These days, charity golf fundraisers are not exactly uncommon. But back in 1969, when a group of friends on the North Shore decided to play a round and raise some cash for charity, it was a novel idea.
Clearly, it caught on.
Forty years later, the Mike Frangos Commodore Charity Golf Tournament has gone from a small group of friends to a 200-golfer event headed up by the president CEO of Boston Private Bank & Trust. Sept. 13 was the date of this year’s event, dedicated as always to the Northeast Arc, which assists people with developmental disabilities.
Mark Thompson
Title: President and CEO, Boston Private Bank & Trust
Age: 53
Experience: 29 years
So the idea of playing golf for charity was a fairly new idea back then?
That was kind of a novel approach to raising money for a nonprofit. Mike Frangos, a founder in the tournament – it’s now dedicated to his memory – was a business owner and philanthropist on the North Shore who owned and ran the successful Commodore Restaurant in Beverly. After running the tournament with his friends for 24, 25 years, Mike decided it was time to bring in both a corporate sponsor and new leadership for the golf tournament.
So he introduced it to me [in 1994], and I was intrigued by the idea… After spending the afternoon and actually better part of a day with Jerry McCarthy, who is the executive director of the Northeast Arc, and also meeting his management team, I was instantly convinced that this was a great community partner for Boston Private Bank and also an opportunity for us, a relatively new bank, to expand our reputation and brand and exposure on the North Shore.
And how much money does this raise?
The tournament at this point, I’d have to confirm the number, but it’s raised about [$1.5 million] over its entire life. Since the bank’s been involved, I think it’s been approximately $1 million that’s been raised. It continues to be one of the more beneficial fundraising events for the Arc, in addition to introducing many of the bank’s clients and friends as potential donors and sponsors for the organization.
Nowadays, how many similar events are there in Massachusetts?
Tons. Every Monday there must be three or four or five just in the Greater Boston area. And that actually has made it a challenge, Mike and his friends were finding. It became much more competitive in finding golfers and in finding people to support the tournament financially, and it is competitive. Because businesses like ours, probably over the course of the year have at least 30 or 40 opportunities to participate in tournaments like this, so we have to pick and choose and we have to selectively partner with the organizations we feel we’d like to support in a meaningful way.
This thing started very informally and among close friends, so have you made any attempt to keep it from getting too corporate?
We work very hard in, one, preserving the legacy of the tournament, and also how Mike Frangos would like to see the tournament continue. It’s important to see the roots of the early days and make sure that the tournament continues to be an affordable venue for people to go out and golf. For that reason we have a two tier pricing strategy, if someone wants to go out and play in the morning, it’s much more affordable than let’s say coming out and playing the afternoon and being one of the corporate sponsors. That’s important to Mike Frangos, it’s important to the golf committee to make sure that this remains both a very attractive fundraiser for the [Northeast Arc] but at the same time of continues its tradition as a North Shore community golf outing.
The tournament has survived all these years. Is the Commodore Restaurant still around?
No, it’s not unfortunately. There’s a Stop & Shop now there I think.
5 Top Facts About The Northeast Arc:
- Offers services for people with disabilities, including the autistic and deaf
- Provides home health care, child care, parent support and recreational activities
- Helps parents navigate special education laws for their children
- Been in existence for 55 years
- Claims 90 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to families and individuals
