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Driving Equity Grant Program Overview

USGA created this Driving Equity Grant Program (“Grant Program”) to address the lack of media coverage for women’s golf events.  A recent study has revealed that while approximately 40% of sports are played by women, only 4% of sports media coverage features female athletes. The USGA’s Grant Program aims to address this underrepresentation in the media, particularly in women’s golf, and create opportunities for media to support and improve coverage of women’s golf. To accomplish this goal, USGA will provide small grants to established news or media outlets to help with travel-related or freelancer costs in attending and/or covering women’s golf events or to produce special projects or features (e.g., human-interest pieces) related to women’s golf or female golfers.  Our aim is to help improve the overall quantity and quality of coverage of women’s golf.  

Overview

  • Applications open beginning June 2, 2021 and will be received on a rolling basis
  • Grant amounts will range from $2,000 up to $10,000
  • Grant funding will cover out-of-pocket expenses necessary to travel to and cover women’s golf events, including freelancer costs, or production costs or travel costs for special project(s) or feature(s) related to women’s golf or female golfers
  • Eligibility criteria detailed below

 

Eligibility to Apply

 

To be eligible for funding, you must meet the following requirements:
 

  • Any news or media organization (both for- and non-profit organizations)  
  • Plan to attend and/or cover at least one women’s golf event (professional or amateur) during the 2021 season or produce a special project or feature(s) (e.g., human-interest piece) related to women’s golf or female golfer(s)   

 

Preference will be given to media organizations who:

  • Plan to attend and cover a USGA women’s championship or event during the 2021 season 
  • Have an established reader, listener or video consumer supported business model and are deemed reputable in USGA’s sole discretion
  • Plan to publish high-profile or highly visible content within the organization’s distribution channels

 

Grant Criteria

USGA will evaluate each application based on the selection criteria below:

  • Financial need or lack of dedicated financial support to cover women’s sports
  • Proposed use of grant funds
  • Potential impact of grant in advancing women in sports
  • Contribution to greater visibility of women’s sports or female athletes
  • Nuanced or creative approaches to the content coverage or distribution of such content

Grants can be used for:

  • Out-of-pocket travel-related expenses (such as airfare, transportation, lodging, per diem, equipment rental, or other similar expenses) or freelancer costs for attending and/or covering women’s golf event(s); or
  • Production costs or out-of-pocket travel-related expenses (such as airfare, transportation, lodging, per diem, equipment rental, or other similar expenses) for a special project(s) or feature(s) spotlighting women’s golf or a female golfer(s); or

 

Grant Requirements 

Grant recipients must agree to the following:

  • To use the grant for its intended Purpose (e.g., travel-related expenses, production costs, or freelancer costs)
  • To publish content about or related to the women’s golf event(s), women’s golf and/or female golfers within three (3) months of receipt of grant funding
  • Provide to USGA a copy of the published content and, to the extent data is available and may be shared, any associated aggregated data related to consumer reach of the published content, which may be shared publicly by USGA 
  • Grant program will be subject to the Grant Program Terms and Conditions. See Grant Program Terms and Conditions for full eligibility criteria, grant evaluation process and grant restrictions.

 

Grant Award 

Applicants may request grant amounts ranging from $2,000 up to $10,000. Grants may be used for more than one publication, project, or feature.  Up to $50,000 in grants will be awarded each calendar year.  Only one grant will be made available per organization (an organization that owns several news or media outlets is eligible to apply for one grant across their company for the purpose of several uses).

How to Apply

Applications will be received on a rolling-basis until $50,000 in total Grants funds have been awarded. To apply, eligible Applicants can visit the Grant Program application page below and follow the on-screen links and instructions to complete and submit the Grant Program application form and provide all required information.  

Please read carefully through the full Program Terms and Conditions before applying, including full eligibility criteria, grant evaluation process and grant restrictions.

Please note that it may take up to four weeks for a decision to be made on your grant application. Grants will be disbursed via check.