The local organization that puts on some of New Canaan’s most cherished local events—Holiday Stroll, Halloween Parade, Sidewalk Sale, Taste of the Town and Pop Up Park, for example—is calling on residents and local businesses that enjoy those perks to support it through a major fundraiser slated for later this month.
From the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Outing.
The New Canaan Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Golf Outing, to be held Sept. 25 at the Country Club of New Canaan, is “a large part of our budget that allows us to do what we do on a daily basis,” according to Tucker Murphy, the organization’s executive director.
“While it is a great networking event and it’s a great day and a lot of fun, it’s also a big part of the fundraising efforts that keep us going.”
From the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Outing.
Specifically, the Chamber is eager to see more foursomes (see details here) sign up for the Golf Outing, which includes a buffet lunch, 18 holes of golf in shamble tournament format and then cocktail reception, dinner and prizes.
Jenny Esposito, a town resident and past president of the Chamber Board of Directors who also has arranged to have foursomes from her workplace—she’s store manager at TD Bank—participate in the Golf Outing called it a “great event.”
From the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Outing.
“Everyone I’ve ever had from TD as a foursome has really enjoyed it,” she said. “We have our best clients join senior management to play golf and it’s a fantastic way to support the Chamber and all the Chamber events.”
Locals know that the “Chamber ladies”—Murphy and Laura Budd, who run the organization and, in reality, operate as everything from cheerleaders to therapists—do far more than run the successful events they’ve either designed or made their own. Local businesspeople call on the Chamber to connect with their target customers and clients, partner with each other and nonprofit and service organization in the community, and get behind or raise the profile of causes that make New Canaan special.
From the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Outing.
All of that is critical to the Chamber’s mission of “Connecting community with commerce,” according to Laura Budd, marketing associate.
To achieve that mission, “We keep our membership dues very, very low,” she said. “So the Sidewalk Sale and Golf Outing are the two biggest ways to raise non-dues revenue. And we want as many businesses as possible to be able to join. We keep our rates very, very low to participate. We don’t charge for a lot of our gatherings—so it allows us to work every day on behalf of the community.”