Where to find grants for your project

Grants are a great way to secure funding for one-off projects or special programs. Here’s how to find some of that extra money.

Every club welcomes more money, and there are only so many cupcakes you can sell. Grants can help with infrastructure improvements such as rebuilding club facilities and buying extra equipment. They can also help broaden your membership base by being:

  • Gender-specific – perhaps new change rooms for the women’s team
  • Culturally and Language Diverse (CALD) – encouraging Indigenous, migrant or refugee groups to have a go
  • Inclusive – designed to make joining in easier for people with special needs or who are experiencing social disadvantage
  • Mentally healthy – a big funding focus across Australia today.

Some projects lift the spirits of clubs and their local communities who might have been through hard times. They can even make the difference between closing and staying open.

But the art of finding grants can feel like a giant treasure hunt. Lots of hard work, confusion and mystery, slashing your way through the paper jungle to find that pot of gold.

Here are some useful tips and resources to help you be as prepared as possible next time you’re grant hunting.

Let others do the searching

Grants are a moving target. Here one day, gone the next. You might find an opportunity that sounds ideal, only to find submissions closed yesterday.

One effective way to limit the time you spend searching for grant opportunities is to subscribe to a service that keeps track of them for you, or even sends you alerts when one pops up that sounds like a good match.

Labour-saving online services

Money going back to your own club

Most of us pay taxes, rates, all manner of fines and fees, and maybe even fork out for a flutter on the lotto. If you feel this money is headed in the wrong direction, the good news is governments are busy handing a lot of it back.

Government grants are essentially revenue dollars spread around the community to encourage positive social outcomes. In other words, cash for worthy causes like yours.

The three levels of government in Australia all hand out different grants according to how much they have to spend and where they see the greatest area of need. These government levels are:

  • Australian Government
  • State Government
  • Local Government

Australian government grants

At the top of the funding tree, the Australian Government is a source of nationwide funding for community groups of all sizes. GrantConnect is the website portal it uses to list all its current and upcoming grants. The website tells you what the application deadlines are, the kind of activities that meet the criteria, and the types of organisations that can apply for each grant.

You’ll also find grants expected in the next year or two, labelled Forecast Opportunities. Government departments work well in advance. So, it pays to be prepared and think ahead.

https://www.grants.gov.au/

State government grants

Your state or territory government focuses on social and development priorities specific to its cities, suburbs, regional and rural areas. Your club must be in the same state to apply for state/territory funding.

Funding opportunities are constantly changing. Typically, applications open and then close in the space of a few months. New rounds and opportunities are constantly being created.

Here is a state-by-state guide to government websites that link to local grant opportunities.

State based grants

Local government grants

These guys are closer to home for many smaller sporting clubs. For grants in your local government area, do a Google search for community grants featuring the name of your local council or shire, eg: Community Grants Hume City Council.

Think outside the box – just because you’re a sporting club, doesn’t mean all the available resources will be listed under “sport”. This applies to all government and non-government grants. Here are some of the other areas your club’s programs might fit into:

  • mental health projects
  • safe transport
  • alcohol, drugs
  • volunteering
  • multicultural activities
  • bushfire recovery
  • healthy food.

Talk to your MP

Your state or federal Member of Parliament, and your local mayor or ward councillor, are all clued in when it comes to funding opportunities in their electorates.

Get in touch with their office and ask how you can present your case for funding to your elected representative. That’s what they’re there for.

Targeting top competitors

SportAus is the Australian Government agency responsible for driving the broader sport sector and supporting activities linked to sport participation and sport industry growth. At different times it offers grants through targeted programs:

https://www.sportaus.gov.au/grants_and_funding

This includes the Local Sporting Champions program for coaches, officials and competitors aged 12-18 years participating in state, national or international championships:

https://www.sportaus.gov.au/grants_and_funding/local_sporting_champions

Non-government grants

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