Tuesday Tournament Tip: Sponsorships 💼

How to Get Sponsors for a Golf Tournament

For most charity and corporate tournaments, the hardest part of sponsorship isn’t designing the packages — it’s finding the companies and making the ask. Plenty of organizers freeze at “who do I even approach, and what do I say?” As the founder of Colorado Under Par, I’ve learned that landing sponsors is a process, not a cold-call gamble: you target the right businesses, lead with what’s in it for them, and make saying yes easy. Here’s how to actually get them. (For how to structure your tiers and keep sponsors year over year, see our complete guide to golf tournament sponsorships.)

Start with the right prospects

Sponsorship works when there’s a genuine fit, so build your list around businesses that have a real reason to say yes:

• Businesses connected to your cause. For a charity event, companies that already care about your mission are your warmest leads — they get marketing value and a feel-good story.
• Local businesses that want local exposure. Restaurants, dealerships, real estate agents, financial advisors, breweries — businesses whose customers overlap with a golf crowd and who value community visibility.
• Anyone with a personal connection. Your players, your board, your volunteers, and your own network all have employers and vendors. A warm intro converts far better than a cold ask.
• Past sponsors and vendors. Last year’s sponsors and the businesses you already pay (the course, your caterer, your printer) are obvious first calls.

Build a real list — 20, 30, 50 names — because sponsorship is a numbers game. Not everyone says yes, and that’s fine.

Lead with what’s in it for them

The biggest mistake in a sponsorship pitch is asking for a donation. You’re not asking for charity — you’re offering a marketing opportunity. Frame every approach around their return: exposure to a captive, desirable local audience for several hours, brand visibility on signage and materials, face time with potential customers, networking, and — for charity events — the goodwill of publicly supporting a cause. When a business sees a clear benefit, the conversation shifts from “can you spare some money?” to “here’s a good deal for you.”

Make a clean, simple proposal

Put your ask in a short, professional one- or two-page proposal (or a clear email) so a busy business owner can size it up fast. It should cover:

• Who you are and the event — date, course, expected field size, and the cause if it’s a fundraiser.
• Who attends — the audience the sponsor gets in front of (golfers, local professionals, families).
• The sponsorship options and prices — your tiers, at a glance (the pillar covers how to build these).
• A clear next step and deadline — who to contact, and a date that creates gentle urgency.

A clean proposal makes you look organized and trustworthy — which is exactly what a company is judging before it hands you money.

Don’t overlook in-kind sponsors

Not every sponsor writes a check, and the ones who don’t can be just as valuable. In-kind sponsors provide goods or services in exchange for recognition — a restaurant donating the lunch, a print shop producing your signage, a brewery supplying the beverage cart, a business donating raffle prizes. Every in-kind donation is a cost you didn’t have to cover, which improves your event’s bottom line as much as cash does. Always ask: could this expense be a sponsorship instead?

Make the ask, then follow up

Most sponsorships are lost not to “no” but to silence. Send your proposal, then follow up — a friendly check-in a few days later closes more deals than the original email ever does. Make it easy to say yes (a clear link or form to commit and pay), thank them immediately when they do, and keep the door open with the ones who pass this year — circumstances change, and this year’s “not now” is often next year’s sponsor.

Final thoughts

Getting sponsors comes down to a simple process: target businesses with a real reason to care, pitch the benefit instead of begging for a donation, hand them a clean proposal, remember the in-kind asks, and follow up. Work that list methodically and you’ll fill your sponsor roster — and once they’re in, structuring the packages and keeping them coming back is the next step.

When you’re ready to run your next one, you can list your golf tournament free on Colorado Under Par and reach players across the state.

Best regards,
Andrew Mueller, Founder, Colorado Under Par