How Sport England turned £6 million into £18.9 million with Crowdfunder
by Rebecca Hughes | Jul 10, 2026 | News & Press, Stories
When Sport England set out to reach more grassroots communities across England, they needed a funding model that could do more than write cheques. They needed something that could find organisations traditional grant programmes miss, cut through the administration that slows smaller groups down, and prove that public investment in community sport could go further than anyone expected.
That’s where Crowdfunder came in.
The challenge
Sport England is a public body dedicated to supporting grassroots sport and physical activity across England. But like many large funders, they faced a familiar set of problems: how do you reach the smallest, most grassroots organisations? How do you simplify an application process that often puts off the very groups you most want to fund? And how do you measure whether the money is actually making a difference?
Traditional grant programmes proved limiting. The application procedures were cumbersome, the reach was narrow, and smaller community groups, village halls, informal sports clubs, and non-traditional organisations, often fell through the gaps.
The approach
Sport England partnered with Crowdfunder to pilot a new model: using crowdfunding as the mechanism for distributing match funding to community sports projects across England.
The model worked like this. Community groups raised money from their own supporters on Crowdfunder. Sport England matched a portion of what the crowd raised, up to a set amount per project. To qualify for the match, groups had to demonstrate real community backing — not just a good application form, but actual people putting actual money in.
This changed everything about who applied and who succeeded.
Crowdfunding connected Sport England with a wider network of community groups than traditional programmes had ever reached — including organisations in underserved communities that had rarely engaged with public funding before. The application process was simpler, the community validation was built in, and the results spoke for themselves.
“For every pound we’ve put in, it’s been trebled.” Neil Smith, Programme Manager at Sport England
Watch: Sport England on crowdfunding
Hear directly from Sport England’s Programme Manager on how the partnership worked, what surprised them, and why crowdfunding is now embedded as part of their ongoing Movement Fund offer.
The results
£18.9 million raised in total Sport England invested £6 million. The crowd added £12.9 million on top. That’s a 313% amplification — for every £1 Sport England put in, £2.13 came back from the community.
1,103 successful projects Across England, more than a thousand diverse community sports projects were funded through the partnership.
149,000 supporters An average of 135 supporters backed each campaign, demonstrating the depth of grassroots engagement the model unlocks.
Simplified funding for everyone Automated calculations, efficient decision-making, and a straightforward application process reduced the burden on both Sport England’s team and the organisations they funded.
What it meant for the funded organisations
The impact went well beyond the money raised. Organisations that crowdfunded with Sport England’s match funding reported:
- 87% felt better connected to their communities
- 86% felt more financially stable
- 86% strengthened their public profile
- 83% built new audiences
- 56% established a larger group of volunteers
- 54% built a new donor base actively engaged with their work
- 52% found new partners or collaborators
Crowdfunding didn’t just fund the project. It built the organisation.
What made it work
Genuine collaboration. The partnership adapted through changing circumstances — including the challenges of Covid-19 — and improved throughout. The ability to test, learn, and iterate was central to the model’s success.
Community validation built in. Because groups had to raise real money from real supporters to unlock the match funding, every successful application came pre-validated by the people it was meant to serve. That’s something a traditional application form can’t replicate.
A new kind of reach. Pilots like “Activate Your Space” brought Crowdfunder’s network to communities that hadn’t previously engaged with Sport England’s funding. The platform’s reach extended the funder’s reach.
“Crowdfunding’s been going on a trajectory of being really successful… it’s now embedded as part of our new ongoing open-funding offer, Movement Fund.” Neil Smith, Programme Manager at Sport England
A blueprint for funders
The Sport England partnership is one of the most significant examples of crowdfunding used as a funding distribution model in the UK. It demonstrates that public and institutional funding goes further, reaches more people, and creates more lasting impact when it’s matched by genuine community investment.
If you’re a local authority, trust, foundation, or corporate funder exploring how to make your money work harder, we’d love to talk.
Find out how Crowdfunder works for funders and partners →
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