Consider following these 18 steps to ensure your charity golf outing is a great success.

Step 1 – When planning your event you must have some target in mind that you would like to achieve for the given charity. Some examples to follow are: How much are you trying to raise, the purpose of the event, when and where will the event be held, who is your target golfer and what is their profile, how many golfers would you need and their availability for the event, and lastly what sponsors would you need and at what level.

Step 2 – A good idea is to give a brief job description with set goals for each committee chair member. Recruit six to twelve volunteer chair members this is one for every top position, and then let them recruit their own team. Remember to train volunteers properly with plenty of motivation and praise when they meet their goals of gifts and prizes. Also, always have a contact list for all committee members.

Step 3 – When working with the golf course be flexible as this may help to save you money. Try to be flexible with your dates as off-peak season may be best and you may get a better rate. It is best to secure your chosen golf course six months in advance.

Step 4 – You should find a format that suits both your golfers and the event; you don’t have to choose the same format every year. To help choose a format consider the caliber of your golfers, conduct a small survey to see what they like and have a goal in mind as to how much money you would like to raise.

The sponsors are one of the most important components of the event given the fact that they are the ones giving the money for the event. The more sponsors you have the more you make. If it is big money you would like, consider asking some big companies for sponsorship as long as they get something to benefit their company, such as a golf tee sign.

Step 6 – It is important to promote your event. The three objectives in promotion are exposure for recruiting golfers, your event or fundraising organization, and your sponsors. There are many promotional ideas for you to use. You can use local radio shows, local newspapers, brochures, mail direct to specific industries and put some ads in trade magazines. Don’t forget to use the event beneficiary in your promotional materials.

Step 7 – There is a simple step to recruiting golfers. When recruiting committee members hope to try and choose nine who are golfers, who they themselves can recruit four other golfers, of which they can bring a team of four players. Alternatively, an idea is to try to sell 36 teams to 36 sponsors. A sell out for a golf event is 120 to 144 players or 30 to 36 groups.

Step 8 – When talking of gifts and prizes the best quality gifts you have to offer will go a long way in securing an event for you to organize the following year. Not much can speak louder than word of mouth advertising. Logos with your sponsors name on the gifts, prizes, and hole sponsor signs are also a good idea of which the sponsors will notice.

Step 9 – Try and make your golf event something for everyone to enjoy, you could have some games and contests later in the event; this is a sure way to make lots of money. The more fun people have at these events the more relaxed they feel into spending money.

Step 10 – Have a friend or professional photographer take photos of the event, of people having fun, group photos, and golfers taking their shots. If you have a professional photographer, he may do it free so he can promote his business.

Step 11 – A good idea to generate money is to purchase Hole in One Insurance; this will provide coverage for you in case someone hits a hole in one. The rule is that the shot must be done on a par 3 and you will need a witness to volunteer. Offer great prizes like a small vacation, watches, or big prize money.

Step 12 – Have lots of big golf sponsor signs and banners with sponsor’s names on it. Any potential sponsors at the event will take note of this.

Step 13 – Have auctions at the event and get a person to bid for one of the golfers to be their caddy for a game of golf. Anything that is fun and generates money could be included in the items to be auctioned.

Step 14 – Having an awards ceremony make it memorable and fun for people to remember. Include the sponsors, any individual who was a key helper in the event, and any of the volunteers.

Step 15 – Make sure your committee has ample time to help organize the event. Some bookings may have to be done a year in advance; you can never plan to early when organizing a charity event.

Step 16 – Remember to keep a record of income and expenses. A normal event can raise 5,000 dollars and sell sponsorships to help cover the cost. Treat the event as if it was your business and never spend more money than you bring in.

Step 17 – Try to keep calm and organized at the event and make sure everybody is fully aware of the times of all the different events and where they are. Relax, smile, and have fun. If everybody sees the organizer happy then they will be to.

Step 18 – This event can be the start of next year’s event at the awards ceremony so sign golfers up for next year. Get contact numbers from all participants, talk to sponsors for next year and stay in touch with as many people that you can.

