Harness sport impact data to fundraise better.
Fundraise 3x better for your sport organisation using SportFin's automated social impact analytics infrastructure. Enter your email to get started.
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How can data help?
Sports policy and the way community sport is funded has been shifting focus from participation numbers to outcomes generated by those numbers. This has made it difficult for sports organisations to access funding, as evidencing impact outcomes requires time and expertise which are often scarce in most of these volunteer-run sports organisations.
Digitalisation of sport and physical activity can be a real game-changer here, as it can allow sports organisations to raise funding based on data about demographics, locations, activity levels of participants and volunteers, and impact outcomes - the data that funders and governing bodies need to fulfil their missions and objectives.
50% more fundable
We found from our market research that investors and funders are 50% more likely to fund community sport if they could track their funds and the impacts they help generate.
3x more funding
Get more donations by engaging your community with stories about why the services you deliver for your community are important and how it is impacting people's lives.
What you can do with SportFin
Embed impact analytics anywhere to get more funding.
By embedding analytics into your website and online fundraising campaigns, you can increase your chances of securing more funding from sponsors and funders. Our research has shown that sponsors and funders are more likely to invest three times more if they can monitor the impact of their contributions in real-time.
With analytics, you can provide your sponsors and funders with real-time updates and data visualisations that demonstrate the tangible impact of their support, ultimately helping you to secure more funding.
How it works
Four steps to fundraise better.
Add data about your sport organisation, track participation and volunteering, generate impact analytics and fundraise better. Click on the tabs below to discover more.
1. Data collection
Add data about the activities you deliver, your participants and volunteers through our import tools, or automate this by managing your day-to-day operations on our free club management software.
Collect and manage data in one place
Use our free CRM software to collect and manage data about who is participating/volunteering in what activities, collect bookings and payments online, and communicate to your club people.
You also use our import export features to integrate to your existing CRM software.
Explore >
2. Track Engagement
Check-in participants and volunteers to sport activities they attend at the venue or through our importer tool to collect sport participation and volunteering data.
3. Report impact
SportFin's analytics model then auto generates various data visualisations and impact reports for your organisation that you can use to report the positive impact your sport activites are generating in communities.
4. Fundraise
Use the impact analytics and reports generated in your funding applications and other fundraising campaigns to fundraise up to 3x better.
Collect and manage data in one place
Use our free CRM software to collect and manage data about who is participating/volunteering in what activities, collect bookings and payments online, and communicate to your club people.
You also use our import export features to integrate to your existing CRM software.
Explore >
Case Study
Bridgwater United Community Sports Trust Automates Impact Measurement with SportFin.
Bridgwater United Community Sports Trust (BUCST) is a community football organisation which aims to provide all members
of the local community with the opportunity to access quality sport, physical activity, and wellbeing provision whatever their age, gender or ethnicity.
With SportFin's real-time impact analytics tools, BUCST is able to access insights that help them track their progress towards their mission and share this
with their stakeholders and funders.
BUCST uses SportFin to collect live participation and volunteering data through a simple 'roll-call' process at their sessions,
or by adding data after their sessions through our intutive importer tool.
SportFin then automatically generates real-time impact analytics for BUCST from this data,
which can then be shared to BUCST's funders and other stakeholders to improve fundraising efforts.
"Innovation is one of our core values and so when we sought to improve our data-collection and impact-reporting processes, joining SportFin was a perfect match.
As an impact-driven organisation, improving our capacity to interpret our data into clear impact outputs will really help to enhance our business operations."
- Oli Moore, Community Development Manager for BUCST
Ready to get started?
Book a demo or read our usage guides to find out how your organisation can leverage social impact data to fundraise better.
Get started > Contact Sales >
Impact of Sport
Why we should care about preserving our community sport organisations?
