Individuals

Elite Athlete Travel Grants - http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/home/grants/all-grants/elite-athlete-travel-grants 

Local Sporting Heros - http://www.ausport.gov.au/participating/schools_and_juniors/juniors/get_involved/local_sporting_champions

Clubs

Melbourne Aces - http://www.melbourneaces.com.au

• The Melbourne Aces have numerous fundraising opportunities for clubs through the sale of discounted tickets to home series games played at the iconic Melbourne Showgrounds. Click here
• Not only do clubs earn cash for selling tickets to baseball games but can also win great prizes, especially those junior players that love getting dirty on the field with their favourite Aces player.

VicHealth Active Club Grants - http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/activeclub

Emergency Grant: Sporting and Recreational Equipment - http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/home/grants/all-grants/emergency-sporting-and-recreational-equipment

Grants Available for Flood Affected Areas (A joint Victorian and Australian Government's Floods Community Recovery Fund)

• guidelines,
• application form, and
• fact sheet.

Clean-up and Restoration grants & loans - http://www.ruralfinance.com.au/pages/Default.aspx?PageID=141&id=1

Community Flood Assistance Grants Program - http://www.commbank.com.au/news/customer-support/default.aspx

VicHealth - http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/en/Funding-Opportunities/Funding-Schemes.aspx

Sport and Recreation Victoria - http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/home/grants/grants-index/areas-of-interest/sport-and-recreation

Victorian Government - http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/home/grants?Open

Australian Sports Commission - http://www.ausport.gov.au/supporting/funding

Local Sponsorships

• Many organisations are keen to be active within their local communities. This presents a wonderful opportunity for clubs and associations to pick up sponsorship for a competition, a team/club or an event that a club/association maybe staging.
• I have included three examples of companies openly advertising via their respective websites for activities within their local areas in which they can become involved as a sponsor.
• Therefore I encourage you to search on the internet for community sponsorships and make approaches to companies that offer similar values and ethics to your club or association.
  • http://www.coffeeclub.com.au/sponsorship/sponsorship-guidelines/
  • http://www.bendigobank.com.au/community/sponsorship.asp
  • http://www.portofmelbourne.com/community/sponsorship.asp

Tips Guide to Seeking Grants

Seeking honest and useful feedback from grantmakers after a failed application, as well as making contact with them before submitting an application, are among best practice grantseeking suggestions contained in a new UK research report.

The report - The Art of Refusal: Promising Practice for Grant makers and Grant Seekers - aims to help grantseekers reduce the time they spend on unsuccessful applications by learning from their past failures.

Among the recommendations in the report are to:

• Try to make preliminary contact with grantmakers: Not every funder will allow this but if it is possible, grantseekers ought to take it up.
• Target your approach: Grantseekers should identify the best person from their organisation to approach the funder; for example, someone who has had prior contact with the grantseeker.
• Taking soundings: Use your networks to gauge past experiences of the funder. This may provide an indication of what preliminary contact with them might yield.
• Be realistic: Don't mistake politeness or encouragement for likely success.
• Be prepared: Find out when a decision on your application is expected, how it will be delivered, and to whom.
• If unsuccessful, seek further comments: Always take up any opportunities offered for getting further information about the reason for refusal.
• Learn from your experiences: Identify particular learning points - solid examples of areas where your organisation can improve its grantseeking. "Examples of areas in which it could be very helpful to receive feedback include the budget or financial projections which accompanied the application; any collaborative working arrangements; or the outcomes that you’d put forward," the report says.
• Decide in advance how refusal will be handled internally: Decide how and with whom the news will be shared, ensuring that particular people (e.g. fundraising staff) do not become a particular focus for criticism.

The Art of Refusal: Promising Practice for Grant makers and Grant Seekers also contains extensive advice for grantmakers about how to say no constructively.

The report was compiled by City University London's Cass University School from more than 100 grantmakers and 40 groups seeking funding. Download the report here: http://tiny.cc/ptab0