Funding

This section is designed to help you find funding for your project. Before you go searching for funding, you should have some idea about how much money you need. The financial management section will help you put together a basic budget. You will not get funding if you can’t show the funders what you plan to do with their money.

There are several main sources of funding that community services use to pay for their programs:

    • Government funding – the main source of ‘recurring’ funding – funding that comes in every year, year after year. You can also apply for smaller, one- off grants. The community.grantready.com.au and ourcommunity.com.au websites hava details of all state and federal government funding sources and many non government sources.
    • Non government funding grants – They are not recurring but there are a number of them and they can have a lot of money. Some of these are because someone has died and left their money to be spent on community projects. Some of it is from the money that clubs earn through poker machines, which they then give to the community. The list on community.grantready.com.au and ourcommunity.com.au websites will take a while to get through but many organisations have found it worthwhile to spend some time exploring.
    • Sponsorship – when a business provides money or resources to a club in exchange for some form of rights and/or associations with the club that may be used to help the business commercially. This could be in the form of a logo on a football, signs at an oval or free advertising in the newsletter.
    • Donations – most businesses and individuals don’t expect to get anything back in return for their donation. Mostly, when people or businesses give a large donation, they do expect to get some of their money back from the tax office. If you are registered with the tax office as a charity, this is no problem. If not – and you are a sports club -the Australian Sports Foundation can help, by taking the money on your behalf and returning it to you. They also have some funds of their own to donate. For more details head to the following website – http://www.asf.org.au/

      Alternatively, you can register with the Australian Giving Centre at http://www.ourcommunity.com.au/giving/giving_main.jsp  which can help you receive donations online. They have lots of advice and strategies on their website for getting donations –http://www.ourcommunity.com.au/funding/funding_article.jsp?articleId=1692\

    • Fundraising activities such as earning money through activities such as barbecues and stalls can take a lot of work but can also have other benefits. Money raised this way can be spent almost any way you choose (as long as you didn’t say it was going to be used for a specific purpose, of course!) Membership fees, hall bookings and other ‘earned income’ can also bring in a steady income for your club or organisation, while annual fetes or festivals can become a regular part of your community’s event calendar, building in size every year.
      Some ideas for fundraising can be found on NSW Sport and Recreations website – http://www.sportandrecreation.nsw.gov.au/sportsclubs/ryc_fund_ideas.asp  or http://www.fundraisingideas.com.au/

Most large sports organisations depend on the income and support of their sponsors. Businesses like to be associated with sports clubs and players because it helps build their reputation within the community. Sponsorship can be used as a cheap alternative or addition to advertising, while at the same time benefitting their local community.

NSW Sport and Recreation has resources to help you get sponsorship for your club –http://www.sportandrecreation.nsw.gov.au/sportsclubs/ryc_sponsor.asp

Links to Funding Sources

    • A NSW government site which aims to help local communities across the State share ideas on how to enhance and strengthen their community – https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/search?q=Grants
    • Sites containing all state and federal government funding sources and many non government sources – community.grantready.com.au and ourcommunity.com.au
    • The Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) operates the Sport Incentive Program which aims to increase chances for Australians to participate and do well in sport. Sports organisations can apply for funding from the program, but the program can also make it easier for clubs to collect tax deductible donations – http://www.asf.org.au/home
      NSW Sport and Recreation has a list of grants for sporting or recreational clubs for developing their facilities, event development, professional development and athletic development – http://www.sportandrecreation.nsw.gov.au/grants
    • Our Community has a short list of the ten best fundraising ideas with supporting factsheets and resources – https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/search?q=Grants

Further Information

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has released a Guide to Fundraising for Not for Profit organisations, to help you know where you stand with taxation when you raise funds – https://www.ato.gov.au/non-profit/gifts-and-fundraising/fundraising-events/