Source by Kevin Kirkpatrick

Valentines Day is on February 14th every year.  This day of celebration offers lovers an opportunity to reaffirm their love for one another by exchanging gifts and love messages.  This article provides some Valentine gift ideas for your boyfriend or husband. Most of these gifts are under $50.00 (with many under $30.00), so you really do not have to worry about breaking your budget.  At the same time, you will find these unique gifts range from romantic, delicious, practical to fun. 1.  Valentine Gift Basket:
Sending your sweetheart a Valentine gift basket is a great way to deliver your message of love.  You can tease your sweetheart as a little devil with a cute plush bear dressed as a little devil in a heart-adorned gift basket filled with an assortment of chocolate treats. This gift will sure to make him smile.

2. Giant Fortune Cookie:
You can deliver your message of love in a giant fortune cookie.  This delicious giant Valentine fortune Cookie is hand-dipped in fine Belgianft-long chocolate and is almost the size of a football.  He will discover his love fortune when he reads your 1-ft long love message hidden inside the cookie. The cookie is covered with adorable hand-crafted royal icing decorations, assorted nonpareils and heart sprinkles. It is beautifully wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied with a wire edged ombre ribbon.  This gift is a fun and tasty way to say I love you.

3. Rose Petals Gift Set:
For your boyfriend whom you are deeply in love with, you can send him a gift of romantic pleasure. Inside the black satin pouch are a special invitation card, four tea lights, rose-scented bubble bath fizzies, warming massage oil in chocolate, a hand held massager and over 250 scented red silk rose petals. The rose petals will fill a bed with roses.

4   Teddy Bear with Chocolates:
Teddy bear and chocolates are popular Valentines gifts. You can send your boyfriend a cute, plush teddy bear along with a box of chocolate truffles.  The little bear will warm the heart of your love, and the delicious chocolates will deliver your sentiments of love and affection in good taste. 

5. Chocolate Oreo Cookies:
Another tasty way to deliver your love to your boyfriend is to send him a box of Valentine chocolate Oreo cookies. These delicious cookies are dipped in fine Belgian chocolates – dark, milk and white – and decorated with hand crafted royal icing of hearts, flowers, sweethearts, bears and more. They are then generously sprinkled with tasty hearts and sprinkles, and presented in a beautiful red heart window box of 9.  These cookies are a romantic gift for sharing over a glass of ice-cold milk.

6.  Personalized Cufflinks:
If you do not want to send him food gift, you can send him a gift that can last for years to come, just like your love with him.  You can send him cufflinks that are engraved with his initials.  To make your gift more interesting, You can send him cufflinks engraved with his initials.  These cufflinks have a secret compartment. When he unscrew these tubular-shaped silver-toned cufflinks, he will find your written love note for him. This is a practical yet fun gift of love.

7.  Personalized Pocket Watch:
You can also send him a personalized classic style pocket watch in gunmetal finish.  It has a handsome black face with Roman numerals, and a sturdy chain and clip is included for safe keeping. He will think of you whenever he looks at his watch. 

In summary, Valentines Day offers a good opportunity to confirm your love to your boyfriend.  You can send him a Valentine gift that delivers your message of love and affection.  You can send him a Valentine gift basket, giant fortune cookie, rose petals gift set, teddy bear with chocolates, personalized cufflinks, and other personalized gifts.  Your message of love will be well appreciated, and the love between the two of you will grow stronger.

Kate S. is the CEO of Giftbasketforall.com. You can visit her gift basket store for gourmet gift basket, anniversary, new baby, and birthday gifts.
If you want to browse for Valentines gifts for your boyfriend, you can click on Valentines Gifts For Him.

 

Source by Kate S

A Culture of Workplace Wellbeing Is Important

Employee wellbeing, engagement and a culture of wellbeing links to important company strengths such as productivity, health and employee retention, a study by Gallup revealed. Experience shows these factors complement affect one another in ways that CEOs, team leaders and managers can influence.

