Annual Review 2021

First Tee – Silicon Valley (FTSV) had its highest performing revenue year in 2021, while working hard to rebuild our Class and Community Outreach participants served due to the lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our non-profit bounced back and we are proud to share we are stronger than ever in respect to fundraising, demand for classes, and volunteerism.

We served 822 unique Class Participants which is 80% of capacity due to access restrictions that only allowed us to return to full golf course access in the Fall and Winter seasons.  We were not able to resume our Community Outreach with the schools until the late Fall. FTSV relaunched our program with 6 schools reaching 3,900 youth compared to our last year-round (2019) program at 18 schools reaching over 13,000 youth.

Our youth development program has now positively transformed the lives of 86,056 youth through proven on course and at-school programs since 2005.

FTSV Program Snapshot   

Class Participation – 822* unique participants took an average of 2 classes at our golf locations for a total of 1,562 class registrations   *reduced by 20% due to Covid

  • 62% at Rancho del Pueblo GC; 25% at Baylands Golf Links; 19% at Gavilan Golf Course
  • Served 62% Male and 38% Female
  • Served 26.6% Teens (age 13+) including 20 Ace students at the top level focusing on career exploration, volunteering, and post high school education
  • Served 45% Asian, 21% Latino, 17% White, 11% Multi-Racial, Black 2% and Other 4%
  • Provided Financial Aid to 28.36% underserved participant registrants in need by reducing class fee paid from $210 to a sliding scale of $20-$180 — $72,000 total awarded (*34% in 2019…Pre-Covid)
  • Provided a 4:1 Coach to Participant Ratio due to increased volunteerism

Outreach Participation – 3,900* youth experienced our community outreach program

  • 6 in-school PE programs or after-school locations in San Jose (4), Sunnyvale (1), and Santa Clara (1)   *reduced by 10,000 youth served due to Covid
  • Primarily served Title I Schools with low to moderate (LMI) students
  • Offered at no cost to schools through underwriting support
  • Served 45% Female and 55% Male
  • Served 65% Latino, 11% Asian, 10% White, 5% Multi, 4% Black, and 5% Other

Youth Opportunities – FTSV Teens were selected for various leadership and golf opportunities where many received special recognition through scholarships.

  • Nancy Rivera represented FTSV at the First Tee Innovators Forum and received a $10,000 College Scholarship
  • Rachel Truong, Calvin Kong, Sophie Thai, and Borina Sutikto represented FTSV at the 2021 PURE Insurance Championship Impacting the First Tee
  • Shivani Patel received the FTSV Joyce Taylor Eagle Award and $4,000 College Scholarship 
  • Dimarco Casillas received FTSV Dennis Kettman Memorial $4,000 College Scholarship
  • Isabella Herrera was chosen for the Youth on Course + TaylorMade DRIVE Club.
  • Athina Chen, Rachana Ajjarapu, and Kelly Yu were selected to attend the First Tee Game Changers Academy Honoring Joe Louis Barrow
  • Jonathan Tessmann and Nancy Rivera were selected to attend the First Tee Leadership Summit
  • Borina Sutikto was selected to the First Tee College Scholarship Program
  • Borina Sutikto and Sophie Thai competed in the First Tee National Championship

FTSV Youth Impact Metrics

  • 100% of FTSV certifying class participants graduate high school
  • 100% of ACE top-level certifying participants attend college
  • 80% of our participants reported receiving all A’s and B’s
  • Class Participant Surveys reported the following:

       97% Had fun

       96% Said Coaches were fun and cared

       94% Like golf and improved golf skills

       90% Felt included as part of the group

       88% Want to continue with FTSV classes

       84% Learned new life skills to improve their character

FTSV Volunteerism

  • 100 Total Volunteers
  • 70 Teen Junior Coaches from our program
  • 13 Board Directors and 13 Ambassadors
  • 5,574 total hours donated
  • Equivalent to $111,480 in-kind labor

Financial Snapshot

FTSV raised $1.6M exceeding the operating budget of $1.2M. The operating budget distribution was approximately 70% for Programs, 6% for Operating (e.g., golf course access), 20% for Fundraising, and 4% for Administration.

$1,014,451 Contributed Income

       $332,501       Grants and Foundations

       $273,868       Government Grants

       $19,976          Corporate Giving

       $388,106       Individual Giving

$649,654 Earned Income

       $255,564       Participant Fees & Merchandise Sales

       $391,251       Golf Events: Open, Invitational, Classic (Foundation, Corporate, Individual)

       $    2,839        Miscellaneous

$1,664,105 Total Income        

                  

