The Princess' Guide: Gotta Love Those Bon-Bons....

Bet you've been wondering where I've been.

Yep. You're right.

Sittin' on the couch eating Bon-Bons and watching Days of Our Lives.

I wish.

The fact of the matter is, it's hair on fire and something's catching around here.

I traded in my Bon-Bons for Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and Days of Our Lives for the Elementary School Yearbook.

And that's not all....

Last week I went to a REALLY great class on how to pull off a Fundraiser Golf Tournament. The number one rule? Everyone on the committee must play golf.

I'm out.

That being said, the class was unbelievably informative. I took 20 pages of notes (TWENTY!) and much of it carries forth no matter what you're doing.

So here's the scoop... I'm going to share some of my golf notes with you, but I'm going to have to do it in installments. So you'll have to check back from time to time. But seriously, the Yearbook is due to the printer BY MONDAY, and it's not going to do itself.

So... Here goes....

The #1, most important question you have to ask yourself, before you can even think about what to wear to the tournament....

Is a Golf Tournament right for you?? Just so you know.... The average tournament takes six months to plan and nets, on average, $5000. That means if you're looking to plan a tournament for October, you needed to start yesterday.

To guarantee success, you must have two things... You must know golfers, and you must have a committee. This is far too much work for 1-2 people -- even if they're fueled by Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and Starbucks Chai Lattes.

Step #1 (And this works no matter what you're doing...)

Treat it like a business. Have a business plan, objectives, roles and goals. If you have no idea what that means or how to do it, this is where you take a second to Praise God for letting you put your honey through his MBA back in 2001. Even if it meant two years of looking at a God-awful sea of burnt orange.

Big Note to D'Lyn: Narrow down those goals. You'll get frustrated if you try to accomplish too many goals. (Seriously, it was like Biggsy had called ahead and told this guy what to say.)

You also need to make sure you keep your costs down -- or there won't be any money left over for your charity (in my case, the Breast Cancer 3-Day.)

Five reasons why you might want to host a golf tournament:
1. Fundraising -- Would you believe 90% of golf tournaments are for fundraising?
2. Entertainment -- The idea is to show people a good time, and hopefully bring in funds down the road.
3. Network -- Churches, Chamber events, etc.
4. Exposure -- Have a unique slant that will get you some media coverage.
5. Serious competition -- You can do this as a real competition and still raise money for your charity.

Another thing to think about? Just how much money do you want to raise? You've really got to have a serious business plan, figure out how much you want to raise, and then figure out how you're going to do that.

Something you do want to do... If you're doing this for a specific cause, like breast cancer research, you want to make sure everyone knows where the money is headed. Communication is the key -- through brochures, flyers, your website, emails, your Uncle Fred.....




Dude.... The mosquito truck just drove by. I knew you'd want to know that.

Seriously though, Yearbook is calling. I'll post more later. I promise.

Note: If you're new to the 3-Day and are wondering how to get started on fundraising, you should read a few of my back blog posts. Pretty much anything with Princess in the title. It could make your life a whole lot easier!!!