Yet, creating employee wellbeing and engagement in the workplace remains an elusive goal for many employers. A report by BlessingWhite research, “Employee Engagement Report 2011,” indicated that only 31 percent employees in the study were engaged, while 17 percent were actively disengaged (employees who aren’t happy at work and care little for their jobs and employer). The recent global GFC may have negatively influenced the result of the study. However, this study found that more employees considered looking for new jobs than surveys from 2007 through 2009.

Three Types of Employees

• Engaged – These are employees that work with passion, drive and feel a connection to their company. They promote innovation and drive the organization forward.
• Not-Engaged – Employees who are ‘checked out’. They sleepwalk through the workday. They might put time in, but not passion into their tasks.
• Actively Disengaged – These are a minority but they are employees who just aren’t happy with work. They actively act out this unhappiness. They undermine what their accomplished engaged coworker do.

Jim Harter, Ph.D is Gallup’s chief scientist of workplace management and wellbeing. He believes individual wellbeing has an effect on future employee engagement and changes to employee engagement. “If people had higher wellbeing in year one, they would tend to have higher engagement in year two and a more positive change in engagement in year two,” Harter says. “People that have high individual wellbeing are more likely to see their workplace as positive, productive, and engaging. Conversely, if they are struggling or suffering, it rubs off on the workplace and the team.”

Engaged Employees Are Happy Employees

Employee wellbeing has important implications for productivity and work relationships. Satisfied, passionate and happy employees are more likely to trust their leaders, comply with tasks given, and company rules, provide suggestions to improve the organisation, help co-workers, and work as a team to achieve goals. Such behaviour contributes to a high-performing organisation that is productive and innovative. Therefore, it is not surprising that research has shown that employee wellbeing is associated positively with customer satisfaction.

In a 2012 Gallup survey of 70,000 people around the world, one of the largest contributors to daily experiences of negative emotions was not feeling respected. As a manager, how can you promote wellbeing and employee engagement at your company? It is important to be aware of your employee’s engagement and wellbeing because there is a strong connection between the two. “Small decreases in wellbeing may not seem like much,” says Harter. “But poor wellbeing is strongly related to absenteeism and ‘presenteeism,’ or when people show up to work but aren’t active, effective, and productive.”

If one employee rates her wellbeing as 75 on the wellbeing scale and another worker rates his as 70, the worker with lower wellbeing will have 18.6% higher risk of sleep disorders, 15% higher risk of anxiety or depression 6.3% higher risk of obesity and 0.6 unhealthy days in the past 30 days.

Be aware of your employee’s engagement and wellbeing

As the research showed above, there’s a strong connection between wellbeing and engagement, and that applies to managers as well. Employees may not be aware of all the wellbeing opportunities a company offers. But a manager can encourage employees to get involved in wellbeing activities such as yoga, improved training, motivational rewards and personal development opportunities. This reflects a powerful cascade effect from managers to employees, Harter says, “When managers care about their wellbeing, their team members take a greater interest in their own wellbeing.” This helps to minimise staff turnover and improving employee motivation.

Give employees a platform

A lot of studies are showing that change happens because of our social environment,” Harter says. “Norms are shared in a way that’s contagious, and companies and managers can help set those norms. But the team will carry them forward.”Employees who are engaged and thriving also have greater agility and resilience. “When people are engaged and have thriving wellbeing, their life situations don’t weigh them down and keep them from performing,” Harter says. “They see changes as opportunities, not problems.” Managers who encourage wellbeing and engagement will help their companies reap the benefits in times to come.

Stay Informed

The old saying, ‘leave your personal life at home, not at work’, is not entirely realistic. A Gallup analysis shows that your wellbeing has an impact on the people you work with and on the people who work for you. Work/life balances are important in order for your employees to balance their work and personal lives, which makes them happier and more productive. By creating a positive culture of organizational wellbeing for your company, you are encouraging your employees to take pride in their job, and respect their peers.

