Charitable golf tournaments benefit golfers more than charity
The PGA is proud to talk about the $105 million it's tours have raised for charitable golf outings. However, the amount received by the local charity can be small compared to the prize pools for the golfers.
Last Thursday, Joe Stephens at the Washington Post pointed out that the average tournament provides golfers with a purse of $5.7 million and, after paying costs associated with the event, generates $1.75 million for charity.
A spokesman for the Charlotte event said it generates about $1.5 million for charity and paid golfers $6.3 million this year. A Barclays spokesman said that tournament generates $1 million for charity and this year has a $7 million purse. In addition to the purses, tournaments spend millions more on everything from leasing buses to buying gift bags for players.It's a great article that digs into the finances behind Tiger Woods three separate charitable foundations and exposes the lesser known structure of PGA charity events.
1 comment:
As the development director of a non-profit agency that has been the recipient of funds from a PGA event, I have seen first hand how "charitable" these events really are. They portray the event as a fundraiser for local charities and freely use those charity's logos, good names and resources to further their own goals. Our agency staff spent hundreds of man hours coordinating volunteers and working at the tournament --both requirements to be a "charitable recipient" --only to wait months for the promised check (even though the PR Check Ceremony was held just after the tournamnet) and then finding it far below the pledged amount. By the way, each 'volunteer' must pay to participate in the event, even the non-profit staffs who serve as committee chairs. The crowning insult is when all us "worker bees" watch while the highly paid staff and VIPs enjoy gourmet food and drinks in a tent that is off limits to most. It is time these events are exposed for what they really are. Thank you for your article.
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