There is a general acknowledgment that sport is good for us, and now, there is a growing body of research that explores social impacts that community sport organisations generate within their local communities.These studies have yielded extensive evidence for positive impacts in areas of physical health, mental health, educational development, social capital development and crime reduction.It has also been found that the impact of participating or volunteering in sport is more pronounced for women, older people and at-risk youth, and hence, sport can be a very effective tool to counter the inequalities that exist in our society.In fact, just in the UK, community sport helps generate over £71 billion a year in social value, and a further £13.8 billion a year in economic value.However, 2/5 of our community sport organisations are struggling to maintain their financial sustainability and need our help to stay resilient, particularly in the current economic climate.So why should we care? Health ImprovementSport and physical activities can have many positive impacts on our health. Studies show that they can help prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and osteoporosis.Adults who regularly participate in moderate-intensity sports have a 20% lower risk of premature death from any cause. Women who are active in sports have an even greater risk reduction of 31%! For children, regular physical activity can help prevent chronic diseases and build a strong immune system.There is also evidence that participating in sports and social interactions associated with them can have a positive impact on mental health. It can reduce stress, increase positive feelings, and improve overall wellness. For children, regular physical activity can reduce stress and depression, and improve self-esteem and body image.Even small improvements in fitness can have significant risk reduction benefits for all participants. Educational DevelopmentParticipating in sport can have significant impact on the educational capability, for children and young people. Regular participation in sport and physical activity has been linked to positive affect, optimism, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, which can have a greater effect on children and young people.These impacts are crucial for effective human development and can have implications for adult life.Research has shown that engagement in sport and physical activity can lead to improvement in cognitive ability, psychosocial development, educational attainment, and school engagement.In school-age children, regular participation in sport and physical activity has been linked to better cognitive performance, including improvements in information processing, relational memory, attention, and executive function.These educational outcomes achieved through sport are considered intermediate outcomes that act as stepping-stones toward greater school engagement, educational achievement, and progression.Volunteering in sport has also been found to generate multiple educational benefits for young people, including skill development in areas such as leadership, communication, and teamwork.A study found that participation in sport and volunteering in sport provides added value to university graduates through technical skill development, boosting their employability and earnings.Specifically, the study found that those who engaged in sport volunteering roles gained an earnings premium of between £4,264 and £5,616 per annum.Furthermore, graduates who engaged in volunteering in sport experienced lower periods of unemployment, and employers favoured employees who had previous engagement with sport. Social Development and Crime ReductionResearch has shown that participating in sport can help develop social connections, promote collective community action, and reduce social tensions. The extent of these benefits depends on how the sports programs are structured and the broader social issues that exist.The social benefits of sports are often related to the mental health and psychological benefits that come from participating, such as self-esteem, cooperation, and a sense of belonging.These social benefits can be grouped into three categories: bonding capital (building social connections), bridging capital (developing understanding and attitudes towards others), and linking capital (establishing institutional networks and social support structures).Sport can generate social capital through two main dimensions: social networks and collective identities. Sport volunteering, in particular, has been identified as a form of social capital, as it promotes community action and develops social connections.Sport has been found to have a relationship with reducing crime, especially among youth who are at risk, by fostering pro-social behaviour, reducing delinquency, and decreasing the risk of recidivism.However, the type of sport participation affects the relationship with juvenile delinquency, with heavy-contact sports associated with increased commission of crime. If sport participation programs are specifically designed for the development of youth, they can control the relationship between sport and crime.Overall, community sport organisations contribute positively to their local communities by generating these social impacts in tandem, and are crucial community assets that we need to help preserve and grow.How SportFin helps preserve and grow community sport?SportFin is helping community sport organisations harness data about their sport activities, participants and volunteers to evidence the positive social impact they are generating (through our unique impact correlations model).This helps community sport organisations demonstrate and report impact in real-time – our market research has shown that this makes public funders and crowdfunders 50% more likely to fund a sport organisation and be willing to put in 3 times as much money!Find out more about the social impact analytics tools SportFin provides here. Want to learn more about SportFin?You can find out more about SportFin through our website or our help center.SportFin’s data collection and management tools are free to use for community sport organisations. You can get started straight away by creating an account here.
3 tips to evidence the social impact of your sport organisation
Sport is widely acknowledged to have a beneficial impact on society, and researchers have conducted significant studies to investigate the social benefits of community sport for individuals and communities.These studies have yielded evidence for positive impacts generated in areas of physical health improvement, mental health improvement, educational development, social capital improvement and crime reduction. In fact, research by Sport England revealed that in 2018/19, £71.61 billion in social value was generated by community sport, with £42 billion being generated through health benefits, £20 billion being generated through social capital benefits and £282 million being generated from educational development benefits. Hence, community sport organisations, as the primary deliverers of sport in communities, play a vital role in the positive development of individuals and communities.Through this article, we explore some tips on how community sport organisations can evidence the impact they are generating in communities in order to preserve and grow their sport activities. Evidencing Social Impacts of Community Sport OrganisationsSince the emergence of a growing body of evidence correlating community sport with positive social impacts, there is increasing importance being placed on the reporting of these impacts in sport funding decisions. For many community sport organisations, effectively reporting their impact can be a challenge due to a lack of time or knowledge resources. However, being able to report on the positive outcomes and benefits of your programmes is crucial for attracting funding and support. Here are some practical steps you can take to effectively report your impact:Collect Data: Regularly collecting data about the activities your organisation delivers and the participants you engage is a crucial first step. This data can help you track participation levels, identify trends, and measure the impact of your programmes.Record and Report Engagement: Funders and governing bodies often want to see data about participation and volunteering within your organisation. Keeping an attendance record and regularly updating it can help you track participation and volunteering in activities. This information can then be used to report on the engagement levels and impact of your programmes.Correlate Impacts: To effectively report on the impact of your programmes, it's important to correlate your participation and volunteering records with existing research on the impact of sport. Organisations like Sport England have published useful resources on the impact of sport, which can be a good place to start. By using this research to analyse your own data, you can identify the positive outcomes and benefits of your programmes and effectively report on your impact.By following these practical steps, community sport organisations can effectively report their impact and attract funding and support for their programmes. While it may take some time and effort, the benefits of being able to demonstrate the impact of your programmes can be invaluable for the long-term sustainability and success of your organisation. How SportFin can help with social impact reporting?SportFin has built automated tools for collecting data and reporting the impact of sport. By simply digitising a community sport organisation’s day-to-day activities, SportFin is able to report participation and volunteering rates, demographic and activity data, and the social impacts that are being generated for individuals and communities (thanks to our unique impact correlations model).The analysed data can then be visualised through various graphing tools and be embedded anywhere – in reports, presentations, website or even crowdfunding posts! Find out more about the social impact analytics tools SportFin provides here.
