BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SPORTS associations in the Federation affiliated with the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee (SKNOC) that find it difficult to generate funding for their various activities can now do so through a new matching fund initiative.
This initiative was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer of the SIDF, Terrence Crossman, who explained to SKNVibes that the programme seeks to match what the sports associations would have generated from various fundraising activities but not from a sports event.
“What we recognised is that many sports organisations or associations struggle with funding and what we recognised is that there will never be enough funding if one is to consider the many demands of the athletes or the associations.”
With this fact, Crossman highlighted that the numerous participations in sports events and acquisitions of gears continue to burden sports associations, and, to this end, he stated that the programme is a great platform from which they could benefit.
“What we have determined is that we not going to be prescriptive in how far we are going tell the associations what the moneys should be used for,” he added.
This fund, he said, would be monitored by the National Olympic Association, while the basic work of the SIDF is to provide it for the various ventures.
“The initiative is a programme where we are saying that we are going to match dollar for dollar any monies raised up to 10 thousand to any institution which is interested in accessing this fund. But the requirement is for them to raise it out of the normal course of business or it cannot be matched. For it to be matched, the monies have to be generated from very specific fundraising activities. The monies would be administered to the NOC,”
One major requirement is that all associations must have supporting documents of the course of action that they would be using to raise funds, at which time it must be overlooked by a certified accountant.
Crossman declared that the SIDF would not be administering the funds but rather the NOC, and explained that the minimum amount to be raised is $10 000.
He however noted that the associations are not limited to one fundraiser but a series to which they must raise the minimum amount.