Annual Review 2020

First Tee – Silicon Valley (FTSV) experienced a challenging 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related safety protocols which only allowed us to operate at 30% of program capacity. However, we applied one of First Tee’s Nine Core Values – Perseverance – by making adjustments to the program, keeping the organization going, improving our resources for coaches, participant and families, and creating new ways to for donors to support us. FTSV Key Operational Strategies:
  • Applied for PPP and SBA Loans immediately and received funds to sustain operations
  • Applied for and received grants for Covid-19 PPE supplies from USGA and SV Bank
  • Retained Core Staff of 9 to maintain operations, created ways to stay connected to our families and supporters, and strengthened the business for the future
  • Developed additional coaching tools, and enhanced our coach and parent resources by creating a video resource library
  • Conducted extensive programming scenario planning with our golf course partners to continue our classes to the maximize number of participants within safely guidelines
  • Held extensive fundraising scenario planning sessions with our Board to maximize giving
  • Cut costs to preserve cash flow reserves and be more efficient for the future
When the Covid-19 lock down became a reality in mid-March, we were ready to start our Spring season with 550 students registered for our 8-week season at our 3 course locations. We were forced to cancel the season. We were also providing our DRIVE Outreach program to 20 in-school PE programs or after-school locations. As schools transitioned to on-line learning for the remainder of the year, we had to put our outreach efforts on hold. In the void of outreach programming our staff built an online resource portal including best practices and lesson plans for the school leaders to utilize when schools and community youth programs return. Despite the hiatus in our outreach programming, offseason events, and our 8-week Spring season it was important for us to maintain a sense of community and stay connected. Our programming staff quickly launched weekly Zoom activities for participants that included: constructing their own mini golf course at home, posting about who is on their go-to/support team (which is an Eagle/4th level core lesson), building and playing a homemade putt bowling game, creating beautiful core values artwork, and showing responsibility by competing in a fun laundry toss contest. The Spring season marked the largest enrollment for an Ace class (highest level for high schoolers) in FTSV history – 14 participants! Despite the COVID-19 crisis, these participants took their Ace-Career Exploration class online via Zoom and learned about self-awareness, types of industries and business functions, informational interviews, planning, and resume building. The Ace classes continued with these participants and more learning about their golf game (Summer), future education (Fall), and volunteerism (Winter). With new Covid-19 County protocols for holding Youth Activities (e.g., 1 coach per 12 students), FTSV conducted our Summer classes using a hybrid model of 3 weeks on Zoom and 5 weeks in-person classes at 2 of our course locations from July 5th to August 8th with 117 participants, 19 coaches, and 16 volunteers. With additional access at our 3rd course location, FTSV conducted our Fall season with all in-person classes from September 12th to November 7th with a limited capacity of 159 participants, 23 coaches, and 22 volunteers. We ended the year with our Winter season from December 1st to February 6th with a limited capacity of 188 participants, 18 coaches, and 31 volunteers. We feel very fortunate to have been able to serve 368 unique participants in 2020 – about 30% of pre-Covid-19 capacity. To keep our classes going, our team worked hard to ensure our policies were in line with County safety procedures and all safety policies were followed with consistency. We created safety videos, signs, and adjusted our class procedures, class layout, and games. Temperatures were taken, masks and gloves were worn, and coaches and participants maintained physical distance. As a result of everyone’s commitment to safety our classes took place without interruption due to COVID-19. Despite Covid-19, various FTSV youth received special recognition through scholarships.
  • Francis Agcaoili – FTSV Dennis Kettman Memorial college scholarship
  • Nancy Rivera – FTSV Joyce Taylor Eagle Award and college scholarship
  • Juan Pablo Roa and Mitchell Fong – FT National Chevron STEM college scholarship
  • Borina Sutikto – FT PURE Insurance Championship scholarship
Our Board, CEO and Development Director worked equally as hard at rescheduling and creating new ways for donors to support us during Covid-19:
  • Classic Tournament scheduled in April was postponed to September – changed from shot gun to straight tee times with no large gatherings
  • Invitational Tournament at CordeValle scheduled in July was postponed to October
  • Open Tournament scheduled in June was cancelled (-$250K gross)
  • Created new Caddy Club Donor Appreciation Program for no-contact giving
  • Created new Challenge Cup golf outings with golf clubs
  • CEO sent personal notes to long-time major donors with updates and asking for earlier gifts to help us during challenging times
Financial Snapshot FTSV raised $800,000 in 2020 plus an additional $123,500 PPP Loan
  • $175,000 Grants and Foundations
  • $193,000 Annual Giving
  • $101,000 Participant Fees
  • $73,000 Classic Golf Tournament
  • $200,000 Invitational Golf Tournament
  • $58,000    Challenge Cup
$800,000 We are so grateful for our donors for their support, team of coaches and volunteers for their commitment, and participants and families for sticking with us during these challenging times. Much like life, FTSV is stronger having persevered through a challenging phase.

Annual Review 2019

The First Tee of Silicon Valley (TFTSV) had its highest performing year in 2019 as it reached 14,453 youth – 1,011 Class Participants and 13,442 Outreach Participants. Our youth development program has positively transformed the lives of 81,234 youth through proven on course and at-school programs since 2005. TFTSV also had its highest financial performing year raising $1.235M (20% increase over previous year) allowing $100K for expansion and reserves. Learn More

Annual Review 2018

Our youth development program through golf continues to grow and expand with the addition of Golf Intro Classes, STEM Classes and a new program location in Redwood City plus our return to Baylands Golf Links. Flip through The First Tee of Silicon Valley 2018 Annual Review to see who we have served and our tremendous impact on youth.

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Annual Review 2017

2017 Highlights include:

  • Classes: Over 1,100 youth took classes at San Jose, Moffett Field, and Gilroy
  • Outreach: Over 7,000 youth took DRIVE at Alum Rock Elementary, Gilroy & El Toro Youth Centers
  • Impact: Our youth look you in the eye when shaking hands and >85% earned all As or Bs in school
  • Affordability:  25% of participants received full financial aid, low income families pay just $20 for an 8-week class.

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Annual Review 2015

2015 Highlights include:

  • Classes: Over 1,100 youth took classes at San Jose, Alviso, Moffett Field, Gilroy, and Palo Alto
  • Outreach: Over 10,000 youth took DRIVE at Alum Rock Elementary, Rocketship Education & Franklin McKinley Schools, and community groups & events
  • Impact: Our youth behave better, get better grades, and are healthier than their peers. >85% earned all As or Bs in school
  • Affordability:  25% of participants received full financial aid, low income families pay just $10 for an 8-week class.

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