Relationships Key to Fund Raising

by Lewis Howes | August 6th, 2010 | View Comments

(This is a guest article by Dan Westervelt)

There are many reasons why golf fund raising events fail, but without this one element being present, the chances of survival are almost nil. It is the reason why sponsors decide to support, golfers decide to play and volunteers decide they want to serve your cause. In a word, it is relationships.

The three main components of the human side of a tournament are golfers, sponsors and volunteers. All three are readily available to you if you have a relationship and it is strong enough to justify their participation. Obviously a close friendship is the best but a consistent trade association between a client and vendor are of about the same weight.

As with any relationship, it must be respected, so approach this solicitation as though you were asking permission to do something beneficial for a family member. While you need to be sure to have all the reasons ‘why’ addressed, spend even more time getting ready for the ‘why not’s?’.

Listen carefully to all the objections you hear. These are really just road maps to where you’d like the conversation to end, that is a “yes, I’ll do it”. These are the hesitations, stalls and questions you must address successfully to get them there. In my view, they are the most important part of the sales conversation as they determine both the tone and content of your reply as well as the overall result.

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Boys and Girls Club of America Winners during The Decision

by Matt Clark | July 9th, 2010 | View Comments

So this week would not be complete if I went through this entire saga regarding LeBron James and did not write about him once. I know everyone is sick of hearing about it, but for some reason everyone keeps reading the tabloids and listening to the countless information put out by the media. Everyone complains about it but than he or she plays devil’s advocate and wants to learn more about it anyways. I am not sure if there was a connection with the scorching temperatures that plagued the east side of the country this week, but LeBron decided he also wanted to be part of the “heat” epidemic.

Okay LeBron is on the Heat, we get it, but South Beach was not the only thing that came out a winner in the sweepstakes for King James. This article actually has little to do with the blockbuster deal that recently took place, but rather focusing on the wise choices made by the Boys and Girls Club of America.

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Myths and Realities of Celebrity Golf Tournaments

by Lewis Howes | July 5th, 2010 | View Comments

(This is a guest article by Dan Westervelt)

Celebrity, n. A person who is easily recognized and thus considered ‘famous’ in society.

These people are excellent to have at your golf tournament. They bring not only media attention, but also more money, players, sponsor, fans and sometimes even paying spectators. Because of their WOW factor there are many myths that have sprung up concerning celebrity appearances at golf tournaments and what it takes to get them to come. Actually it is much simpler than you realize. This article debunks some of the more popular myths about getting celebrity players for your charity golf event.

Myth: Celebrity events cost a lot of money to put on because of celebrity appearance fees.
Reality: Celebrities donate their time for the cause. Their usual appearance fees vary anywhere from $5,000-$25,000 per day, but these do not apply because the celebrities have agreed to’ donate their time’.

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The Importance of Brand Loyalty

by Lewis Howes | June 18th, 2010 | View Comments

(This is a guest article by Anthony Alsop)

When it comes to basketball shoes (or as the kids call them, “kicks”) we all know the big brands like Nike, Adidas and Reebok, but there are some new players starting to enter the market.

In recent times the shoe industry has seen a ‘land grab’ of NBA players like Baron Davis, Jason Kidd, Shane Battier, Ron Artest and Damon Jones who have all signed with Chinese shoe companies. Recently, There was news that Kevin Garnett has reportedly signed with a Chinese company too, partnering with sports apparel firm ANTA. Garnett is leaving Adidas even though he signed a lifetime contract with the company back in 2003, and will be joining his fourth shoe company (he had previously been with Nike and And1).

Just like with traditional marketing, is there brand loyalty when it comes to sports apparel?

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The World Cup Brings Big Opportunities For Brands

by Ash Read | May 10th, 2010 | View Comments

The World Cup is the world’s biggest sporting event, and I can hardly wait. There is something special about this tournament. It attracts a wide audience of people from different cultures and very few other sporting events can evoke such emotion and passion from across the globe.

This World Cup is also the first in the social media age, and is set to eclipse any event covered on social media previously – including the Super Bowl and US elections. Football (soccer) fans have never been shy to let their feeling be known and now social media has allowed millions of fans to come together on a common ground (Twitter, Facebook) and discuss the events unfolding.

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Legends, Sunburst & Silver Chalice Big Players in Partnerships

by Tyler Johnson | May 3rd, 2010 | View Comments

Legends Hospitality Management

The name definitely encapsulates the partners’ reputations in their given leagues and by no stretch the status of their owners as well. By the fall of 2008 the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Goldman Sachs had formed a food and retail company in Legends Hospitality Management LLC. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees and Jerry Jones’ Cowboys will each own 34%, with the rest being owned by Goldman Sachs and CIC Partners LP. Goldman Sachs and CIC will provide financing for the company.

