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
How Power Through Sport is using roller sports to build inclusive communities
Sport has the unique ability to bring people together and help to positively impact the communities we live in. The social impact of all sports, including lesser known ones (like skating and roller hockey) can have a transformative effect on our communities. Extensive research has found that sport can create positive development in people’s health, educational aspirations and attainment, and social interactions. As part of SportFin’s core principles we help local sport clubs and sport organisations create their own ‘impact stories’, highlighting how sport impacts their members’ and communities’ everyday lives. In this case study, we will focus on Power Through Sport (PTS) and the impact the organisation has made on communities within the North East of England. We have analysed real-time data from PTS, used SportFin's impact analysis framework, and connected to data from UK government on health, crime, and deprivation to analyse how PTS is making a positive impact on the lives of children, young people, and their families in the North East Region. We have then applied the Social Return on Investment (SROI) in Sport Framework to quantify the monetary social value PTS is helping generate for their communities. The SROI for sport framework has proven to be an effective way to estimate and describe the potential social value of community sport organisations like PTS help generate. It also helps highlight the potential sport has to positively develop individuals and communities, and the need for us to support organisations like PTS.All Social OutcomesTotal Potential for Social Value Generation p/aPhysical and mental health improvement£2,734,454Educational and employability improvement£907,309Social Capital Improvement and Crime Reduction£22,375Total potential value that can be generated by PTS£3,664,138Make a positive impact through sportBy providing enjoyable roller sports experiences that bring diverse communities together, PTS can help generate £3.6 million a year in social value - contributing to better health, happiness, well-being and social capital in the North East of England! Fund or sponsor Power Through Sport to help them continue generating positive social impacts for their community.Fund or Sponsor PTSWho are Power Through Sports?PTS is a community interest company (CIC) that uses roller sports to provide equal participation opportunities for all in the specialised area of roller sports (roller sports activities, as defined by the British Roller Sports Federation, includes Roller Hockey, Skateboarding, Artistic Skating, Speed Skating, Inline Puck Hockey and Freestyle Roller Skating). PTS aims to use roller sports activities as a medium tackle health, education and societal issues in the North East region. To find out more about PTS and their services you can visit their website: https://www.powerthroughsport.com/They are helping reduce levels of isolation, loneliness and anti-social behaviour, by providing safe locations and places for people to connect and for young people to engage in constructive activities, with the long term goal to use sports and activities to improve health and well-being and and deter anti-social behaviour in North East of England region (an area where these issues are relatively higher).The CIC also aims to set up its own specialised roller sports venue in North Shields, a local community that is largely in need of warm, safe venues for youth and families. With levels of isolation, health deprivation and crime in this area being relatively higher than other areas in the UK, the facility a presents a compelling solution to address pressing community needs and drive positive social change in the Northeast region. This initiative seeks to transform an underutilized site and hotspot for antisocial behaviour in North Shields into a vibrant community hub, strategically positioned to serve a population of over 209,000 residents in a high-deprivation area.PTS's roller sports sessions are highly inclusive, with sessions including children, young people and families, and sessions running for both recreational and competitive participation. Through PTS, young people can also access alternative education including apprenticeship programs and volunteer pathways. Building more inclusive communities in the North East.By providing a safe space for individuals in the North East to have fun, relax and develop new skills, PTS have helped foster increased social interactions for people, building friendships and build and increased sense of community. Multiple studies have 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.Through their specific focus on delivering sessions in Wallsend, Whitley Bay and North Shields, areas that have relatively higher rates of deprivation and at-risk individuals, activities delivered by PTS are helping maximise the social capital development impacts sport and physical activity generate. As shown in the graph above PTS have helped generate positive social capital impacts for 387 people (as of 12/09/2023; figures update in real-time), helping improve social interaction, integration and community connectedness - increasing overall life satisfaction amongst their participants. The communities in the North East region also see a higher than average level of antisocial behaviour, repeated crime and income/health deprivation. PTS works towards focusing their activities on those with the highest need and on identifying hotspots of anti-social behaviour and isolation to target their activities. The map below visualises the areas where PTS has engaged people with their activities (hover/click on the map to see deprivation metrics).Participants by area of multiple deprivation (IMD 2019; Measures the levels of deprivation across various domains of health, education, income and crime)Participants by area of crime deprivation (IMD 2019; Measures the risk of personal and material victimisation at local level) Improving health, well-being and life satisfactionSport activities delivered by PTS also has a big impact on their participant's physical health and mental well-being. Studies have shown that participating in sports and physical activities can have a positive impact on our physical health. It helps reduce the risk of chronic diseases like heart problems, diabetes, cancer, and brittle bones. Additionally, there's increasing evidence that being part of organised sports and interacting with others in these settings is good for our mental health. It reduces