men were nearly driving the greens on Brookfield's shorter par 4 holes. We set it up to play shorter than normal to make sure that the pace of play was acceptable (that is, under 5 hours). Seemed like a good idea, but turned out to be a little unfair for a mixed tournament. Apparently most charity tournaments have a bias towards all men or all women....there are very few that are as mixed (up) as our LAFF for the Cause! We love that! We want everyone - husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters, best friends and significant others -- to feel welcome and comfortable playing in our tournament.4. We need to be better prepared with our "speeches." We almost missed an opportunity to recognize the cause we were supporting and to thank everyone who participated in the tournament, from the players and sponsors to the volunteers and the staff. Next year, we'll be a little better organized and prepared when everyone comes in for lunch!
5. Never underestimate the value of tangible items at a silent auction. We were a little disappointed that we didn't raise more money from our silent auction, but we think it was because the items weren't visible. We had sign up sheets, but we didn't have much information for you to read about what you were bidding on. Next year....more and better silent auction items and better descriptions!
6. Volunteers make all the difference in the world. We had about 12 volunteers -- including folks from the Pink Angel Street Walkers and a couple of close personal friends of ours -- who volunteered to do "whatever it takes" to make the tournament run smoothly. They started on Sunday afternoon setting up decorations on the golf course and worked all day Monday, monitoring holes for prizes and keeping things running smoothly in the clubhouse. You may not have noticed them, but they were the key to the success of the tournament! They worked hard, but had fun, and many of you commented on how enthusiastic and friendly they were. Next year? More volunteers!7. No matter how much we donated, the key to success is the feeling people have at the end of the day. We left the tournament exhausted, exhilarated, and enthusiastic about doing it again next year. Many people said they would come back again next year, and we can't wait! We wanted to be able to donate more than we did this year but, at the end of day, it was the feeling of doing something that matters and doing it for a great cause that really matters.
We had fun, we worked hard, and we learned a lot. Now, we can't wait until October 8, 2012 so we can do it again! We really hope you'll join us!
Debra Partridge & Karen Guest
Managing Partners
Life's a Flip Flop
www.lifesaflipflop.com
