Membership Assistance Program

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of the Membership Assistance Program (MAP) is to enable Provincial Sport Organizations (PSOs) to allocate funds directly to their respective clubs, leagues, or other affiliated members, to increase the number of participants and the quality of sport development in Saskatchewan communities. MAP funds are to be used to support community and club-level sport development initiatives within the province.

2. SOURCE OF FUNDING

The Membership Assistance Program grant is funded through the Sport Section of the Sask Lotteries Trust Fund.

3. ELIGIBILITY

Provincial Sport Organizations who are on the Eligibility List of the Sask Lotteries Trust Fund are eligible to apply.

4. ELIGIBLE MAP LEVELS

A funding process is designed to pre-determine MAP funding levels for PSOs. Pre-determining each PSO’s eligible MAP funding level will assist PSOs to plan and budget for the distribution of these funds to their membership.

To determine MAP funding levels, statistics from all PSOs within a number of performance areas of the Annual Funding follow-up, will be accumulated. The sum of statistics specific to each performance area will determine a group total for each performance area. The deadline for accumulating statistics will be March 31 annually. Only statistical information verifiable from a PSO’s most recent fiscal year end, prior to March 31, will be used.

The MAP budget will allocate a specific pool of funds for each performance area. A funding variable for each performance area will be derived by dividing the group statistics total into the funding pool established. The funding variables will then be applied to each PSO’s individual performance statistics to calculate funding support within each performance area. Maximums per PSO for each performance area will be maintained to regulate levels of funding support.

The sum of all performance calculations will determine the eligible MAP grant for each PSO. Sask Sport will notify PSOs of their eligible MAP grant for their upcoming fiscal year.

A sample of the performance areas, budget pools and maximum support per performance area based on a total MAP funding pool of $2.4 million is illustrated below:

Performance Area	Budget Pool	Maximum/PSO
a) Registered Members	38%	$109,000
b) Membership Fees	15%	$29,000
c) Coaches	18%	$22,000
d) Officials	15%	$18,000
e) District Representation	14%	$ 6,074
Total	100%	$184,074

5. PERFORMANCE AREA DEFINITIONS

The following definitions outline conditions for accumulating performance statistics relevant to MAP:

a) Registered Members
The total number of registered members of the PSO.

Each PSO must be able to provide a verifiable list of registered members per each category of membership, if requested.

A registered member is defined as an individual, or member of a team or club, who has paid an annual fee to be an active athlete, coach or official with the PSO. Membership fees and procedures must be clearly defined and correspond to the PSO’s membership classifications as per the association’s Articles of Incorporation. Registered membership connotes that the individual or member of the team or club, has purchased membership with intent to actively participate in the activities of the association, and has access to a broad range of programs, services and privileges provided and/or governed by the PSO (Ex. voting privileges, insurance, newsletters, access to programs and competitions, etc.). For the purpose of eligibility, if a PSO has a “supporting” membership classification, these members cannot be included towards the total membership count of active athletes, coaches or officials.

b) Membership Fees
The total membership fees paid to the PSO.

Membership fees must correspond to membership classifications as per the organization’s Articles of Incorporation. Membership revenues must be clearly identifiable within the PSO’s Audited Financial Statement and reconcile with the Annual Funding Follow-up report.

NOTE: Playdown fees, clinic fees, etc. are not eligible for consideration as a membership fee.

c) Trained or Certified Coaches
The total number of trained or certified coaches that are active registered members of the PSO.

Coaches must be fully certified through the old National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) at a minimum of Level 1 or ‘Trained’ or ‘Certified’ in any of the three streams (Community, Instructor, and/or Competition) and contexts of the current NCCP structure. All trained or certified coaches are recognized equally and must be verifiable by NCCP records or the NCCP Locker database.

A coach may only be claimed once regardless of certified or trained status under the old and current NCCP. The PSO must be able to provide an accurate list of active coaches of the PSO and their trained or certified status, if requested.

If a sport does not have coaching certification recognized by the NCCP Program, their coaching certification will be evaluated by Sask Sport to determine if coach certification standards meet minimum, equivalent NCCP certification standards.

d) Trained Officials
The total number of trained officials that are active registered members of the PSO.

MAP will recognize only those officials that are active and have undertaken a comprehensive training program to become accredited or certified. Minor officials (Ex. scorekeepers, timekeepers, etc.) are not eligible for the MAP calculation.

The PSO must be able to provide an accurate list of active registered officials of the PSO and their trained status, if requested.

e) District Representation
The total number of Sport, Culture and Recreation Districts in which the PSO has at least 15 registered members residing in the District. Registered members may only be counted once by a PSO, as a resident of a District.

The District boundaries are those provincially recognized by Sask Sport, Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association and SaskCulture.

Amounts allocated to eligible PSOs will be calculated in proportion to the total number of Districts (up to a maximum of nine) in which a PSO meets minimum requirements of at least 15 registered members.

6. APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Eligible PSOs must apply for their eligible level of MAP funding at the time of their designated application deadline (May 15, August 15, October 15 or February 15) through the Annual Funding application submission.

The application must be completed and submitted online at funding.sasksport.ca. Each PSO has been provided an username and password in order to access the online application. PSOs can contact Sask Sport by email at funding@sasksport.ca if the username and password is unknown.

7. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS

a) Late or incomplete grant applications will result in grant payments being withheld.
b) Each application must include the following:

• Annual Budget (MAP Revenues/Expenditures)
• PSO’s Internal MAP Policy

PSOs receiving MAP funding are encouraged to review and update (as necessary) their organization’s internal MAP Policies on a regular basis. If changes to the MAP Policies occur, the PSO is required to submit a copy of the revised policy to Sask Sport for review.

8. EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Should a PSO have exceptional needs relating to sport development or programs that cannot be met or are limited by existing MAP criteria, the PSO may request an Extenuating Circumstances review. Requests for a review should be made to the Sport Funding Committee at the time of application and should include the following:

• Rationale and information as to how the current MAP criteria limit or do not meet the needs of community/grassroots development
• Description of how new or revised criteria will be applied
• Amount or percentage of MAP funds that will be involved

9. PAYMENT PROCEDURES TO THE PSO
Full payment of the approved grant will be forwarded to the PSO following the satisfactory approval of the application submission, but no sooner than 30 days prior to the start of their fiscal year.

10. GUIDELINES FOR ADMINISTERING THE MAP PROGRAM TO YOUR MEMBERSHIP
Each Provincial Sport Organization is responsible for determining criteria and outlining the policies and procedures for dispersing MAP funds to their membership. The following general conditions apply:

a) Promotion

• PSOs are encouraged to promote the Membership Assistance Program, communicate their MAP criteria and invite applications from all eligible members of their organization. Promotion of MAP through the PSO’s website and by other means is expected.
• Information provided to PSO membership should state that MAP funds are to be used to support community and club-level sport development.
• PSOs and their member organizations are required to acknowledge and publicly recognize that the MAP support received from the Sask Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation is derived from the proceeds of the sale of lottery tickets in Saskatchewan.
• To ensure fairness and equal access for community sport groups, PSOs must establish by policy at least one MAP application deadline per fiscal year and communicate the same to their membership.

b) Application

• Members of the PSO applying for MAP funding must include detailed spending plans outlining the project description and budget and submit their request to their PSO by the application deadline.

c) Approval

• The PSO will review all applications and administer funds to their respective clubs, leagues, teams or affiliated members whose projects were approved.
• Approved projects and grant support must take place within the PSO’s fiscal year for which the grant funds were approved. Retroactive funding or pre-funding for projects that take place outside of the PSO’s fiscal year is not permitted.
• PSOs must establish clear steps for receiving, reviewing and approving MAP applications from their members. These steps should be clearly stated and communicated through the MAP policies and procedures of the PSO.

d) Payment

• PSOs are required to implement a minimum 25 per cent holdback on MAP funds to be distributed to each qualified applicant. 75 per cent of approved MAP funds can be allocated upon application approval, with the balance distributed after all follow-up documentation has been received from each qualified applicant.
  (NOTE: 25 per cent is a minimum; PSOs may choose to holdback a larger percentage.)
• Payment of MAP funds must be made by the PSO directly to the approved applicant. Payments cannot be made to an individual.

e) Follow-up

• PSOs must establish a follow-up report submission deadline, as well as minimum documentation (receipts, etc.) requirements and communicate the same to their membership. The follow-up submission deadline date must allow sufficient time for receipts/documentation to be received prior to the PSO’s fiscal year-end.
• PSO member clubs/teams receiving MAP funding must complete and submit the grant follow-up by the stated deadline and include the following:
  • A completed follow-up report signed by the appropriate club/team authority.
  • Documentation (receipts) to verify expenditures can take various forms but should at a minimum:
    • Indicate name of recipient (person or business) of the funds
    • Describe goods or services provided for payment
    • Disclose the amount of the payment
    • Include the date that the goods/services was purchased (must be within the MAP grant year)
    • Include third party verification (supplier logo on an invoice, signature of the
      recipient on an expense claim, or in the rare case where there is no other
      backup documentation, a copy of the cheque, with the bank clearing
      stamp on the back)NOTE: Legible copies of documents for financial accountability (Ex. receipts, cancelled cheques, invoices, expense claims, etc.) are acceptable. Original documents are not necessary for submission to the PSO but should be maintained by the member club/team submitting the MAP grant follow-up report.
• The PSO is responsible for reviewing and approving all follow-up reports received from its member clubs/teams. Each follow-up must be substantiated by eligible receipts for the full amount of the MAP grant received. Additionally, the PSO should retain all follow-up records and associated documentation for financial verification purposes.

11. INELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES

• Any construction, upgrading, maintenance or operating costs of facilities.
• Expenditures for which other grant dollars have been used. Two different grant sources cannot be used to pay the same dollar of expense, whether the grant comes from the Trust Fund or any other granting agency.
• Cash prizes
• Social events (barbecues, lunches, etc.)
• Alcoholic beverages
• Research projects or feasibility studies
• Out-of-Province travel
• Provincial or U SPORTS team expenses
• Other expenses deemed as ineligible as identified by the Sask Lotteries Trust Fund or PSO.

If a PSO is unsure about the eligibility of a MAP expenditure, it is recommended to ask the Sport Funding Committee for clarification.

12. FOLLOW-UP PROCEDURES

The MAP Follow-up must be submitted to Sask Lotteries Trust Fund within 90 days of the PSO’s fiscal year end.

13. FOLLOW-UP REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS

• Late or incomplete grant follow-ups will result in grant payments being withheld.
• All documentation relating to MAP, including applications/spending plans, follow-up reports and receipts received from the PSO’s members, must be retained by the PSO for a minimum of seven years and be made available for review by the audit firm and/or Sask Sport.
• Sask Sport may conduct regular reviews of PSO’s MAP Policies and records to ensure accountability of the Membership Assistance Program.
• Grants are approved with the understanding that funds are to be used in accordance with each organization’s MAP Policies as well as adhering to the Sask Sport MAP Guidelines and Sask Lotteries Trust Fund. In the event funds are unused or do not adhere to the policies and guidelines, they will be required to be returned to Sask Lotteries Trust Fund.
• The follow-up must include the following:
  • MAP Summary Report form
  • Separate schedule within the PSO’s Audited Financial Statement which lists all member clubs/teams that received MAP assistance and the specific amount of MAP funds they received.