Grant: noun [ Cambridge Dictionary ]  /ɡrænt/ an amount of money given especially by the government to a person or organization for a special purpose:

A Grant is an Offer made:

  • from a grant provider (mainly the Government)
  • to “not-for-profit organisations” (“Community” organisations)
  • for a specific project or purpose to benefit the community / help your organisation into the future (not retrospectively)
  • to be applied for via an on-line application form
  • during a specific period (usually a month, most grants can only be applied for between an opening and closing date of the grant)

and if successful:

  • paid almost always in cash into your nominated bank account
  • cash must be used to purchase items applied for
  • the project must be delivered within 12 months (usually) from receiving cash.

Some key points:

  • Grants are not free cash flow. You must spend the grant funds on the purpose that was applied for / agreed
  • You might be asked to account for the expenditure and show proof
  • Grants can be won and are won by thousands of Sporting organisations with worthy applications, it is not a begging exercise as you may experience in chasing sponsors or recruiting volunteers to help with fund raisers. Nor is anywhere near as much effort required to generate this revenue
  • Our grant writing success fees cannot usually be paid out of the grant funds received. We will let you know if ever otherwise.
  • Some larger facility improvement grants require strong support from your council, particularly if they are the owner of the property on which the facility improvements are to occur. The work required to obtain infrastructure funding is not necessarily just grant writing but also other work and strategies. We can guide or assist you in this regards. Please contact us for for further information.

Grants are effectively a re-distribution of money received by grant providers. Most grants for Sporting organisations come from all three levels of Government which use taxes collected by rate and taxpayers to distribute to organisations that can deliver community benefit. A grant is a way the government funds your ideas and projects to provide public community benefits or services to stimulate the economy.

Click here to see what grants fund.

So, typically:

  • all three levels of Government and entities funded by the Government provide suitable grants to sporting organisations and activities i.e. 1 Local Government / Councils / Shires, 2. State Government and 3. Federal Government)
  • Not-for-profit foundations and philanthropies also provide very good grants, however, these are usually only available to registered charities
  • A handful of private businesses also provide some very good and suitable grants for sporting organisations. However, many are not genuine grant offerings but a method to market the business’s products and services (there are typically many applicants due to the heavy promotion of the grant but few winners)
  • Some sporting associations (e.g: AFL, Cricket and Football/Soccer) offer grants which are suitable for sporting clubs of that code and which are typically focused on growing participation.