Streamline Workflow

It is important in today’s workplaces that a company runs smoothly. Do you want to streamline workflow and improve business operations? To run your company successfully your staff should be priority. By promoting wellbeing at your workplace you increases employee work satisfaction, which in turn reduces stress and save times because there is less pressure and high workloads are often a cause of stress.

Provide a Positive Environment

As a manager or leader it is important to provide an environment for your employees to learn. Paul Monsted, managing Director says it’s wise to get them out of the office. “Take your employees to seminars, workshops, somewhere that is an enriching environment. No hard core training.”

Mr Monsted also mentions introducing fringe benefits to your staff such as trips away, gift baskets to aid a positive environment. “They will see the value,” he says.

To view the original article, click here and learn more about creating a happy workplace culture.

Source by Kellie Riek

More and more, people in Australia are choosing gift baskets as the present of choice for many different occasions. If you are one of them, then you undoubtedly would like to find a hampers business that you can rely on. There are definite things to look for in such cases; read on to learn more.

Do They Offer A Wide Selection?

Although birthdays are very popular events for giving hampers, the company that you choose to order one from should offer a wide array of hampers for many different occasions including Fathers Day baskets. In addition to birthday hampers, they should offer things as diverse as get well hampers, baby gift baskets – and everything in between. You’ll discover that having a gift basket for practically any occasion can come quite in handy, and you’ll be glad to have a reliable business from which to buy one.

Can They Come Through For Major Events?

Whether you’re planning a huge social gathering for a friend or family member, or if you are going to be holding a major work event, hampers can make excellent door or raffle prizes. The company that you choose to work with should be willing and able to come up with a unique array of baskets to suit your specific needs, regardless of what type of event you’ll be throwing. Ordering your gift baskets for such occasions should be helpful – not stressful.

Are They Passionate About Gift Baskets?

Always look for a hampers business that is run by people with a genuine love for the craft. Such people will be brimming with enthusiasm about creating just the right gift for any given occasion, and they will be more than happy to brainstorm ideas with you as necessary. In other words, hampers should be more than a paycheck for them – they should be a means of creative expression and an opportunity to provide something elegant and attractive for their clientele.

Do They Feature New Ideas All The Time?

Rather than displaying the same old gift hampers week after week, the hampers business that you hire on should demonstrate the ability to come up with unique new concepts on a regular basis. This shows that they have creativity to spare, and signifies that they are most likely happy to think outside the box for their customers.

Is Giving Back To The Community Important To Them?

A professional, well run hampers business will always keep the importance of their surrounding community in mind. As such, they will happily donate baskets on a regular basis to community organizations and for special events as well. Look for companies that do this, and you will be on the right track indeed.

by David S Judge

If you love lobster, then you know it is the star of the show on your plate. So, what do you serve with this main star? What side dishes for lobster are the best?

To keep the lobster as the main event, you need to have very simple side dishes. Very colorful vegetables in the yellow, reds and greens work very well with Lobster dishes.

Here is one example:

Cucumber and tomato salad. This makes a great side dish for lobster. It is simple to make and very colorful.

Here is what you will need:

cucumbers (as many as you think you will need for your guests, you will have to gauge this yourself)

nice red ripe tomatoes

Greek style bottled dressing

Peel your cucumber and then slice in 1/2 lengthwise, and then again, and then slice the wedges about 1/2 inch think.

Wash and cut the tomatoes into pieces a similar size to the cucumber chunks.

Put these in a bowl, and then pour some dressing (I found the Kraft Greek style dressing with feta worked the best for me)

Then let it sit for about 15 minutes before you serve it, to absorb the Greek dressing. Then sprinkle with the crumbled feta cheese.

Put on the table with a large spoon, and let your guests help themselves to this delicious side dish for the lobster.

Add a basket of crusty rolls, and lots of whipped butter, and you will have a fine lobster lunch or dinner.

You don’t need to spend too long on the side dishes for lobster, they should be simple, colorful and delicious. Your guests will be more interested in the lobster than anything else really anyways. Potato dishes may be a bit heavy a side dish for lobster, so stick to lighter fare, such as fresh vegetables and fresh bread or rolls.