The move was a change for both teams as Centerplate Inc. operated the Yanks Park for 40 years and the Cowboys had operated their concessions at Texas Stadium for the past 20 years. Their entry into the industry was well timed. With the Yankees unveiling their $1.3 billion coliseum and the Cowboys unveiling their $1.1 billion dollar playground in 2009, pair with the fact Legends identified a dozen professional sports venues with food service contracts expiring in 2009. Former Pizza Hut President and managing partner at CIC Mike Rawlings was named the CEO.

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Classic Golf Tournament Mistakes

by Lewis Howes | April 27th, 2010 | View Comments

(This is a guest article by Dan Westervelt)

Mistake 1: We’ll rent a golf course that charges a $65 green fees and charge our golfers $165 to play in the event. While this may seem like a reasonable price you must remember that golfers are very familiar with the local courses and their green fees. Better to offer them a higher priced course to justify the increased fee, golfers will pay more for perceived value i.e. it is far easier to sell an event on a $150 course at $250 than a $65 course for $165.

HINT: Private club green fees are now definitely negotiable and sadly, people don’t bother to ask about them about their current rates, you will be surprised by doing so.

Mistake 2: Our format has always worked with our golfers so we’ll stick with what worked last year. The big problem with this thinking is that as golfers improve their needs change, for example a starting golfer is very happy to play in a scramble format. An advanced golfer probably is not, they either want to play their ball throughout the match or at least have a more hands on approach in play. SOLUTION: Before you announce the format, survey the golfers from last year, ask if they would prefer a change?

HINT: This should be a part of your regular tournament promotion activity anyway, as once you have hosted a golfer, you need to stay in touch with them about upcoming events and a short 3 question survey is the way to gain valuable information before making this mistake.

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Economy a Factor In Revenue From Partnerships

by Tyler Johnson | April 26th, 2010 | View Comments

Economical shifts in baseball have been in motion since 1997 when MLB officially granted the commissioner the power to unequally distribute the revenues from the Central Fund. Previously they were distributed equally. It was the fall of 2006 when the players association and MLB reached the current five-year agreement in which each team contributes 34% of their local revenues*. These local revenues are consisted of local television & cable rights fees, gate receipts, concessions, parking, suite rentals, postseason revenues, advertising & public relations, and spring training. Estimated that local revenues are 70% to 80% of teams’ total revenues, economic factors such as attendance, per capita income and other standard statistical census figures are largely responsible for the level of total revenue each team collects. In 2007, over $300 million was transferred from high to low revenue teams.

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Driving Value for Event Sponsors

by Lewis Howes | April 13th, 2010 | View Comments

(This is a guest article by Dan Westervelt)

One of the first mistakes that inexperienced event planners make with golf tournaments is to ask for donations for arrival gifts. This usually results in a hodgepodge of miscellaneous and unrelated logo’d merchandise like pens, mouse pads, drink cozies in a recycled plastic bag. What message does this send to the players? This is an unprofessional/budget event. The problem with this is that your experienced players have come to expect a quality arrival gift and will judge your tournament very harshly without it, i.e. they won’t be back next year.

Solution? Find a sponsor for the arrival gifts and buy nice ones, like leather duffel bags, shoe bags, a golfer kit, or maybe a valuable pouch to clip on their golf bag. These all come with your sponsor’s logo on them so look for items that can be attached to the golfer’s bag. Classy but inexpensive, keep in mind this is the ‘first impression’ your tournament makes on these golfers, and they are your next year’s starting lineup of repeat players. The average successful event spends $30- $40 per player on these items. A 100 man event times the $30 budget is $3,000 but you sell this package for $4,000.

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Social Media as Sponsorship Street Cred

by Kris Mathis | February 3rd, 2010 | View Comments

Fact: blue chip brands receive thousands of sponsorship proposals every year. Estimate: there are some 300,000 properties seeking sponsorship (depending on the way you define it).

How do you break through the relentless clutter to get the ear and sincere consideration of a sponsorship decision maker? A well researched and tailored proposal may increase your chances, but these days there are a lot of other properties spending a lot of time doing the exact same thing on the sponsor you’re targeting.

Fact is, when you’re submitting a proposal to a blue chip brand that gets flooded by proposals (especially when you’re submitting through a proposal management system), it’s a stretch to think that every proposal will get an in depth review on the merit of its own ideas. Actually some systems rate your proposal against a scorecard for the sponsor so that they don’t even have to read the proposal or see your “vision,” only the nuts and bolts. This may be deflating considering many properties spend 1-2+ hours on each tailored proposal. Keep reading to find out how you may be able to make it out of the pile.

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