The power of sport in creating social impact
Why is sport essential ?
Because the values conveyed through sport such as overcoming limits, team building, sharing, persistence, competition, etc. are present at each step of our lives. In the meantime, sport can be a great tool for inclusion and can generate great social impact in the field of health, education or professional integration.
At ScaleChanger we came across and supported organisations that developed proven solutions around sport like Rebonds!, an association that uses sport as a tool for education and social & professional integration. Our intervention at Rebonds! in 2019 consisted in supporting the organisation in the structuration of its scaling strategy.
“Since the ScaleChanger mission, we have reached +20% of our beneficiaries, we launched entities in four new regions and recruited staff.”
Jules Sire, Manager at Rebonds!
The same year, we worked with CAMI Sport & Cancer, an association that implements, delivers and develops therapeutical sport programs for patients affected by cancer in order to reduce the side effects of treatments, reduce their risk of relapse, improve their chances of remission and quality of life. CAMI Sport & Cancer today, it is:
We worked with the CAMI’s teams on the design of their2020 – 2024 strategic plan which focused on scaling their solution in new territories and redesigning their business model.
Today again, in relation with the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, we are working with organisations whose project uses sport as a means for social impact. In that sense, we facilitated a webinar for the Impact 2024 laureates on « How to diversify your service offer ». It was an opportunity for the laureates to address the evolution of their business model. Impact 2024 aims to strengthen the social role of sport by supporting projects of general interest that use physical activity and sport as a tool for social impact.
We are also currently working with Sport Dans La Ville. We are performing a strategic diagnostic for their programme called Entrepreneurs Dans La Ville.
The key takeaways from working with sports actors:
One major issue for these organisations is the question of the business model. Usually they must consider a model based on mixed resources (grants/sponsorships and income). There is therefore a need to formalise and change their value proposition to attract actors from different backgrounds (public sector or companies).
We observe a professionalisation of these organisations, especially when it comes to “socio-sport’ projects targeting people unfamiliar with the practice of sport, or “socio-educational” projects addressing disparity in accessing sport. This professionalisation is reflected in better capacities for the actors of the sector especially when it comes to monitoring and measuring their social impact, which is often a valuable argument to get funding.
The 2024 Olympic Games and other events like the 2023 Rugby World Cup work as accelerators for the sector. More than ever, the events’ organisers hope to mobilize the social & solidarity economy’s actors so they can respond to their calls for tender and build an heritage for their huge events. This encourages organisations to scale up. As a result, prepare one’s strategy, adapt its organisation and get the teams on board have become keys to embrace these new opportunities.
👉 You have an impact project dealing with sport and you would like to scale up, let’s talk about it! contact@scalechanger.org
