FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
SINGAPORE
Few private donors in Singapore have focused on sports to-date, leaving plenty of untapped opportunities for impact in this area: from boosting the sport you love, to driving social change through the power of sport.
An action-packed sector
Sports is a major part of life for many people in Singapore. Boosted by strong government investment, the sector today includes thousands of groups and organisations – as well as a small but crucial cluster of charities.
A strong desire to attract more donors
However, our interviews uncovered a widespread feeling amongst sports charities that there are relatively few private donors focusing on the sector, with knock-on effects for capacity: “Our lack of funding limits our ability to reach out to more youth, who I know would benefit from our programmes”.
Many opportunities for donors
Sports has a particular power to excite, inspire and bring people together from all walks of life. It is also healthy. For these reasons, it offers many opportunities for donors looking to drive positive social impact.
THREE OPTIONS FOR DONORS:
Overall, our interviews pointed us towards three basic options for how donors can consider supporting the sports sector in Singapore:
1. BOOST THE SPORT YOU LOVE:
This funding strategy aims for your chosen sport to take on a higher profile in Singapore: so that more people watch it, enjoy it and participate in it, with ever greater standards of achievement at all levels. Donors interested in this approach could develop a long-term partnership with their chosen National Sports Association, working with that organisation to boost their core capacity and co-develop strategic projects.
2. SPREAD THE JOY OF SPORT:
The goal of this funding approach would be for more people to engage in sport as a natural and fun part of everyday life. To contribute to this goal, donors could consider support programmes that offer tailored facilities and coaching for particular groups e.g. Singapore Disability Sports Council.
3. DRIVE SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH SPORT
Funders adopting this strategy would be aiming to support certain target groups (e.g. young people) to have greater awareness, understanding, life skills, self-esteem etc – through the power of sports. One potential approach would be to fund a youth programme such as FootballPlus to further expand and strengthen its services, drawing on global best practice.
BACKGROUND
This report was prepared by Just Cause, with partial funding from MCCY. It aims to furnish potential donors to the sports sector in Singapore with a summary of the main trends and some inspiration on possible ways to give. In particular, our intended audience is larger-scale donors, be they private foundations, corporates or generous individuals.
Research for this report was conducted from August 2018 – January 2019. It is based on:
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Interviews and informal discussions with over 30 experts within the sector, including policymakers, athletes, non-profits, philanthropists, and corporate funders
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A literature review of policy documents, surveys, academic articles, and other relevant materials
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Analysis of nine select non-profit organisations and programmes, selected to cover a range of different goals, approaches and impact.
Example charities and non-profit programmes representing a range of themes and approaches.
Please note: these profiles are intended as examples rather than recommendations