Two of the world famous Harlem Globetrotters playing for charity. Golf tournaments have become a popular findraising vehicle in recent years.

Kitsap County boasts some of the best golf courses around. It seems only natural that organizations would turn to golf as a way to combine community spirit, fun, and fundraising into a single event.

The Kitsap Home Builders Association (HBA) has held an annual golf tournament for around 25 years. Originally starting as a fun day for the HBA’s members, the organization realized over the years, as more and more members were interested in sponsoring the event, that it had a fundraising opportunity on its hands.

“The event has increased its net position every year over the last several years,” said Shanna Baird, events coordinator for the HBA. “The net position for the 2004 tournament was about $6,000. Tournaments have the potential to bring in a lot higher revenue if that is the focus, but we focus more on a fun event/activity for our members than revenue. The revenue is a bonus feature!”

Sponsorship for the HBA tournament is open to HBA members. One advantage of holding such a long-running tournament is that finding sponsorships often doesn’t take as much effort as a newer event might require.

“I typically send out a [sponsorship] flyer in our monthly events and activities bulletin and they sign up and send in the form,” said Baird. “In the past, there were years where we had to make some phone calls to boost interest in sponsorship, but our membership has grown so much that I usually sell out of sponsorships before getting to the phone call phase.”

For the last eight years, the HBA has held its tournament at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Bremerton, and this year will be no different. The HBA selected Rolling Hills, Baird said, primarily based on cost and location.

“Because our members and golfers come from all over the county to play, we focus on being centrally located so that people from the South end or the North end don’t get discouraged by having to travel too far to play,” said Baird. “We also have to consider the cost of green fees, banquet, carts, etc., as well as how accommodating the course is to our sponsors.”

Planning for the HBA tournament typically begins in March or April, with a volunteer committee, this year made up of six active HBA members and two HBA employees. The committee meets approximately six times to discuss plans, and works the details out along the way.

This year’s HBA tournament will have a Hollywood theme and will be held on Friday, July 8. Baird expects to have 144 golfers, playing in 36 teams of four, participate in the event.

Kitsap Mental Health Services (KMHS) also has a long, successful history with its golf fundraiser. The non-profit will be holding its 11th annual KMHS-Burger King Golf Classic on both courses at the Gold Mountain Golf Complex in Bremerton on Wednesday, August 17.

“The popularity of golf in this area and the wonderful golf courses here make it a natural for fundraising,” said Rebecca Wilson, director of development and community relations for KMHS. “It’s also a great way to build camaraderie among sponsors and participants.”

As the tournament’s name implies, Burger King is the event’s title sponsor, and has been for the last five years. Other sponsorship opportunities available for the event include major sponsors for each course, a sponsor for the awards dinner, driving range sponsorships, tee sponsorships, putting green sponsorships, and so on. KMHS is still in the process of securing many of those sponsorships, and relies heavily relationships in the community for sponsor dollars.

“Important connections come from relationships,” Wilson said. “Fundraising is all about relationships. We have the advantage of having a tournament that’s been around for a while. The business community often comes to us. We have a sponsorship brochure that we use sometimes, but it’s really secondary to word of mouth.”

The tournament is also has a strong following among golf participants. The organization notifies past participants of each year’s upcoming tournament with save the date notices, and many golfers, Wilson reported, return year after year.

This year will be the third year that the tournament will be held at the Gold Mountain Golf Complex, and the second year that it will span both courses. The organization chose Gold Mountain in large part because it does offer two courses, and allows the tournament to accommodate more participants.

“We have the capacity to welcome more new golfers,” said Wilson, noting that in 2004 the tournament had 230 participants. There is space for up to 280 players to participate in the tournament.

“That’s a lot of people playing golf,” laughed Wilson.

KMHS relies on a two-chair, volunteer committee of between seven and twelve people to put the tournament together, starting in early January. The day of the tournament usually requires between 35 to 50 volunteers to keep things running smoothly, with lunch and a t-shirt as their reward.

Wilson noted the challenges inherent in balancing the fundraising aspects of the event with ensuring a quality tournament. But if KMHS’s tournament’s loyal following is not a sufficient measure of success, its fundraising capability is. In 2004 the tournament netted nearly $60,000.

“It’s just great,” said Wilson.

Holly Ridge Center is a relatively new player in the golf tournament arena, with 2005 marking the fifth year of its annual Golf Classic. This year will be the first year they have a major sponsor for the tournament, Prudential Northwest Real Estate.

“We’re very excited about that,” said Sarah Roemer, development coordinator for Holly Ridge. “Finding a major sponsor is key to making a golf fundraiser successful.”

Other sponsors include UPS, the Wal-Mart Foundation, and Costco.

Holly Ridge’s tournament evolved originally because the organization was looking for a project for its board, according to Roxanne Bryson, executive director of Holly Ridge.

“It’s one way that we could get them involved in the fiduciary responsibilities of Holly Ridge,” said Bryson.

Most sponsorships, both Bryson and Roemer said, are made possible through the relationships that board and staff members have with the business community. For example, Holly Ridge’s board president, Jerry Garner, facilitated Prudential Northwest’s sponsorship of the golf classic.

While sponsorships are often financial donations, some sponsors donate goods or services, or provide a combination of both.

“It’s all over the map,” said Bryson. For example, she said, Costco provides funding but also hands out water and food at the tee they sponsor. Last year Kitsap Physical Therapy sponsored five teams, but also donated items to include in the golf bags.

This year’s tournament will be held at Gold Mountain Golf Complex, on its Olympic course on Saturday, June 18, backing it up to another tournament being held there, the Washington CLUB Charity Golf Classic, an annual, statewide event that benefits charities, including Holly Ridge. By holding Holly Ridge’s tournament immediately after the CLUB Classic, the non-profit hopes to entice some of the CLUB Classic’s players to participate in the Holly Ridge tournament, as well.

“The CLUB Classic is a huge event,” said Bryson. “We have stuck with [our tournament] because we’ve seen how the CLUB Classic is so successful.”

In 2004 Holly Ridge’s tournament raised close to $7,000.

“2005 is really a make or break year,” said Bryson. “Our goal is to net $13,000.