Going for the Green!: An Insider's Guide to Raising Money With Charity Golf

How profitable is golf as a fundraiser? The numbers speak for themselves.

According to the National Golf Foundation,

* An estimated 140,000 charity tournaments take place each year ...
* Drawing 15 million players ...
* And raising a gulp-inducing sum of $3 billion for everything from cancer research to special education.

If you're late to the tee and want to launch your own tournament, or enhance an existing one, then Tom King's book, Going for the Green!, is a 300-yard drive straight down the middle.

A veteran tournament organizer, King knows charity golf inside and out. And because he's been in the trenches (or, more aptly, the bunkers) for three decades, King is a realist. From the very first page, he pays homage to the possible headaches, risks, and exhaustion involved in this event. Nonetheless, "a golf tournament may be the hardest work you'll ever love," he contends.

In Going for the Green! King covers everything an organizer needs to know: when to start your planning; how to attract players; recruiting the right volunteers; the costs involved; choosing the best format; when to schedule your tourney; how to secure sponsors; how to computerize the process; how to cope with the myriad details on tournament day; and how to evaluate your event to make it better next year.

Another notable strength of Going for the Green! is its extensive appendix. King is so committed to making your event a success that he offers a slew of tip sheets including: a checklist of tasks you need to accomplish six months out; a budget worksheet; a description of different tournament formats; seventeen job descriptions for specific volunteers; a look at some quirky formats; sample sponsorship levels; a description of sidebar events to add interest; and even a glossary for neophytes