Building Together: Community-Centric Fundraising Strategies for Sports Facilities

In every community, a local sports facility is vital for promoting health and wellness. It is an essential resource that not every community has. Building and operating these facilities usually require significant financial resources, which can pose a challenge to many communities. Community-centric fundraising strategies allow facility owners to secure financial support while strengthening a facility’s connection with their community. In this blog post, we will dive into the different fundraising strategies to connect your business more strongly with your community. 

Build A Community-Centric Fundraising Plan

The most popular plan is crowdsourcing. This is not the typical crowdsourcing you might think of. Crowdsourcing here means that you receive investments from either friends or family. When I owned DNA Sports Center, I funded it partially through crowdsourcing from friends. Crowdsourcing is not as risky as taking out a loan would be, but you will usually give your donors equity in return for the investment. The main benefit of this is that they may engage with your facility and offer their services. For example, one of my donors offered their services in marketing the facility. 

Another community-centric fundraising plan is through grants. Grants can be awarded to solve a community problem or to improve economic development. Due to this, they are typically funded by either the local, state, or federal government. The one important thing to note here is that the government typically awards grants to nonprofit organizations. This benefits those who have created their youth sports organization as a nonprofit. I do recommend that you take advantage of a professional grant writer, as these grants can be time-consuming. A professional writer can tailor your proposal to make it more likely to succeed (did you know the average win rate for grants is between 10% and 30%?). Despite the challenges faced in receiving a grant, it can be worth it for certain sports facilities. 

Conclusion

Community-centric fundraising strategies can create a stronger relationship between a facility and its community. Not only that, but it also leads to increased community engagement, increased visibility, and access to local resources and skills. No matter which path you take, these strategies can lead your facility to become a place that the community is proud to visit. For more insights into funding strategies for your sports facility, book a free consultation with our experts.