How to price golf tournament sponsorship levels.

Start with hard cost

Every sponsor level has two numbers. What the sponsor pays you, and what it costs to deliver what you promised. The gap between them is what the tournament raises.

Most organizers set prices by looking at what nearby tournaments charge and what sponsors paid last year. That's a fine place to start. But know the hard cost of each level first, so a cheap level doesn't quietly lose money once you add a banner, a team entry and lunch.

The printed pieces are usually the smallest part of the cost. Green fees, carts and food are bigger. This guide covers the printed side, using our golf tournament pricing, so you can drop real numbers into your budget.

The usual sponsor levels

Most charity tournaments use some version of this ladder. You don't need every level. Pick the ones your sponsor list can fill.

• Title sponsor. One company. Their name goes on the event.
• Gold, silver and bronze. Tiered sponsors with banners sized to match the level.
• Hole sponsor. A sign on one tee box. The entry level that most local businesses can say yes to without a meeting.
• Cart sponsor. Signs at cart staging, where every player starts the day.
• Beverage cart sponsor. A sign on the cart that every group sees more than once.
• Lunch sponsor. Signs where players sit down, eat and talk.
• Awards sponsor. Their name on the awards and the stage.

Title and gold sponsors

Your title sponsor should get the most visible pieces of the day. A common setup is a 4x8 banner at registration ($145), their logo on the 27in x 6ft welcome table banner ($75) and a 14 ft feather flag at the entrance ($149). That's $369 in printing.

Gold sponsors get their own 4x8 gold sponsor banner at $145 each. Hang them at registration or the first tee where every player walks past. Many tournaments also include a team entry at the gold level, which costs you green fees, so count that in your hard cost.

Silver, bronze and hole sponsors

Silver and bronze sponsor banners are 3x6 at $95 each. You can print one banner per level with every sponsor at that level on it, or one banner per sponsor. One per sponsor costs more but gives each name more room, and you can price the level to match.

Hole sponsors are the backbone of most scrambles. The Signature 30 Sign Package is $495 for 30 double sided signs on H frame stakes: 18 hole sponsor signs, men's and women's longest drive, closest to the pin, putting green and 8 add ons. That's $16.50 a sign, layout included. Extra 18x24 double sided signs are $16 each.

So if you sell 18 hole sponsorships, the course signs cost $495 and every dollar of hole sponsor revenue above that goes to the cause. Contest holes (longest drive, closest to the pin) can be sold as their own sponsor spots at a higher price, since they get more attention.

Cart, beverage, lunch and awards sponsors

• Cart sponsor. Golf cart A frame signs are 16x24 at $45 each. Set two at cart staging so every player sees them before the first shot.
• Beverage cart sponsor. An 18x24 double sided sign on the cart is $16. Every group sees it several times a round.
• Lunch sponsor. One or two A frame signs at the lunch line ($45 each), plus their logo on the combined 4x8 sponsor banner ($145, shared with every sponsor).
• Awards sponsor. Their logo on the award set of 20 ($495), which is a 14 inch golf ball printed on 3mm metal on a 4 inch base. Add on awards are $25 each. You'd buy the awards anyway, so this level is close to pure revenue.

For the full list of what to print across the day, use our golf tournament signage checklist.

How to make sponsors look premium

Sponsors judge the event by how their logo looks. A mismatched pile of signs makes a top sponsor feel like they bought a yard sign.

• One sign set. Same template, same colors and same layout on every hole sign and banner. It looks like one event, not 30 separate orders.
• Logo rules. Same position and the same size on every sign at a level. Put a white panel behind each logo so dark and light logos both read.
• Real vector logos. Ask every sponsor for an AI, EPS, SVG or PDF file. A logo pulled off a website looks blurry on a 4x8 banner. Our print ready files guide explains what to ask for.
• Bigger logos at higher levels. The jump from bronze to gold should be obvious from across the parking lot.

If a sponsor only has a fuzzy JPG, we can rebuild it. Design cleanup runs $45 an hour for layout and $65 an hour for graphic design.

A landing page that sells sponsorships

A sponsor list that lives in one person's email is hard to sell from. A tournament landing page for signups and sponsorships is $350.

• List every level, what it includes and how many spots are left.
• Put the sponsor logo deadline on the page so nobody can say they missed it.
• Let teams register on the same page, so one link goes in every email and social post.

Send the link with your sponsor letter. Sponsors pick a level without a phone call, and you see where you stand at a glance.

Putting the numbers together

Build the budget in two columns. On the left, what you'll charge for each level. On the right, the printed cost from the table above, plus green fees, carts and food for any team entries you include.

• Hole sponsors. Number sold times your price, minus the $495 Signature 30 package.
• Banner sponsors. Each gold sponsor minus $145. Each silver or bronze level minus $95.
• Small levels. Cart, beverage cart and lunch sponsors cost $16 to $90 in printing, so nearly all of it goes to the cause.
• Awards. The $495 award set gets bought either way. An awards sponsor covers it.

Then check the bottom line. If a level barely clears its own cost once a team entry is in it, raise the price or drop the team entry. Your committee knows your sponsors best, so the prices are yours to set.

Tee gift apparel

Tee gifts can be their own sponsor level. The sponsor's logo goes on the sleeve or back of every shirt, or on a hat or towel, and every player wears it for the rest of the season.

• Polos and hats usually look best embroidered. See embroidery.
• Tees for players and volunteers are usually screen printed. See screen printing.
• Apparel minimums are 12 garments for one color and 24 for two.
• Turnaround is 7 to 10 business days from approval and payment, with rush down to 1 to 2 days.

Apparel pricing is quoted on the ticket. Tax exempt organizations are handled on the ticket too.