The social value of a small community football organisation: Bridgwater United Community Sports Trust
Sport is a powerful tool for generating positive social impacts, and has garnered widespread recognition within various populations. Extensive research has been dedicated to exploring the transformative effects that community sport organisations have on their local communities. As we delve into the realm of impact, we find the most compelling evidence lies within the domains of physical health, mental well-being, and educational development. To better understand the value sport generates in our communities, we turn our focus to a shining example of a small community sport organisation, Bridgwater United Community Sports Trust. In this article, we use data to unravel how Bridgwater United Community Sports Trust are using football to make Bridgwater and it's surrounding areas a more healthier, happier and vibrant community. Subsequently, using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) for sport framework we look to further understand the monetary value of the social impacts Bridgwater United Community Sports Trust generates for its local community through their sport activities and other community engagement. About Bridgwater Community Sports TrustBridgwater United Community Sports Trust (BUCST), in partnership with Bridgwater United FC, aims to provide all members of their local community with the opportunities to access quality sport, physical activity, and wellbeing provision whatever their age, gender or ethnicity. BUCST deliver a wide variety of activities that engages different demographics of participants. Using football as the driving force, they aim to engage more children and young people to be active in schools, develop educational and personal growth opportunities through football, and further deliver health and wellbeing programmes to the wider community of Bridgwater.You can learn more about BUCST here: https://www.bridgwaterunitedcst.com/. The below graphs describe and analyse BUCST's engagement through the activities and programmes they have delivered over the past year. BUCST participants by age and genderActivities delivered by BUCST and their participants by age Promoting healthier lifestyles through footballRegular participation in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity among children and young people can prevent of multiple chronic diseases and promote effective development of the immune system. Particularly, when engaging children and young people from areas of relative health deprivation, the effects can be much more pronounced. As it can be observed in the map below, a significant number of participants engaged by BUCST reside in areas of relative health deprivation.Therefore, BUCST's ability to engage their participants in regular moderate-to-vigorous-intensity participation has a significant health impact on the community and has a wider impact on NHS expenditure in the region. Their activities help prevent a wide range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and osteoporosis (in line with the numerous studies focusing on the impacts of physical health-related activities and sports). Coupled with its inherent social interactions, BUCST's activities have positive effects on participants' mental well-being. These effects manifest in stress reduction, increased positive emotions, and an overall sense of wellness. This higher health and wellbeing effects generated by continued participation results in direct cost savings for the NHS. Using SROI for sport framework, the potential cost savings to the NHS generated by sport and physical activity can be estimated by multiplying the annual cost to the NHS per person diagnosed with the condition with the number of people estimated to have averted the condition and its risk reduction magnitude. We can then estimate the annual health value BUCST can generate if they can continue to engage their current participants. Health OutcomeAverage annual cost per person diagnosedNo. of BUCST participants correlated to outcomeRisk Reduction/ Benefit ImprovementPotential annual health value that can be generated by BUCSTCardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction£7,05912435%£306,361Diabetes Risk Reduction£4,0134240%£67,418Breast & Colon Cancer Risk Reduction£53,1412320%£244,449Depression Risk Reduction£30518730%£17,111Dementia Risk Reduction£37,4015830%£650,777Total potential health value that can be generated by BUCST£1,286,116 Empowering personal growth in young peopleSchool-age engagement in sport and physical activity has shown to improve cognitive performance in terms of information processing, relational memory, attention and executive function. When sport and physical activity is delivered in tandem with targeted educational programmes, these outcomes act as stepping-stones towards greater school engagement, educational achievement and educational progression. Along with the sport activities and programmes BUCST deliver, they also facilitate multiple employability workshops and programmes like the Gravity Spheros that promotes STEM learning through play activities, and has a significant impact on empowering children and young people in their local community to attain better education and improves overall employability in the region. The Sphero programme in particular has a significant impact in improving educational capability and future employability by teaching a range of digital and transferable skills through practical football-based coding games and interactive programming activities. BUCST is one of very few non-league clubs in the South West region to combine football and play with learning and technology this way.Further, BUCST focus on areas that have a greater need for educational opportunities has an uplifting effect on the development of their wider local community. Partnerships with local cultural and educational institutions can further maximise this impact and create development pathways for children and young people.