Overview

To demonstrate its commitment to the advancement of sport tourism, STEP St. John’s has established a grant program that provides financial support to sport organizations hosting events in the Metro St. John’s region. The established funding mechanism is developed to assist event organizers and promoters offset some of the expenses associated with event hosting. The amount of the fund varies from year to year and is primarily subsidized by the City of St. John’s and Government of Newfoundland & Labrador’s Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.

STEP St. John’s can provide support for either operational, administrative costs or marketing initiatives.

Funding Expense Examples

  1. Bond or holding fees required to secure an event once a bid has been won. Funding to be returned to STEP St. John’s on completion of event;
  2. Start‐up costs for organizing committees to begin the process of planning, marketing and sponsorship campaigns and volunteer recruitment & training prior to revenue generation.
  3. Facility and equipment items that can be utilized for future events.
  4. Costs associated with operating expenses of the event such as the contract of professional services, the lease of office equipment and facility rental costs.
  5. To leverage additional/matching funding from other sources, public or private sector.
  6. Costs associated with hosting NSO Annual General Meetings.

Funding Criteria

  1. Events must be sanctioned by an International Sport Organization (ISO), National Sport Organization (NSO), Provincial Sport Organization (PSO) or Local Sport Organization (LSO). Such endorsement is not required for corporate , private sector, professional or occupational based events;
  2. Majority of the event (competition venues) must be hosted in the region;
  3. Host must have the technical capability, financial resources and organizational ability to produce a high quality event;
  4. Event must comply with municipal rules, policies, regulations and bylaws, and have sufficient event insurance in place when required;
  5. Event must meet health, environmental and safety requirements;
  6. The level of media, marketing, and associated potential must be demonstrated with regards to advancing the region’s profile in sport tourism;
  7. The level of funding will be determined based on an evaluation of the following criteria:
    i. Size and scope of event (e.g. international, national, regional and/or provincial);
    ii. # of hotel nights anticipated;
    iii. Economic impact of the event as calculated using the STEAM model of the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA);
    iv. Event legacy impact (e.g. infrastructure, volunteer recruitment, sport development, etc.);
    v. Event Media Profile (e.g. broadcast coverage)
    vi. Tourism Seasonality (e.g. shoulder season)
  8. Event must show recognition for contributing partners to each event. These may include the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, City of St. John’s, Sport NL and/or Destination St. John’s. This can take the form of venue signage, program advertising, public announcements, online presence or other forms of media.
  9. Funding requests must be submitted a minimum of six (6) months prior to event start.
  10. Ten percent (10%) of funding amount will be held until submission of post event report (within 45 days) and verification of event parameters (e.g. actual hotel room uptake).
  11. Level of funding cannot exceed twenty (20%) of the total event revenue.
  12. The amount of financial support awarded to each event will be based primarily on, but not be limited to, the total score as calculated by the STEP St. John’s Event Funding Scorecard;
  13. Other considerations in the decision to provide support funding include event opportunities:
    i. that capitalize on trends and aging;
    ii. that help overcome identified competitive weaknesses (e.g. high cost of travel to the Province);
    iii. that occur during tourism shoulder season (November – March);
    iv. that consent to reinvest potential event surpluses back into sport tourism;
    v. that achieve significant cultural impacts.
    Events that have previously received funding support from STEP St. John’s will not be eligible for further funding unless it can be demonstrated that there is a significant change in the scope and size of the event and or that there is a potential for growth or expansion.Events, wherein costs are not a determining factor, would not receive the same priority ranking on this point.
  14. There is no limit to the number of times that funding can be requested for various events by a sports organization in any given year.
  15. In kind or contra funding (e.g. security, parking enforcement, grounds maintenance, printing etc.) are valuated based on quoted, and/or incurred costs and will be measured in the same context as cash considerations.
  16. Consideration may also be given to new events being created in the region or to existing events that are looking to expand and grow their event. In such cases, new events may be considered for funding on a sliding scale basis with reduced funding each year over three years with sustainability as the goal for the fourth year. Expanding events may receive similar support. Amounts of funding for these events are subject to board approval.
  17. Support may be awarded to a non-profit or for profit organizations. In the case of a private business enterprise, support would only be approved whereby it can be demonstrated that the event will bring significant media exposure/profile to the destination. In any case, a final financial report will be required, and where a profit is shown, the organization shall be expected to give back a portion of these profits to the bid support fund for future project support.

Approval Process

All submitted applications will be reviewed by the STEP St. John’s Board of Directors. The purpose of this review is to ensure all appropriate information is gathered and there is a clear understanding of the impact of the event.

Once the application has been reviewed, the organization will be contacted with a final decision within thirty (30) days.

If the organization is successful in receiving grant monies, it must submit a post‐project “Actual Budget” report complete with copies of receipts for any monies distributed within 60 days of the completion of the project.

This policy recognizes that each event brings unique opportunities and challenges. From time to time, an event may present itself that this policy does not properly apply, and in these circumstances the Board may vary from the established policy.

In order to start the funding request, please fill out the following form:

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