Same as any Quad Citizen born in the 1990s or later, Micaela Booth grew up never knowing a time without professional golf’s John Deere Classic and the tournament’s seminal Birdies for Charity (BFC) fundraising program. “The billboards, the commercials, the donor pamphlets – they seemed to be everywhere,” recalls Ms. Booth, a 32-year-old Sherrard High […]
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Same as any Quad Citizen born in the 1990s or later, Micaela Booth grew up never knowing a time without professional golf’s John Deere Classic and the tournament’s seminal Birdies for Charity (BFC) fundraising program.
“The billboards, the commercials, the donor pamphlets – they seemed to be everywhere,” recalls Ms. Booth, a 32-year-old Sherrard High School grad. “I have memories from grade school of people coming to talk about Birdies for Charity.”
Now Ms. Booth is the one doing the talking in her second year helming the local PGA Tour stop’s charitable effort.
And she has much to chirp about, with BFC celebrating its 30th anniversary and coming off a record-breaking $13.9 in funds raised in 2022.
The program is simple: Individuals, companies and foundations pledge a lump sum to a local charity (or charities) of their choice – and 100% of the funds collected go to those non-profit organizations.
Donations can be made to any of the participating local charities online at birdiesforcharity.com/donate.
All pledges are due the Friday of tournament week – which this year is July 7.
But Friday, June 16, is the deadline for donors to be prize-eligible for the “guess the birdies” contest.
The grand prize again is a two-year lease on a new car from Smart Lexus of the Quad Cities. Last year, five finalists correctly guessed 2,041 birdies would be scored during the 2022 JDC, with one randomly selected to drive away with a Lexus RX350 from the tourney’s Official Transportation Sponsor.
“They’ve been doing that for us for a number of years now and it’s really a great incentive for donors,” Ms. Booth said, noting other prizes this year include a gift from Expressions Jewelers, 2024 tournament tickets and JDC memorabilia. “Everyone gets a kick out of the contest.”
This year’s JDC is July 5-9, with some of the best players in the world competing for $7.1 million in prize money at TPC Deere Run in Silvis. The JDC’s economic impact on the region is an estimated $60 million annually.
Last year’s $13.9 million fundraising total works out to approximately $37 for each of the area’s estimated 375,000 residents, which again made the JDC the No. 1 in per capita contributions on the regular PGA Tour -- a distinction the tournament has held for more than a decade.
“We’re really excited because (BFC) has been a fixture in this community for as long as I can remember,” Ms. Booth said. “It’s been incredible how this community has rallied behind us for three decades.
“Another big thing that happened in the 1990s was that John Deere signed on as (the tournament’s) title sponsor. The support of such an amazing company that really cares about its hometown really accelerated our fundraising capabilities,” she said.Â
At its Champions Day media event on Monday, June 5, it was announced that Deere & Co. has signed on as the tournament’s Title Sponsor for another three years.Â
Originally called the Quad Cities Open when it started in 1971, the tournament has raised nearly $160 million for local charities over the years. But more than 98% of that total has come since Deere became the title sponsor in 1998.
“It’s changed in those 30 years,” Ms. Booth said of the BFC. “One of the biggest evolutions that happened was the introduction of the Bonus Fund and that has meant so much to the charities that participate — knowing that everything they raise is going to be matched by at least 5% is huge for them and translates to so much more impact that they’re able to have in our community.”Â
Last year’s standard-setting total included a whopping 7% bonus on top of donations collected for each of the 481 participating local charities. The BFC’s Bonus Fund is supported by tournament revenues, proceeds from special events, and a matching grant from Deere on all direct donations made to the program.
Deere also underwrites the administrative costs of the Birdies program, so 100% of each pledge collected goes directly to the designated charities.
“And the program has grown with the times,” Ms. Booth said, with the BFC moving to an online donation system in 2020 because of the pandemic.
“Before that, we relied heavily on the paper pledge forms -- and we still do. But the amount of donations coming online are getting bigger and bigger every year. It’s so easy. We give donors the capability to donate to whichever nonprofits – and as many — as they’d like.”
More than the Quad Cities benefits from the BFC, too, with the JDC licensing the program name and trademark to more than a dozen other PGA Tour events to use for fundraisers in their own markets.
“It’s incredible to think of all the millions of dollars rolling in at those other events from an idea that started here,” Ms. Booth said. “That’s a testament to what’s been built here over the years.”