“The robot goes wherever I tell it to! I can draw the route and use the blocks to change direction using angles that I have learnt in Maths. The lesson was a lot of fun!" - Primary School ParticipantTo estimate the value generated through these educational and employability impacts, the SROI for sport framework considers the value of enhanced productivity and increased wages that these impacts might cause. The table below describes the annual value BUCST might generate if they can keep engaging their current participants through their activities.Education and Employability OutcomeEnhanced Value through BUCST activitiesNo. of BUCST participants correlated to outcomeRisk Reduction/ Benefit ImprovementPotential value that can be generated by BUCSTEnhanced human capital (increased productivity)£1,2152141%£2,600Employability£1,385139100%£192,515Potential educational and employability value that can be generated by BUCST£195,115 Building a more connected and safer local communityStudies have also found a correlation between participation in sport and development of social relationships, collective community action and reduction in social tensions, however, the correlation is dependent on how the sport programmes are structured and the wider social issues that exist.Further, some studies have found a relationship between sport and reduction of crime, as sporting activities have been found to foster prosocial behaviour, reduce delinquency and criminal behaviour and reduce the risk of recidivism. This link between sport and crime is generally found from a deterrence perspective and seems to be more relevant for youth crime and youth at-risk, as they are generally more exposed to crime and delinquency.In early 2023, BUCST were one of 220 nationwide community organisations that were awarded the Youth Justice Sport Fund through StreetGames and the Ministry of Justice. The £5m programme used sport to enhance positive outcomes for vulnerable young people in the context of youth crime. The programme helped BUCST provide free football sessions to engage and support vulnerable young people, aged 7-15, at-risk of involvement in crime, anti-social behaviour and serious violence.The SROI framework looks at social capital improvement outcomes and crime reduction outcomes to estimate the societal value of sport participation. A financial value is associated to these benefits by considering the hypothetical income required to compensate for not benefiting from social capital enhancement (and subjective wellbeing) through participation in sport and physical activity, and the average cost per incident of crime. For BUCST, according to the SROI for sport framework, their activities and engagement can potentially generate the following societal value:Societal Development OutcomeEnhanced Value through BUCST activitiesNo. of BUCST participants correlated to outcomeRisk Reduction/ Benefit ImprovementPotential value that can be generated by BUCSTEnhanced social capital (and subjective wellbeing)£58012410%£7,192Reduction of crime£38.16131%£5Potential educational and employability value that can be generated by BUCST£7,197 The Social Value of Bridgwater United Community Sport TrustCommunity sport organisations like BUCST generally help generate these health, education and societal development impacts in tandem with one another, contributing an overall positive impact to their local communities. These impacts together produce an aggregate effect of improved subjective wellbeing for individuals and promote productivity and togetherness in their communities.The SROI for sport framework provides a method for evaluating the social impact their activities generate that is transparent, conservative, and has engaged stakeholders in identifying the outcomes that arise from these activities. The framework has proven to be an effective way to estimate and describe the social value of community sport organisations and it is also an important tool for garnering more support of community sport organisations - especially given that 2/5 community sport organisations are currently struggling to maintain their financial sustainability.As it can be seen from the table below, even though BUCST is a relatively small community sport organisation, the impact it has on its local community is highly significant, and as such, BUCST represents a critical developmental organisation for the community of Bridgwater and it's surrounding areas.Social OutcomesSocial ValuePhysical and mental health improvement£1,286,116Educational and employability improvement£195,115Social Capital Improvement and Crime Reduction£7,197Total potential value that can be generated by BUCST£1,488,428Our mission at SportFin is to help preserve and grow impactful organisations like BUCST. Through our platform, you can lend your support to BUCST and directly contribute to the betterment of their community and ensure that its positive influence continues to thrive. You can play a significant role in ensuring the continued success and positive impact of BUCST, and together, you can help create a lasting change and uplift the community of Bridgwater and its surrounding areas.Make a positive impact through sportFund or sponsor Bridgwater United Community Sports Trust to help them continue generating positive social impacts for their community.Fund or Sponsor BUCST