Run a Golf Pool for Your Charity Outing or Fundraiser

A charity golf outing raises money on the day. A pool run alongside a real tournament raises money for the month before it - and keeps the donors talking about your event long after the scramble. This guide is for the organizer: how to attach a golf pool to a fundraiser, what to charge, how to keep it lawful and simple, and the format that works for a crowd where half the entrants couldn't name ten golfers.

How a fundraiser pool works

Pick a professional tournament that lands near your outing - a major if you can, any full-field week if not. Every entrant picks five golfers; a fixed share of each entry is a donation to the cause, the rest is the prize pool, and the leaderboard runs live through the tournament. Entrants who never swing a club can take part, which is the point: the pool reaches the people who won't buy a foursome.

• Entry: a flat amount per team, say $25, with a published split such as 60% to the cause and 40% to prizes - or 100% to the cause with a donated prize (a foursome at the host club, a signed flag).
• Prizes: announce them up front. A donated prize plus bragging rights outdraws a slightly larger cash pot.
• Reach: a link and an invite code, shared through the outing's email list and every sponsor's staff channel.

Keep it lawful and keep it simple

Two rules keep a fundraiser pool on the right side of the line in most places. First, be transparent: publish what portion is the donation, what portion is the prize, and who is holding the money. Second, keep the money with the charity, not the software - entries go to the organization (its donation page, its treasurer), the pool just tracks who has paid. Moving Day never collects or holds pool money; the commissioner marks entries paid and the app tracks it. If you're a registered charity, run the entry through your normal donation process and treat the prize as an incentive; if you're not sure of local rules on prizes, ask the charity's adviser before you publish the split.

The format for a crowd that doesn't follow golf

Most entrants in a charity pool will recognize five names - and they'll all pick the same five. Two ways to make it a contest anyway:

• Tiered picks. Split the field into five tiers by ranking and require one pick from each. Lineups spread out, and someone's cousin who picks a name at random from tier five can win the whole thing. Our format guide: golf pool formats explained.
• Handicap picks. Every golfer's rounds are adjusted by ranking band, so the favorites give strokes. The random pick and the expert pick are both live picks, which is exactly what a fundraiser wants.

Either way, keep the missed-cut rule gentle (field median plus a couple of strokes) so a Friday exit doesn't knock a first-time entrant out of interest by Saturday morning.

Run it as a season if the outing is annual

An annual outing can run a four-major season pool for its supporter list: one entry in April covers the Masters, the PGA, the U.S. Open and The Open, with a standings table that keeps your cause in front of people all summer and a prize at the end. Same entry, four times the touchpoints.

The organizer's week

• Three weeks out: create the pool, set the entry and split, write the description (cause, prize, rules), send the link.
• One week out: reminder to the list; the app sends its own deadline reminder to everyone who joined.
• Thursday: picks lock at the first tee time. Nothing to do.
• Friday night: the round recap goes to every entrant - who made the cut, who's leading. Forward it to the sponsors.
• Sunday night: the winner is on the leaderboard with the tiebreaker resolved. Announce, thank, and mention next year.

Moving Day's business and organization page covers office and fundraiser pools in more detail: pools for businesses and organizations.