This one comes from decades of running charity golf outings, not a marketing department: cash pricing quietly limits what you charge, because it has to be. Once payment goes cashless, that ceiling disappears, and the difference in revenue can be significant.
The Cash Pricing Trap
Think about how mulligan pricing usually gets set. Two mulligans for $20 isn't $20 because that's what two mulligans are worth. It's $20 because a single $20 bill is easy to collect, easy to make change for (or better yet, requires none), and keeps the line at registration moving. The price isn't built around value. It's built around what's easy to hand a volunteer holding a cash box.
That's not a criticism of how outings have priced things. It's a completely reasonable response to the real constraint cash creates. Nobody wants a volunteer fumbling for three ones and a five while a foursome waits behind the golfer paying. So pricing gets anchored to round, bill-friendly numbers, even when golfers would happily pay more.
What Happens When You Remove the Constraint
Once payment is a tap instead of a bill, that constraint is gone. Charging $30 for two mulligans is no harder for a volunteer to collect than charging $20. It's still one tap, either way. Which means the price can move to reflect what golfers actually would pay, not what's convenient to make change for.
The math on mulligans alone
| Old cash price, 2 mulligans | $20 |
|---|---|
| Cashless price, 2 mulligans | $30 |
| Increase per sale | 50% |
That's not a hypothetical. It's a real pattern seen across outings that made the switch. And it's worth noticing this isn't about charging golfers more for the same thing out of opportunism. It's that the old price was artificially held down by a logistics problem that no longer exists.
The Same Logic Applies Beyond Mulligans
Once you see the pattern in mulligan pricing, it's worth applying the same thinking anywhere your outing has historically priced around round cash amounts rather than actual willingness to pay:
| Category | Typical cash pricing | What cashless allows |
|---|---|---|
| Mulligans (2) | $20 flat | $25–$30 |
| Hole-in-one entry | $20 flat | $25 |
| Putting contest entry | $10 flat | $15 |
| Raffle tickets | 3 for $20 | 3 for $25 |
These are illustrative examples based on common cash-era pricing patterns. Your own numbers will depend on your outing's history and audience. The point isn't a specific dollar figure; it's re-examining any price that was set around "what's easy to collect in cash" rather than "what golfers would actually pay."
Why Golfers Don't Push Back on This
It's worth understanding why this works rather than just taking it on faith. When someone hands over a $20 bill, they feel the exact cost. It's a physical, countable thing leaving their hand. A tap doesn't carry that same friction. The golfer isn't doing mental math about getting change back or whether they have the right bill; they're just tapping and moving on. That small reduction in friction is also why digital wallet donations tend to run higher than cash gifts more broadly, not just at golf outings.
- of adults go cashless on a weekly basis
- 41%Pew Research Center
- say they prefer cards over cash
- 78%Capital One Research
- higher gifts when digital wallets are offered
- 1.5xBloomerang
How to Actually Set This Up
Review last year's registration sheet
Flag every price that looks like it was set around a round bill amount rather than actual value.
Set new preset amounts
Build your new pricing into the app as tap-ready presets. Golfers still get a fast, simple checkout, even at a price that isn't a clean bill total.
Let every volunteer collect at the new price
Since it's still just one tap regardless of the amount, there's nothing extra to train volunteers on. The new pricing is exactly as easy to collect as the old one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will golfers notice or complain about prices that aren't round numbers?
Generally no. Since payment is a single tap either way, the specific number matters far less to the golfer than it used to when they had to physically produce the right bills.
Should every category get a price increase?
Not necessarily. The point is to reconsider prices that were set around cash convenience specifically, not to raise everything by default. Some prices may already reflect true value.
Does this require any special setup in the app?
No. Presets can be set to any amount you choose. There's no requirement that they be round numbers, so the new pricing is just as fast for volunteers to collect as the old pricing was.
Is there a cost to our organization for using Golfund?
No. Golfund is free for nonprofits, and your organization only pays Stripe's standard card processing fee. Buyers are separately offered an optional 3% contribution at checkout to help keep the platform free; it's added on top of the purchase, not deducted from your organization's proceeds.
Stop pricing around what's easy to make change for
Free for nonprofits. Set any price. Every volunteer collects it in one tap.