PRE-event publicity is what you want most. It helps sell out your charity gala.
Golf tournaments have no shortage of fun add-ons. Chipping contests, best dressed team photos, and other activities are designed to involve players and/or raise money.
If your tournament has an auction, you can incorporate more games, raffles, and activities. Collectively I call these add-ons “bells and whistles.” There are many reasons to use them. One reason is to attract publicity. And here’s how to get publicity for a charity event.
Many groups are good at securing post tournament publicity. But it’s pre-event recognition that will help sell your sponsorships and fill your foursomes.
A few months ago, one of my smaller clients achieved some coveted pre-event publicity in a trendy paper. The Executive Director was quoted as saying, “We’ve hired Red Apple Auctions of Alexandria to help us with both the silent and live auctions, and they have some great new ideas that we are implementing.”
Did you catch it?
That single sentence had two ideas to help you secure elusive pre-event publicity for your charity golf tournament.
First, she said she hired someone. That ups the ante.
It’s similar to a baseball team announcing they’ve hired a new coach. You’re expecting something better.
As you think about your golf tournament, who have you hired that brings with them an expectation of improvement? Are you moving to a nicer course? Are you working with a new event planner?
Second, she talked “new ideas.” That’s change.
She’s saying, “Hey, we’re different.”
I don’t know if she shared the new ideas (the “bells and whistles”) with the reporter. If she did, they didn’t make it into the story.
Remember: “new” = story
For instance, in March, I spoke about using electronic handheld bidding devices in your silent auction. If you were one of the first groups in your area to use that technology, that’s a story. You’d be using “the latest” technology. It’s a new angle. The reporter could cover that as a technology story or a public interest story, as they did for this benefit in Colorado Springs.
When you use bells and whistles in your event, pitch that.
P.S. In addition to getting that great pre-event publicity, my client enjoyed some solid post-auction publicity, too.
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