Feb 15, 2022

Where Are They Now? An Update from First Tee – Delaware

GS_blog_WhereAreTheyNow
GS_blog_WhereAreTheyNow

GiveSmart’s #OutsideTheRoom webinar series started in 2020 as a response to the pandemic and the organizations doing an incredible amount of work to pivot their events, adapt to the times, and still achieve fundraising success.  

For this blog, we caught up with Leslie McGuigan from First Tee – Delaware, who joined our team for episode 11 of the series in 2020, to ask how First Tee – Delaware’s fundraising has grown, changed, and improved since the last time we featured the organization.  

Question: In 2020, you joined as a speaker for an episode of GiveSmart’s #OutsideTheRoom webinar series, in which you focused on First Tee – Delaware’s events and strategies in 2020. A little over one year later, can you reflect on what you have learned, and how your fundraising has changed since we spoke last? 

Answer: Looking back to the beginning of 2020 and not really knowing where the world, let alone our organization was going, we learned so much more about resilience, and how to use a Mulligan (a do-over) when needed and not feel guilty.  

We learned that you need to think outside of your box, take chances on doing things in a different way, challenge yourself or your organization to be happy with success, and also not let the critics bring you down. What I mean about the critics in this sense, are those who could not accept a new virtual platform to fundraise in our times of great change. Take their suggestions/concerns into consideration, find a way to keep them engaged but also embrace the change so you and your organization can take advantage of the technology/platforms to succeed. 

Question: What did fundraising look like for First Tee – Delaware in 2021? 

Answer: Fundraising in 2021 for First Tee – Delaware was quite diverse. We challenged ourselves to utilize even more of the technology provided with the GiveSmart platform and how to better integrate it with our website and audience. Most of our fundraising events in 2021 were all part in-person and part online. One exception was our Virtual Guest Bartender that was 100% virtual. We continued to utilize the vote option, as well as the online auction feature which we kept open for a week after each live event. It gave us access to a broader audience as the attendees took the information with them to share with family, friends, and colleagues. We continued to utilize the ticket feature, seating/foursome arrangements, as well as all of the features of how to donate.  

In our 2021 Year-end Annual Appeal, we utilized the Champion feature for many friends of our organization to create their own FRIENDraising pages. This allowed them to go out to their personal contacts and fundraise for us on their behalf. Some got it, many did not, but we will continue to utilize it in 2022 especially when we reach out to our teenagers in the coming program season. 

Question: In your webinar, you discussed how GiveSmart allowed you to grow your audience and keep your donor information in one centralized place. How has your donor base grown over the past year, and do you have any advice for organizations looking to do the same? 

Answer: Our donor base has certainly grown over the past year with the utilization of the GiveSmart platform. With each event we plan and use in GiveSmart, we export the contact list and import it into our next fundraiser. Then we send out an initial email and text message introducing the event and asking if they want to be a part of the event or if they can pass the information along to others who they think would be interested. This platform made it easy to do so. It also made it easy for us to export our contacts and add them to our Constant Contact listing so everyone receives our weekly newsletters. Everyone certainly has the option to opt out if they want. In 2021, we had a 34% increase in our fundraising revenue. 

Question: Voting is one of the GiveSmart features gaining more and more popularity as organizations like yours use it in fun, creative, and engaging ways for donors. Can you tell us more about your 2nd Annual Virtual Guest Bartender Event

Answer: In 2021, with our 2nd Annual Virtual Guest Bartender Event, we ran it the exact way we did in 2020, as it was such a big hit and raised a significant amount of revenue. In 2020, we were all uncertain if and when we could do programming and how we would continue to fundraise. So the energy that was in the first Virtual Guest Bartender Event, was at a time of great compassion for organizations like ours.  

