The Long Game: Why Fundraising is Like a 500-Yard Par 5

True leadership is like the hours spent on the golf practice range—quiet, repetitive, and often unnoticed—which eventually allows for a successful drive when the stakes are highest. In both golf and volunteering, I have realized that the core of leadership is not found in the spotlight, but in the ethics of the "long game" and the personal accountability of every decision made. This mix of responsibility and persistence became the foundation for my volunteering in global healthcare.

In order to take care of a human body, a complex healthcare system is needed. I have seen this clearly through my struggles with Inflammatory Bowel Disease; much like maintaining a consistent swing despite physical fatigue, humans need treatment options, a network of specialists, and an abundance of resources so that they can take care of themselves. However, there is a large gap between those who have access to this system and those who do not. There are many places like this around the globe, and one that I have decided to focus on is Costa Rica.

Costa Rica already has a strong public healthcare system, in comparison to other countries, but many of its rural areas face an access gap. Surprisingly, one of the main reasons Costa Rica has such gaps is because of geography. In golf, a beautiful landscape can often hide the most difficult hazards; similarly, this geography creates a challenging course for healthcare delivery that requires precision to navigate. This reason shouldn’t cause problems, but unfortunately it does, and that is why I think it is important to focus on such areas. Therefore, I decided I wanted to make a change that could help with the lack of supplies and aid in these areas. My decision was to not only volunteer, but to lead a student-driven fundraising effort to support a medical service initiative in Costa Rica — offering resources and sustainability.

As I planned this project, I prioritized an approach that enabled both immediate relief and a strong follow-through. Firstly, I thought about using my school's service programs, but creating a Costa Rica tailored trip would be lengthy due to legal processes. Additionally, I researched starting my own non-profit. But again, much like reading the green before a crucial putt, I had to survey the administrative landscape to ensure my first move wouldn't result in a missed opportunity through filing and compliance. Therefore, I finally landed on working with an already established non-profit through fiscal sponsorship. This would enable me to start fundraising quickly, have tax-deductible receipts for the donors, and handle legal situations with the help of a well-established non-profit organization.

Yet this also created challenges as many organizations would not answer or look over this partnership because of my low status as a student. Just as a golfer must maintain composure after hitting into the rough, I learned that progress is rarely a straight line down the fairway; it requires the grit to find your way back to the center. Thus, even in the beginning of this process I already learned quite a lot about resilience. Even with a low number of responses, I knew it was important to persist in order to accomplish my goal. Additionally, I began understanding accountability. Golf is the ultimate game of ethics—there is no team to hide behind and you are responsible for your own score—and I realized my leadership would be defined by how I managed my own actions through these difficult stretches. I was responsible for this project's outcome, so my actions mattered. I needed to show initiative and be responsible with how I asked questions and thoughtfully strategize how to find a partner.

The determination finally paid off when I leveraged my connections and relationships to find a fiscal sponsor for this fundraising effort. Here, I learned about resourcefulness and coordination—knowing how to use every club in my bag to its greatest capacity in order to fulfill an objective. I now know how to use my opportunities to their greatest capacity in order to fulfill an objective. This resourcefulness has motivated me towards a new goal. Long-term, I will create a structure in my school that connects students with possible fiscal sponsors so they can also fundraise and continue this service-initiative in upcoming years. By sharing my own resources, I can help rural communities in Costa Rica to gain yearly medical volunteers from my school and community.

While continuing this project is my biggest goal, one of the most important lessons I learned is the meaning of leadership. It is not recognition from others, but instead responsibility. It means doing “boring” work like emailing, making decisions, and building a foundation to help others succeed. True leadership focuses on impact and follow-through over credit.