Grants, contracts and new business opportunities from Sport en Commun, Fit for Life Foundation, the European Space Agency and ten others to help you unlock new income in sport.
The definitive guide to finding opportunities, building partnerships and generating new income in the sports industry.
Hello and Happy New Year!
On The Ball is a fortnightly newsletter sharing opportunities, tools, tricks, and templates to help you unlock new income for your business or non-profit in sport. Our ambition is to democratise sales, business development, and fundraising in the industry.
For our first update of 2023, we have fourteen (!!) more opportunities for you to consider, from upcoming networking events and exhibitions to grants, funds, incubators and so much more. From here on in we’ll be jam-packed full of the latest funders, guides, events, and tools curated specifically for sales, business development, and fundraising in sport and the surrounding industries.
But first, a word to our partners
The European Space Agency (ESA) has recently launched two separate calls for proposals in the field of sport which are open to organisations working in ESA member states.
The Inclusive and Accessible Sport challenge is offering kick-start funding of up to €60,000 per project for organisations seeking to exploit one or more space assets to provide accessible sports equipment, improve performance, or use digital tools to provide access to sport for all. “Space assets” include Satellite Communications, Satellite Navigation, Earth Observation, and Human Spaceflight Technology.
The Space for Olympic Games open call instead focuses on the use of space assets to support digital transformation and sustainability within the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with a particular focus on Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026. Areas of interest include projects that support sustainable infrastructure, smart management of events, engagement with fans, or athlete performance and training.
TOP TIP: Struggling for inspiration? The ESA have shared potential use cases via the links listed above, so check them out if you’re considering applying for funding. Inclusive and Accessible Sport applications must be submitted before the 24th February 2023, but the Space for Olympic Games open call is ongoing until at least 2025!
So, let’s get into it:
🏃♀️Our friends at Think Sport have announced tickets are now on sale for their renowned sport innovation summit, The Spot. Taking place in Lausanne at the SwissTech Convention Centre on the 8th and 9th of May, the event has long been an annual tradition for many of the world’s most forward-thinking sport federations, associations and brands. Last year’s attendees included executives from Logitech, UEFA, Portas, Adidas, the International Olympic Committee, the World Olympians Assocation, and hundreds of others. Early bird tickets are priced at CHF350 compared to standard price tickets at CHF500.
📝The European Commission has announced an information session ahead of their annual grants scheme via Erasmus+ Sport, which usually awards funding of up to €450,000 per project for sport and youth-related interventions working across member states. The Erasmus+ Sport funding calls went live yesterday, and are set to close in late March. Taking place live in Brussels or online on the 30th of January, the information day will inform potential applicants about the political context, future programme and funding opportunities in 2023.
👀The University of Cambridge Judge Business School are seeking new applicants for their latest Social Venture Incubator. The Incubator provides between six and twelve months of business advice, training and networking to help social ventures secure finance, embed their social mission, measure their impact, develop strong governance and grow to the next level. Applications to the incubator are open on a rolling basis, but the upcoming cohort opportunity closes this Friday the 13th. The next round of recruitment will take place in the Spring, but early applications are encouraged.
🏆Nominate a young person aged 18-30 from the world of sport for the Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award, or apply yourself. The Prize is awarded annually to a young person who has contributed meaningfully towards the global goal of ending extreme poverty, and inspired other young people to have an impact too. The award includes an incredible US$250,000 donation to the organization to which the individual contributes. Applications will close on January 20th at 5pm PST.
💰UK-based BME Youth is inviting clubs, groups, associations and organisations to apply for the Together Fund to deliver sport and physical activity-related programmes to culturally diverse communities, disabled people, lower socioeconomic groups and people with long-term health conditions to improve their health and wellbeing. Grants of up to £10,000 are available for UK based sport for good projects, and applications must be submitted by the 31st of March 2023.
️⚽️Together with Sport Republic and Yolo Group, Southampton Football Club have launched the Future of Football Challenge, a virtual 4-week sprint for Web3 and sports tech startups. A discretionary prize pool of £100,000 is available for selected businesses, with a focus on football development and fan engagement solutions that are ready for deployment and testing by the football club. The program will be run in a hybrid format. The selection process and weekly program meetings are held online, whilst the kickoff and finale are planned as in-person events held in the UK. Deadline for applications is the 23rd of February 2023
🥇Every year, the Fit for Life Foundation awards grants of €100,000 each to 3 non-profit organizations or social enterprises that are pioneering projects to promote life-long fitness, mobility, and health in aging societies around the world. Grants are disbursed over 3 years, enabling Laureates to steadily scale up their programs while building public awareness of the importance of healthy aging for communities. The Fit for Life Laureates are announced every year at an annual awards event in Geneva, Switzerland, in the presence of Fit for Life ambassadors, donors and partner organizations. The 2023 deadline for applications closes on the 15th of February; part one of a three-stage process.
🏀Sport en Commun are coordinating a call for proposals - funded by the French Development Agency - for sport for development programmes in Benin, Togo and Senegal. The Alley-Oop Africa scheme aims to finance micro-projects using sport for young women and men, focusing on gender equality, inclusion and health. Funding of up to €12,000 is available per project for activities lasting between three and five months. Applications must be made in French via the Sport en Commun platform by Monday the 16th of January.
And finally, a few tools and resources you might find useful:
Use Frase AI to help you research, write, and optimize high-quality SEO content in minutes instead of hours.
Create stunning sales, marketing and fundraising videos with Motion Array.
Test new apps and software side by side with Testbox.
Analyse the emotional impact of your copy for free with Aminstitute.
