Crowdfunding For Long Drivers

ULD Crowdfunding…

Developing a Crowdfunding program for long drivers has been on our roadmap for while. There’s been no better time than right now to get this program going. With fuel and food costs soaring, competitors need all the help they can get to help cover costs for registrations, training, travel, lodging, and equipment.

No Concern for Amateur Status

On January 1, 2022 the USGA changed its purview with regard to the sport of long drive….actually for anything golf-related that is not a “tee-to-green” competition. Those who wish to retain (tournament) amateur status with the USGA are no longer restricted to limited earnings or sponsorships. So, there’s nothing preventing amateurs from procuring sponsorships….except for the work.

Understanding Sponsorship Programs

Most athletes struggle with sponsorships. Here are the facts:

1. Creating a professional sponsorship package is tough enough. Getting sponsors to notice and contribute is one of the hardest parts of any sport.
2. Expecting to raise (and provide a return on investment for) large amounts of sponsor dollars with limited mainstream exposure isn’t realistic.
3. Most athletes will be more successful pursuing smaller amounts of support from larger numbers of supporters.
4. Most supporters who contribute smaller amounts do it more for the will to help than to receive a return on investment.
5. In any case, there’s a lot of work associated with fundraising.

Basic and Premium Campaigns

We’re rolling ULD Crowdfunding with two packages: Basic; and Premium. The Basic is free to competitors and has a pre-determined set of levels and rewards. The Premium campaign has a set-up fee and offers more flexible levels and rewards. Either type of campaign can be used by competitors as a tool to fundraise. With each level, the donor receives a stated reward. In both campaigns (Basic and Premium), the smaller levels are meant for family, friends, and others who want to lend a hand. The upper levels are structured more like sponsorships, where the donor/sponsor receives a higher value return for their support.

ULD Contribution

For the Basic Program, we will front the costs for the rewards and take our costs out of the donation. For the higher levels, we will provide the donor/sponsor with the same ULD sponsor recognition as we would a direct sponsor to ULD by offering additional exposure for their name, brand, or cause. That exposure (depending upon the level) could come in the form of advertising within our televised programming, event banners, website banners, etc. ULD will promote our Crowdfunding campaign throughout our platforms to raise awareness in effort to attract donors/sponsors. ULD will create the tools and commit the resources to run and satisfy the campaigns.

Athlete Videos

Each enrollee should create a video to accompany their campaign. There’s nothing more impacting than video for this purpose. The video can be done on a smart phone and should be sent to us. We will upload the video to wingding™ (free of charge) and embed it into the campaign. It can be easily shared from the wingding™ app to email, socials, and texts. Note: All wingding™ content is distributed to Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, iTunes, the Android and iPhone apps, and a WebApp accessible from any browser.

Athlete Contribution

Enrolled athletes will be responsible for aggressively promoting their campaigns to prospective donors/sponsors.  They will be responsible for generating leads, follow-up, and closing all deals. The campaign will have a unique url (link) that can be emailed, shared on social media and sent via sms text. Closing the deal is as simple as giving the donor the link for payment.

Distribution of Funds

ULD will distribute funds to the athlete within five business days of receipt of funds. Distribution will be made in the amount of the contribution less ULD expenses from the campaign.