Sept. 29, 2010

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. 

Putting on a golf tournament to raise money. That’s never been done before, right? At Eckerd College, however, a unique concept has turned a generic fundraising event into a huge success.

For the past eight years, Eckerd College has used a golf tournament as one of its key fundraising events. While that is nothing new to schools around the nation, the money raised does not come from someone selling a few $200 foursomes and some hole signs. Instead, the money has come from the players themselves. Eckerd Athletics Director Dr. Bob Fortosis asks 25 loyal boosters to be “team leaders.” Their job is to fill out their foursome and, together, secure their entry fee.

Each of the 25 teams has a goal of raising the $3,000 fee, essentially making it a $3,000 foursome. Quite often it becomes competitive between team leaders and much more than $3,000 is brought to check-in on tournament day. One would be hard-pressed to ask foursomes to play for so much money, without door prizes consisting of a trip to the Pacific or an LCD TV. But when you have four fundraisers per team, and 100 overall, the financial opportunities become real.

“I think it is a concept that works for us,” Fortosis says. “We are a small department and do not have someone with the sole responsibility of fundraising. It is a complete team effort, and this is one way for us to maximize our resources.” Fortosis actually developed the idea from his days as a soccer coach in southern California. His school had an annual “golf marathon,” where players would solicit pledges for them to play 100 holes in a day. “Cajoling golfers to get excited year after year to play 100 holes in one day became more and more difficult,” Fortosis said.

With a little tweaking, the idea has paid tremendous dividends -- helping the Eckerd College athletics department raise approximately four times what a standard golf tournament would net. Playing in the tournament can also be tied to corporate sponsor packages and have the added benefit of sponsor signage, a free table at the department’s annual dinner auction, as well as other various benefits. In the end, the tournament supports Eckerd College student-athletes – the ultimate selling point for the foursomes.

About Rob Broussard:

Rob Broussard is in his first year as Assistant Athletic Director for External Communications at Eckerd. Broussard oversees all communication efforts for the college's 11 varsity sports. He also manages the school's athletics website and internet broadcasting efforts The New Orleans native brings more than 10 years of communications experience to Eckerd. He came to the school following a four-year stint as the Assistant AD for Media Relations at the University of New Orleans. While at UNO, Broussard oversaw publicity efforts for the Privateers and managed the school's radio and website properties. Prior to UNO, Broussard served as the Director of Media Relations for the Sun Belt Conference -- located in New Orleans. There, he managed the league's website -- overseeing a new layout and design for the site -- and handled publicity efforts for the league and its members. He also oversaw media relations efforts at Sun Belt championships and was the assistant media relations director for the 2003 NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. Broussard is familiar with Eckerd following a brief internship in the Sunshine State Conference in 2002, which followed a two-and-a-half year stint as the assistant sports information director at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Broussard graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree from Louisiana-Lafayette. He and his wife, Susan, have two daughters: Ilyana (1) and Leah, who was born in February 2010.