Unfortunately in 2021, we did not have as much energy for the event. Our community was opening up, with more events happening in person. After a year of being cooped up, many people were ready to be face-to-face. You see, the Guest Bartender Fundraising Event for First Tee – Delaware has always been a live event. Being at a local, bar, restaurant, or pub at one of our partnering courses. It was a great way of getting our Board Members together with our Coaches and Parents being able to meet everyone. Many were looking forward to doing that again, even if they had to wear a mask and slightly social distance. 

Question: Your 2021 ‘Delmarva Scramble Golf Outing & Fundraiser’, as well as several of your other events, had a large range of sponsors for everything from media sponsors to hole sponsors, hospitality sponsors, and more. Can you tell us more about your strategy of obtaining sponsors for an event, and retaining sponsors for future sponsorship opportunities? 

Answer: Our First Tee – Delaware organization has quite a unique and diverse audience. First and foremost our focus is on the participants and families and how we can keep them engaged. We set sponsorship opportunities at lower levels so they are attainable for many and not to feel left out. Then we have our partnerships with our golf courses, schools, and community centers where we hold programming. Many of those donate Gift Certificates to golf, discounted event tickets, and tutoring or lessons to those who may be in need.  

Next is our Board of Directors and Business and their contacts. Many of those have larger budgets and can sponsor or donate at higher levels. With those, in order to keep them engaged for the future or to let them know how much we appreciate the support, we offer opportunities where their names can be attached to certain programming sites or scholarships. 

Question: Near the end of 2021, you held an ‘Annual Appeal & FRIENDraising Campaign, for which you had a matching donor. How did you go about acquiring your matching donor, and what advice can you extend to your nonprofit peers to help them reach success with matching fundraisers and annual appeals? 

Answer: Our 2021 year-end Annual Appeal and FRIENDraising campaign had several matching donors. This came about when we first introduced the FRIENDraising/Champion page option to our Board of Directors and Donor & Fundraising Committee. Many of the people and companies involved there like to be kept anonymous. So, they all agreed that if people raised a specific amount of funds in certain logistical areas, or by our Board itself, they would give a matching gift. I do think in the end, this did energize those who embraced the FRIENDrasing/Champion page resource. 

Question: In your 2021 ‘Annual Mayor’s Cup’, you held an in-person event but kept your auction online and running for days after your in-person event ended. You also staggered the release of your auction items. What success did you find by hosting your auction virtually for a live event? Did you notice a difference by extending the auction and staggering auction item releases for bidding?   

Answer: In 2021, every time we had an auction connected to an event, we held the auction open for an additional week. It gave the attendees a chance to take the information home and open it up to a broader audience than we previously did not have the information or resources to reach. Now all of those are part of our contacts. The 2021 Mayor’s Cup, which was typically and to date, our largest fundraiser for our organization, we staggered the release of the auction items to keep people more engaged. It created excitement for those watching the site or reading all of the emails and texts, to see which items would interest them the most. We absolutely love the bidding wars that go on in the final hour of the auction, especially for the more luxurious Golf Courses and always the WINE baskets. 

Question: Thank you for taking the time to give us your ideas and insights. To close, do you have any additional lessons or takeaways for organizations like yours trying to utilize virtual fundraising platforms during ever-changing times? 

Answer: My advice to organizations similar to First Tee – Delaware, is to try to utilize the strengths and talents of your staff and loyal volunteers. Ask many questions of them and don’t be afraid to ask them for their time if they cannot donate financially. Many have great talents that can help your staff think in a different direction and expand on great opportunities. I would also like to end with; the investment that First Tee – Delaware made early in 2020 in the GiveSmart Platform was a risk for us at the time – that risk has paid off in great dividends. We will continue to utilize the platform as long as we can and be along for the ride as GiveSmart continues to evolve. 

First Tee – Delaware’s Mission Statement: 
We exist to enable kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges. By seamlessly integrating the game of golf with the life skills curriculum, we create learning experiences that build inner strength, self-confidence, and resilience that kids carry to everything they do. With the belief that all kids deserve the chance to grow in a supportive environment with mentors guiding them, we are dedicated to building programs that are accessible, welcoming, and as impactful as they are fun. 

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