Australian Sports Foundation

Australian Sports Foundation

Donations and crowdfunding

If your club has a project in mind to help stride into the future, but don’t have the money to fund it, the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) may be able to help.

The ASF is supported by the Australian Sports Commission and was established by the Australian Government to help community organisations raise funds for the development of Australian sport.

In addition, the ASF provides support for your club’s project by helping you to take tax-deductible donations online and supplies them back to your club in the form of grants.  

Your club can simply register your proposed project with the ASF, then anyone and everyone can make a tax-deductible donation funds to the ASF and nominate your club’s project as the preferred beneficiary.

You may be thinking that people are more likely to donate funds if it was directly to the club rather than through an outside foundation.  

Usually, you would be correct, but the unique advantage that the ASF has is that it offers the incentive of tax deductibility for donations.  

This means that individuals or groups that donate over $2.00 to help support your club’s project receive a tax deduction on that donation.

It is pretty clear that if people are able to claim this on their donation to a project, they may be willing to donate greater amounts than if they were just giving post-tax money straight to the club. Directing donors to the ASF also simplifies the process of facilitating donations for your club.

There are several different types of projects that can be registered with the ASF, as shown below:

• Facility development – Building new facilities such as tennis courts, ballparks, hockey pitches and sporting complexes. Upgrading, extending or relocating an existing facility such as lighting installation, disability access or spectator seating. Building facilities such as toilet blocks and change rooms.
• Facility feasibility study – A feasibility study is the analysis and assessment of the potential of building or upgrading a facility which your club will need to go through before any new or upgrading facility projects. These come at a cost so a grant from the ASF will help to cover this. Projects will only be considered for ASF registration where a feasibility study will be undertaken.
• Equipment – Having access to the right sporting equipment can make a huge difference to your club’s on-field performance. The process of purchasing things like rowing craft, goalposts, hurdles and safety equipment can be assisted.
• Team travel – There may be large costs involved in travel for representitive teams. Travel to state or national championships by regional or state representative teams is supported by the ASF.
• Sport development – Courses/clinics/camps/events used to increase participation levels and promote your given sport. Grants can be awarded to assist the running of these programs.

Your club will have report to the ASF regularly on the progress of your project to remain compliant and to keep receiving the grants.

Why Fundraising4Sport?

The benefits to your club of registering a project with the ASF are simply too great to ignore.

Your club, the project and the donor will all benefit from the involvement of the ASF.  This program requires minimal volunteer time and allows for most of it to be taken up in promoting the fundraiser and the initial set up online.  

It also allows for funds to be raised externally to your club’s members and supporters and offers the people wanting to donate money to your club a tax deductible option.

When should I hold this fundraiser?

You will need to register with Fundraising4Sport and this can be at any time during the year.  The money is paid to your club every two months in the form of grants.

Key Activities

These are the tasks you will need to consider assigning to volunteers at your club:

Before launching your Fundraising4Sport page

• Decide on the project or program you would like to raise funds for
• Contact and register with Fundraising4Sport
• Supply all of the necessary paperwork
• Set up the fundraiser of the Fundraising4Sport Platform

Once your Fundraising4Sport page is live

• Share and Promote the online donations to your community and beyond
• Monitor the page
• Continue to update the wider community and your members and supporters on how the fundraising is going
• Publicly thank everyone involved along the way
• Announce the amount of money raised in club newsletters, on social media, website and around the club

Who can help?

It is important to engage your members to help in raising fundraiser.  
For a Fundraising4Sport page you could approach them to help:

• Set up the project or program that you will be funding
• Set up the Fundraising4Sport Page
• Share the fundraiser with their communities

You could also approach current club sponsors to see if they would help spread the word or donate funds.

Recruiting your people

It is important to create a culture of volunteering at your club to help not only with fundraising but also across the day to day running of your club. For more on how to create this at your club, click here.

Using technology to make it easier

This fundraiser can be very successful if you implement the technology well.  This will allow the workload on your volunteers to reduce and increase your fundraising dollars through wider reach.

Having this kind of fundraising option online means your members and supporters can share the page very easily.  It is a good idea to remind your members and supporters to share the page throughout the year.

Another great part of online fundraising is that donations can be made at any time of the day or night.

Your club may then also like to use social media, email newsletters and your club website to promote the page to continue to reach as many people as possible.

You may like to live stream updates on fundraising amounts to help build excitement and awareness.  

Financial Considerations

As the Australian Sports Foundation do a great deal of the work they do take a small percentage of donations.  They are:

5% for all online transactions

6% for all manual donations

The money you raise is given to your club in the form of a grant every two months.  It is important for your club to plan around when the money will be coming in.

The more your page is shared and the more people that know about your fundraiser, the more likely it is that you will be able to raise significant funds.

Promotion

It’s best to promote Fundraising4Sport pages in-house using:

• Club website
• Email Newsletter
• Noticeboard
• Signs around the club (especially the canteen)
• Blackboards
• Club Facebook and Twitter.

It is a great idea to encourage your club community to share your page with as many people as possible as a tax-deductible donation has many benefits for large groups in the community.  

Communication considerations

Fundraising4Sport’s success is heavily reliant on your club’s ability to communication online.    You can use social media to promote your page and to keep the community updated on how your fundraising is going.  You can also live stream updates on fundraising targets to help build excitement and awareness.  

What can go wrong? (Risk Management)

Low donation numbers

If not promoted consistently there is a risk of your club not reaching the fundraising dollars you require.  It is important to ensure there are continual reminders and promotion in your community.

Licenses and Permits

Clubs need to check with their state or territory regulatory body to make sure they have all the required permissions to have a Fundraising4Sport page.

It is also important to contact your insurance company to ensure your public liability insurance policies cover the fundraiser.

Additional Factors to consider

Online Donations

While a Fundraising4Sport page makes online donating easy, your club will also need to consider those who are not comfortable donating online.  There will need to be an option available for donations to be made in person and then these can be manually entered.

Additional Revenue Opportunities

Your club can run any other fundraising activities at your club while your Fundraising4Sport page continues to raise funds and take donations online.

Disclaimer

This procedure should be treated as a guide only. Your club should seek advice specific to the needs of your club and event. Seek further details from authorities and service providers; especially in regards to insurance, licences, permits, spectator and participant safety.