Golf Tournaments and Breast Cancer – More Choices for the Cure

By Nancy Berkley, President, Berkley Golf Consulting

In the next few weeks, I – along with many other women and men — will attend a fund-raising golf tournament in support of breast cancer research. We all want to find “The Cure”, and the landscape for breast cancer charity golf tournaments is actually becoming a little confusing and a bit competitive. This is probably good.

Going back about five years ago, there were two major breast cancer organizations that women chose for charity golf tournaments. The first and oldest was founded in 1982 by Nancy Brinker, in memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died of breast cancer. See www.komen.org

Komen is the global leader in the breast cancer movement and Nancy Brinker brought them there. Originally, the organization was called the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. But its current official name is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The organization is supported by a grass roots network of Komen Affiliates who support breast cancer initiatives in their local communities.

According to the Komen website, the organization has invested nearly $1.5 billion (yes, “billion”) dollars in promoting and donating funds for breast cancer research. Many men, women and children have participated in actual “races” (and walks) organized by the Komen foundation.

Closely aligned with the Komen organization and providing the historic link to golf events is “Rally for the Cure” a not-for-profit association founded in 1996. Rally for the Cure organizes fabulous turn-key-kits that women use to run golf tournaments. The kits not only include information on how to run putting and closest-to-the-pin contests but also include pink-ribbon pins and other informative written materials focused on early detection and diagnosis.

Rally events have reached more than 1.65 million participants (primarily golfers although Rally is now sponsoring events for tennis players). In fact, the full name of Rally has evolved into “Rally for the Cure – Supporting the Promise of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.” See www.rallyforthecure.com. Rally for the Cure has sent over $50 million dollars to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

The all-in-one Rally kits were critical because the women really had to get the tournaments organized themselves. The concept was small donations and lots of participants in a fun golf event. Rally and its founder and executive team must be credited with building the bridge between breast cancer and golf tournaments and women golfers.

About three or four years ago, Golf Digest – a Conde Nast publication that used to publish Golf for Women magazine — acquired the Rally for the Cure association. Probably most valuable to Golf Digest’s marketing department were the names of the many thousands of women who played golf in Rally events.

It was a sad day when Conde Nast shut down Golf for Women magazine two years ago. But Golf Digest and Conde Nast – to their credit – have maintained their support of Rally and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. In fact, one of the most helpful planning aids in running a golf tournament is the “Golf Digest Tournament Planner” found on the Rally website. See www.rallyforthecure.com. The 12-month planner is so good that it could be used for any type of golf tournament.

However, as the Susan G. Komen foundation and Rally for the Cure grew, their organizational structure grew as well. They were charting a new course, and to maintain the integrity of their organizations, they had to maintain staffs that could oversee the operations – all over the country — and make sure that donations were channeled to breast cancer research. The increased administrative costs of managing the Susan G. Komen foundation caused some concern.

Enter another breast cancer charity: The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The BCRF was founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder, the Senior Corporate Vice President of The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. An important goal of BCRF was to keep its administrative costs down so that 85% of all funds raised by the Foundation could be dedicated directly to breast cancer research and awareness programs. See www.bcrfcure.org

In 1996, the low-administrative-cost goal of BCRF attracted the interest of Laura Lassman. Laura decided that by concentrating on running golf tournaments only with volunteers, the return on charitable donations to breast cancer research could be even better.

Laura founded “Play for Pink” – known as “P.I.N.K.” According to its website, Play for Pink has a volunteer network in over 26 states. See www.playforpink.org. Play for Pink contributed $3 million dollars to BCRF in 2009 and anticipates more growth in 2010.
The volunteer-basis of Play for Pink is very attractive to women as they choose a recipient organization for a golf outing. The good news is that the increased focus on managing costs is good for all charitable organizations and the competition will keep them all on their toes. To find out the ratio of administrative costs to actual chartable contributions see www.charitynavigator.org. Both Susan G. Komen and BCRF earn high grades from charitynavigator.

The landscape for breast-cancer-charity golf tournaments is definitely changing. Next week, I will play in a golf tournament that offers yet a different breast cancer charitable recipient: A local hospital with a specific cancer research foundation.

Coming up is the 4th Annual PGA Women’s Cancer Awareness Day at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Charitable contributions from entrance fees and raffles will go to the Daniel C. Searle Clinical Trials Access Program at Jupiter Medical Center’s Foshay Cancer Center. This program provides access to more than 50 cooperative group research clinical trials for patients with cancer. (The Jupiter Hospital is about fifteen minutes away from PGA National.) Women from PGA National are the volunteer organizers – so administrative costs are reduced.

When the Susan G. Komen Foundation was established almost thirty years ago, it would have been highly unlikely that a local hospital in southern Florida had its own foundation working on clinical breast cancer trials. Susan G. Komen was critical and essential decades ago as a national resource for breast cancer research with its outreach to women. It was truly a pioneer. But times have changed, which is why women’s golf events supporting breast cancer are changing also.

My second golf tournament this month in support of breast cancer research will be at Banyan Golf Club, in West Palm Beach Florida. The designated charity is the Susan G. Komen Foundation. But what is unique about this tournament is not only that their will be a fund-raising auction of knitted quilts made by the members but that each attendee will receive a recently published book written by Banyan member, Rochelle Hirsch (and illustrated by Naava Parker).

The title of the book is “Lumps and Bumps – A Breast Cancer Story for Children.” Visit www.lumpsandbumps.org. Rochelle is a breast cancer survivor and has worked with pre-school children for many years as the founder of a nursery school. She recognized the need for a book that families could use to introduce the topic of breast cancer to children. The book is in simple rhyme, fast moving and even at times humorous.

I hope that everyone who reads the book will pass it along to their children and friends – and to their doctors and clergy. Until we find “the Cure”, many families will appreciate the comfort of this book. I especially like the last page when the little girl telling her story says: “I wish this part of our lives could have moved a little faster. But like my favorite fairy tale, we lived happily ever after.”

For those just beginning their planning process for next year’s breast cancer charity golf event, you have more choices than ever to bring women and men to the golf course for a successful fund-raising event in support of finding the cure for breast cancer.

Nancy Berkley, President of Berkley Golf Consulting, is a contributor to cybergolf.com and to www.ladiesgolfjourney.com. She is an expert on women’s golf and junior girls golf. Her book, Women Welcome Here! A Guide to Growing Women’s Golf, published by the National Golf Foundation, is an industry reference on marketing golf to women. She is a resource for golf-industry trends and marketing advice on her website www.nancyberkley.com. She is also the author of the NGF Publication: Insider’s Guide to Careers in the Golf Industry. She was a contributing editor of Golf for Women magazine and a founding advisor of Golfer Girl Magazine. Her interviews with women in the golf industry now appear on her new site: www.golfergirlcareers.com. Nancy also provides a Help Line on her website for those seeking marketing advice in the golf industry. Nancy lives in Palm Beach Gardens, FL and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Harvard University and Rutgers Law School. She describes herself as a good bogey golfer with permanent potential.