Don’t forget the napkins or maybe bibs!

Source by Diane Palmer

There are many homemade Easter gift ideas which are creative and exclusive. However as long as they are handmade gifts, exchanging them during the Easter season will spell much sincerity.

One conventional idea is the old time Easter basket. This gift may sound customary and common but you can make one which differs from others depending on your creativity. Simple materials such as craft paints, a basket, foam plate, stencils, and masking tape or other materials according to your basket designs.

Among the homemade Easter gift ideas, one very creative and fun idea is to fill up a box with buttons, threads, string and beads with a note saying that you would like to organize a necklace making party. Instead of having the yearly party accustomed with only food and gatherings, you can create more excitement through the necklace making idea. You may also modify according to your own ideas. For example the paper bag puppets. You can fill up the box with goggle eyes, paper bags, craft glue, scissors and other required materials. Besides making the kids happy, you can also trigger adults to join the puppet making process together.

Another recommended gift for Easter is a treasure box. The treasure box can be made from a wooden or thick paper box, for instance a cigar box. You can decorate the box to make it look like a treasure chest. In the box you may fill up with tiny treasures such as foreign money you gather from travels, marbles, pearls, costume jewelry or even the treasure map for the Easter egg hunt you have secretly planned.

Asides from those handmade gifts, you can consider presenting the homemade Easter egg. The egg is a sign of rebirth and fertility the powerful symbol for Easter. To make Easter egg as your gift, you need to dye them with colors to symbolize the spring colors. If you do not fancy making eggs, you may want to replace it with candies. You can prepare colorful candies which reflect the spring colors. Candies will be the attention of kids thus it can appear to be one of the best gifts for Easter.

Other homemade Easter gift ideas include handmade Easter cards or delicious Easter cookie. The Easter cards can be made in any ways up to your personal creativity while the Easter cookie is simply quick and easy to make if you have the right recipe. Both the gifts may appear genuine and blends well with the meaning of Easter celebration. 

Source by Stuart Michael M

If you are getting bored of the same old cornucopia or poinsettia arrangement at the parties, you have an option to go for some really trendy and cool flowers arrangements to add a spark to your party. At Ferns and Petals, you get hundreds of designs and flower arrangements to make your party memorable.

Buying wholesale flowers has an advantage over buying basic grocery store flowers, as you can have a broader selection. Poinsettia plants and flowers are available everywhere and have become quite common. Online flower shops give you a much better selection on the types and colors of flowers that add beauty to your place. Choose a different flower theme for party. If you want to be a little different then use pink and lime green flowers instead of red and green. You can find all colours and shades on online flower shops.

Flower arrangement is quite easy. You just need a pair of pliers, a wire cutter, foam, tape, wire, and a coloured tape. First of all, take a container with enough space. You can take a vase, bowl, or a basket. Then, get a holder with a colour matching that of the room you wish to decorate. Next, pick flowers with different colours and blend them well. You can mingle chrysanthemums, roses, peonies, lilies, and poppies together. Then diffuse ferns, ivy, or eucalyptus among the flowers.

Some flowers will suddenly tip over and fall, don’t get worried. Just continue the process till the vase is filled with good combination of blooms. Then, fill half of the vase with glass marbles matching to the colour of your flower arrangement and your work is done.

Oflowers brings to you a lot of options from Ferns and Petals, an online florist that offers beautiful flowers arrangements to its customers. It also provides home delivery services across all major Indian cities and a number of international delivery centres.

Source by Harry Richard

The Christmas season brings happiness and fun. The Christmas gifts symbolize love, affection, peace, harmony and fraternity. Christmas gifts are innovative and add zest to a person’s life. The Christmas gift ideas are so amazing that you can either treat yourself or amuse any person. And also show you the easy and rewarding way to keep the special moments alive forever. It is also a collection of unusual gifts that instantly mesmerize recipient.

