By Joe Pangburn
Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, February 08, 2008
In February, Tucsonans are reminded of how golf sells. The World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship will bring in millions of dollars to the area.
Golf Invite is new to Tucson in the last year and they are creating opportunities for non-profit companies and charities to put on golf tournaments themselves as fundraisers.
"The website is really a one-stop shop asset to planners who are planning an event for the first time, or for seasoned veterans who have been planning them for years," said Andy Kirk, head of Tucson’s operations. "The time savings alone is well worth it."
Golfinvite.com has been around for four years now and is based out of Chicago. The company created templates and forms online to manage almost every detail leading up an event.
For a one-time fee of $295 users can create a website for their event, send out invitations, manage reservations for players and guests, accept online payments (including paypal), manage teams, track finances and create useful reports.
"There is even a spot on the website for the event that you can sell to sponsors of the event and it will link directly to the sponsor’s website," Kirk said.
Sponsor’s links have sold for $500 to $5,000 at different events, recouping the original investment.
Kirk has been working to partner with different golf courses throughout Tucson to enable them to utilize the Golf Invite software.
"I think to this point it has been received as something that wants to take money away from them, or to replace people," Kirk said. "But they are beginning to see now that we aren’t trying to replace people or to take profits away. This is a tool that can increase the efficiency of these events. It is a way to for them to save time and money, and to make money."
Keeping with the one-stop theme, users can purchase event photography, trophies, awards, logo merchandise and apparel including golf balls, golf shirts, hats, bags, pens, cups and more.
"Basically, almost anything that you need for a tournament, we can do it," he said.
Kirk has recently helped Curt Schilling’s ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Association put together a site for an event as well as Catholic Charities in Phoenix.
Kirk likens the site to TurboTax in that it is very intuitive and user friendly. It was designed after spending a lot of time with professionals in the field who had been doing this for years. Kirk said this helped the software become intuitive enough to take care of all the common headaches and problems that happen through the process.
"It is all online, it is all organized and it is all automated," he said. "There is even a demo on the site that walks people through the process of everything involved in creating and managing a new event, step by step. A lot of people who have been doing this without software for years can be very against trying it out on the computer. Seeing the demo beforehand really has helped them feel more comfortable about using it. The ease of use is something everyone comments on when we receive feedback about the site."
Kathy Flores Bell was one who was a little apprehensive about moving to online planning. She and her husband Mike are the founders of the John P. Bell Family Foundation. They run two events throughout the year, with one being the "Little Friends Remembered" golf tournament as part of Lizzie’s Loot.
Elisabeth "Lizzie" is the Bell’s daughter who has Diamond Blackfan anemia, her bone marrow does not make any red blood cells. She has been going to UMC for blood transfusions for 13 years.
The Bells wanted to get the word out about this disease and raise money for all kinds of non-profit causes.
"Andy walked me through all of the things I needed to know to work [Golfinvite.com]," she said. "I was hesitant at first and, I am not computer literate at all, but he really wrapped his arms around our project and helped me whenever I needed it."
Last September, the Bells held their fourth golf tournament, but the first utilizing golfinvite.com.
"We went from 40 players the previous year to 61 this year," Bell said. "It is an easy way for people to register for your event online and I know at any time day or night, exactly what is going on with my event.
"With so many charities out there you really want to see them succeed. This definitely made it easier on us. Our board just voted to use them again for this year’s tournament."
If a golf tournament isn’t the right event, there are many other golf fundraising events available through Golf Invite.
Combined with a tournament, or separately, planners can hold different contests such as a putting contest, a $1 million dollar shot contest, hole-in-one wins, longest drive wins, closest to the pin wins or longest putt wins.
The flat fee also includes event liability insurance, which covers bodily injury, property damage, host liquor liability and personal injury with a $0 deductible per claim.
"It is just part of the way people can let us take care of this and they don’t have to spend three months solid working on every detail hoping they didn’t miss anything," Kirk said.
Kirk plans to continue building the business in Tucson with individuals, helping plan events and providing merchandise. And at the same time he will continue working on the golf courses in town, knowing his product is a time saver.
"We want to partner with these places and grow as we help local events grow," Kirk said. "Tucson is perfect for golf, you can almost play it year round." Golf Invite Website: www.golfinvite.com Planning site in which, for a one time fee, users can create, manage and plan a golf event. Customized merchandise can be purchased specific to the event.
Contact Joe Pangburn at jpangburn@azbiz.com or at (520) 295-4259.
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