Good Ideas Are Not Enough: Helping Community Projects Become Investment Ready.

Across sport and physical activity, some of the organisations closest to their communities are also those that face the greatest barriers to investment.

Community sports clubs, charities and voluntary organisations often understand local needs better than anyone. They have trusted relationships, committed staff and volunteers, and ideas capable of improving health, reducing inactivity and addressing wider inequalities. Yet a strong idea does not automatically become an investable project.

Limited time, specialist knowledge, reliable data and confidence can prevent smaller organisations from developing their ideas into credible funding propositions. Applications may be directed towards unsuitable funders, submitted before the project is sufficiently developed or abandoned because the process feels too complicated.

The result is not simply an unsuccessful funding application. It can mean that valuable community projects never happen. There is a tendency to view funding support primarily as a bid-writing service: an organisation has an idea, identifies a fund and then seeks help to complete the application. In practice, the written application is often only the final stage of a much more important process.

Before approaching an investor or funder, an organisation needs to demonstrate:

• The problem it is seeking to address.

• How the need has been identified and evidenced.

• Who will benefit and how they have influenced the project.

• What the investment will enable it to do differently.

• How the proposal aligns with the funder’s priorities.

• What measurable outcomes the project will produce.

These questions help determine whether the project itself is sufficiently clear, relevant and deliverable. Compelling language cannot compensate for an underdeveloped proposition.

A solid investment case connects community insight with evidence, partnerships, achievable outcomes and the priorities of the organisation being approached. It gives funders greater confidence that their investment will produce meaningful and measurable results.

Building capacity across the system.

Build My Bid’s work illustrates the value of investing in project development capacity rather than concentrating solely on individual applications.

Build My Bid works with local authorities, National Governing Bodies, Active Partnerships, leisure trusts and other network organisations to make funding expertise available across their communities and memberships.

This strategic commissioning model allows different levels of support to be provided according to need. Some organisations may require guidance, resources or training. Others need assistance with gathering evidence, shaping their project, identifying an appropriate funder or managing a complex revenue or capital application.

Importantly, the approach supports more than one organisation or one application. It helps create a stronger pipeline of credible community-led projects across an entire place, network or sport.

Evidence from two key Greater Manchester contracts during the 2025/26 financial year illustrates the impact of this wider strategic commissioning model.

Across these programmes, Build My Bid supported 56 organisations, helped develop 24 funding applications and contributed to 15 successful awards,

securing a combined £247,000 in external investment. Almost two-thirds of the applications developed resulted in successful awards. However, the value of the support cannot be measured solely by the amount of funding secured.

Participating organisations also improved their project planning, developed clearer outcomes, gained a better understanding of funder expectations and became more confident about pursuing future opportunities. Commissioning partners benefited from projects that were more closely aligned with their strategic objectives and from additional investment entering their local sport and physical activity systems.

When investment connects different priorities.

The Ride Well, Work Well programme provides a compelling example.

The project secured just over £80,000 from the Active Travel England Innovation Fund after engagement with job clubs and community partners identified several interconnected barriers.

Transport costs were making it difficult for some residents to accept or sustain employment. Others lacked the skills or confidence to cycle safely to a new workplace. At the same time, employability services and active travel provision were largely operating separately.

Ride Well, Work Well brought these agendas together. The programme will provide structured cycling support across five neighbourhoods, including cycling skills, road awareness, personalised journey planning and support to build confidence. A fleet of 15 loan bikes will give participants access to affordable transport when they secure employment.

It aims to support 120 residents, with 60 targeted to secure or sustain employment. The programme will also engage people living with limiting long-term health conditions through inclusive cycling and connections with health and social-prescribing partners.

This is more than a cycling project. It addresses transport poverty, employability, physical inactivity, health, confidence and independence. Its strength lies in the way a clearly identified community need has been connected to several strategic outcomes and developed into a coherent, evidence-led proposition.

A more equitable route to investment.

The case study raises an important question for the wider sector. If we are committed to directing investment towards the communities experiencing the greatest inequalities, are we doing enough to help the organisations working in those communities become investment ready?

Larger organisations are more likely to have dedicated development teams, established data systems and previous experience of major funding applications. Smaller organisations may have equally valuable ideas and stronger community relationships, but far less capacity to navigate the process.

Without accessible project-development support, funding can continue to favour organisations that are already best equipped to compete for it.

Local authorities, funders, National Governing Bodies and other strategic bodies therefore have an opportunity to think beyond individual funding pots. Investing in the capability of their wider networks can create a more diverse pipeline of projects, improve the quality of applications and help smaller organisations compete on a fairer footing.

It can also reduce the risk of funding being spent on poorly defined projects that have not adequately involved communities or demonstrated how their proposed activities will lead to lasting change.

Turning local insight into measurable impact.

The central message from the Build My Bid case study is straightforward: good community ideas should not fail because the people behind them lack specialist funding knowledge.

Preparing a solid investment case is not about dressing up an idea or finding more persuasive words. It is about doing the work required to establish need, involve the right people, build effective partnerships, define realistic outcomes and show why the proposed approach deserves support.

When that capacity is developed across the sport and physical activity sector, the potential return is considerable: stronger organisations, better-designed projects, greater investor confidence and more funding reaching the communities where it can make the greatest difference.

The full Build My Bid impact case study accompanies this article and provides further information about its strategic commissioning model, first-year outcomes and the development of the Ride Well, Work Well programme.

Build My Bid will deliver a practical Masterclass at the Investing in Sports and Physical Activity Conference, helping delegates strengthen their investment readiness, develop more compelling funding propositions and connect with the expertise and contacts needed to turn promising ideas into successful, high-impact projects.

Download the Build My Bid Case Study.