stress, makes us feel more positive, and generally improves our well-being. When you put all these impacts together, they create a positive overall effect on how individuals feel about their lives. They become healthier, interact more with others in their community, and even increase their potential to earn and learn - generating tremendous social value to the public. This means that community sports organisations like PTS are crucial organisations for promoting and maintaining well-being among their members in various ways. Particularly, within the context of the areas of health deprivation PTS works in, their work creates tremendous savings for the NHS by reducing the risk of several chronic diseases and promoting general good health and wellbeing.Outcomes generated in physical and mental health domainsParticipants Impacted by area of health deprivation (IMD 2019; Measures the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health) Deterring anti-social behaviourResearch has shown that being involved in sports can help reduce crime. Sporting activities encourage positive behaviour, decrease the likelihood of getting into trouble or breaking the law, and lower the chances of people who have been in trouble with the law before from repeating their mistakes. This connection between sports and crime prevention is particularly important for young people who face a higher risk of engaging in unlawful or anti-social behaviour and in areas that sees higher incidents of anti-social behaviour and crime. Studies into sport's 'therapeutic' functions concluded that sport appears to be most effective as part of broader developmental programs, often attracting young people and that effectiveness is greatly increased by integrating sports programs with community support services. Participants by number of anti-social behaviour incidents in June 2023 (reported incidents in a 1-mile radius)However, there are also studies that have found a negative correlation between sport and reduction of crime. There are multiple other factors that affect delinquency and criminal behaviour in youth, and the structure of sport participation is an important factor in determining the effect of sport participation on crime. Total Social Value Generated by PTSBy applying the SROI framework, we can estimate the potential cost savings to the NHS and gains to the public through enhancement of human and social capital generated by sports activities delivered by PTS. For health outcomes, this involves multiplying the annual healthcare cost per person for a specific condition with the number of people who might avoid developing the condition due to their involvement in PTS's sessions (from SportFin's impact analytics framework) and the extent of the risk reduction (from the SROI Framework). This helps us estimate the annual health value that PTS can generate if they continue to engage their current participants.Other positive impacts generated by PTS includes educational and employability related impacts. These impacts tend to have a more pronounced effect on children and young people, however, these impacts gained at a young age are an important factor for effective human development, and have implications for adult life.There is a significant body of evidence that shows improvement in cognitive ability, psychosocial development, educational attainment, and school engagement through regular participation in sport and physical activity. This in additional to PTS's programmes to provide alternative learning pathways through apprenticeships and volunteering have significant potential to boost human capital in their local communities.PTS's focus on areas with high rates of crime as well as their cooperative work with local community institutions like libraries and museums and participation in targeted programmes such as the Holiday Activity Fund programme makes them highly effective at promoting prosocial behaviour and community safety and has contributed significantly to social capital generated in their local communities. Health OutcomeAverage annual cost per person diagnosedNo. of PTS participants correlated to outcomeRisk Reduction/ Benefit ImprovementPotential annual health value that can be generated by PTSCardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction£7,05938535%£951,200Diabetes Risk Reduction£4,01316740%£268,068Breast Cancer Risk Reduction£53,1411820%£191,308Colon Cancer Risk Reduction£53,1414020%£425,128Depression Risk Reduction£30561030%£26,718Dementia Risk Reduction£37,401530%£56,102Life Satisfaction (Subjective Wellbeing) Improvement£1,174695100%£815,930Total potential health value that can be generated by PTS£2,734,454Education and Employability OutcomeEnhanced Value through PTS activitiesNo. of PTS participants correlated to outcomeRisk Reduction/ Benefit ImprovementPotential value that can be generated by PTSVocational Skills Development£1,2156951%£8,444Employability£1,385649100%£898,865Potential educational and employability value that can be generated by PTS£907,309Societal Development OutcomeEnhanced Value through PTS activitiesNo. of PTS participants correlated to outcomeRisk Reduction/ Benefit ImprovementPotential value that can be generated by PTSEnhanced social capital in the community£58038510%£22,330Potential societal development value that can be generated by PTS£22,330Crime Reduction OutcomeEnhanced Value through PTS activitiesNo. of PTS participants correlated to outcomeRisk Reduction/ Benefit ImprovementPotential value that can be generated by PTSReduction of anti-social behaviour£38.161181%£45Potential crime reduction value that can be generated by PTS£45Help Power Through Sport to continue to continue their work by donating below.Make a positive impact through sportFund or sponsor Power Through Sport to help them continue generating positive social impacts for their community.Fund or Sponsor PTSOr show your support by sharing this story to increase roller sport awareness, to help PTS to continue working towards providing equal opportunities for roller sports for all members of the local community in the North East.SportFin is here to help organisations like PTS who conduct sports activities that make a positive impact in communities. SportFin allows sport organisations to automate their social impact reporting and tell powerful stories of impact. Partner with Sportfin today to help your sport organisation tell your unique story with real-time impact data.
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. 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 BUCSTAbout 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