Christmas presents do not have to have a Christmas theme of course. A dinner dress or your baseball team’s logo on a hat do not require Christmas symbols, but doing your shopping in advance is still smarter instead of procrastinating until the day before Christmas. Write down your shopping list, figure out who has been naughty or nice on your list this year, and then go shopping.

There are many perfect Christmas gifts for different people to choose from.

Music CDs, car DVDs, music accessories, audio books and musical instruments would be perfect Christmas gifts for your music lover buddies. So why not drop them these surprise gifts this holiday? Electronic gadgets such as car GPS, car DVD player for people who love travelling. A great personal MP3 player or as a gift for people who enjoy Christmas collectibles. It also makes a good give-away item for company holiday celebrations or Christmas season store events. Electronic gadgets are yet some more glowing ideas for Christmas gifts. And these are all the rage during this season, too. Sport goods for sports nuts for the gizmo buffs, or may be some fitness equipment for the health freaks, choose your Christmas gifts wisely and well in advance to avoid the rush of the Christmas shopping season.

Christmas presents are one of the key attractions at Christmas. The Christmas gift ideas bring splendid gift collection that are eye captivating and authentic, and are especially meant for Christmas occasion to make it everlasting and exceptional than other occasions. A fruit basket is also a great holiday gift idea at Christmas. Christmas fruit arrangements make an ideal gift for the joyous holiday season. Christmas is all about sharing the wonderful things god has given us, and presenting a fruit basket to your friends and family is an ideal way to do so. These holiday fruit baskets contain seasonal and rare juicy, sweet and fresh fruits that are sometimes accompanied by vintage desert wines.

Unique Christmas and holiday gifts are sure to captivate the recipient’s heart and make the festive season the most exciting one in his life. You can leave a lifetime impression of yours in the heart of the recipient by personalizing the unique Christmas gifts. Thus, send warm Christmas wishes and make your dear ones feel special with the Christmas unique gifts.

Source by berl

Gift baskets can be seen everywhere. When you see the gift baskets, will you think a question like this “How it is made?”.

1. Food gift baskets

You know the usual gift baskets. Food, wine and all that jazz.

Well, a fruit basket filled with fruit harvested from your garden would be wonderful… if the seasons permit it. If not, if you made jams and preserves from harvested fruit, these would be wonderful in the gift basket.

* Get a wicker basket.

* Put a huge box of biscuits you baked yourself at the bottom of the basket.

* Arrange colorful bottles of jam on top of that box, with a bottle of wine in the center.

* Use a clear adhesive tape to hold everything in place.

* Then wrap the entire basket and its contents with cellophane paper.

* Tie a ribbon around the wine bottle for the finishing touch.

2. Makeover gift basket

Know of a plain jane you would like to makeover into a lovely swan? Drag her to the mall and get her to try out various dresses until you find one she looks amazing in. Buy that for her.

Drag her to the makeup counter for one makeover after another and when you find a look she looks fabulous in, and buy the makeup used to create that look.

Cart her to the shoe shop and pick a pair of high heels that fit her and which go with the outfit.

If she still lets you live, put the shoes, dress and makeup in a basket and wrap it with cellophane. No doubt it wouldn’t be a surprise, but that would probably be the gift that she would remember more than anything else. She might be embarassed when you get her to use that gift at a party, but I’m sure she’d be pleased whether or not she shows it.

3. Jewelry gift basket.

Your gift basket need not really be in a basket. You could even use those compartmentalized boxes for fish bait for this jewelry gift basket.

Get a collection of earrings you know she would like. Costume jewelry would be wonderful. CZ earrings [http://www.cheapestsale.com/jewelry/CZ.html] are very affordable. You might even put in a necklace or two and other jewels that fit into these compartments.

Once every compartment is filled, decorate the box by gluing color paper on the lid and letting your artistic talent loose as you write a message on it using metallic ink.

Wrap it up and give her this treasure chest for Christmas.

wickerchina.com, first China B2B platform for wicker export and wicker import, also largest online vertical wicker industry B2B platform for relevant manufacturers, suppliers, international buyers, connects global wicker basket / picnic basket buyers and sellers.

Source by Helen Zhang