The secret lies in finding balance

Scaling-up your activities, means constantly seeking opportunities and partners to strengthen your initiative. But it also means evaluating and adjusting/optimising. While monetization and scale are important, they should not come at the expense of the grassroots spirit. A balance between these two elements is crucial to ensure the long-term sustainability of the initiative. To keep on the human analogy, this would be the adult wisdom phase.    

Revisit and reinvent your finish line so it becomes a new starting line

Takeaways – main lessons

If we were to recap the most important advise shared in this section it would probably be:

🎮 Evaluate & validate through the help of community involvement: keep the community at the heart of every initiative, ensuring their voices and needs shape the project.

🎮 Step out of the box: Foster a partnership culture where your partners and funders (public and or private entities) can see their support directly contributing to the growth and success of the grassroots project, creating a win-win situation for all parties involved.

🎮 Stay true to the values and culture of your grassroots origins. Avoid practices that could alienate your core supporters!

🎮 Tell your stories: use powerful storytelling to highlight successes, inspire others, and attract sponsors and investors. It is a must-have (besides surveys and polls…).

🎮 Be brave, go big! Build strategic partnerships and collaborate with local governments, educational institutions, and tech companies to gain support and resources.

But you are the one to take action to scale up so we encourage you to take some time to think about the following questions:

You may even want to print them as a reminder that scaling up is a journey.

Ressources to go further and Topic material

Name of the material	Why it matters / What you will find
Principles to a sustainable scale up of your grassroots esport initiatives 🔗	WHY – To balance the grassroots spirit with business needs in an esports project WHAT – A checklist of principles to stay true to your grassroots spirit
Gaming Skills Translator 🔗	WHY – To help you provide added value to your initiative and support the youth in your community. WHAT – ManpowerGroup’s proprietary online Gaming Skills Translator tool allows candidates to input the specific games they play, their experience and skill level, and the amount of time they spend gaming. The tool then translates that into workplace skills they can add to resumes and discuss in interview.
How can grassroots esports be used to promote  stakeholders who are not engaged yet? 🔗	WHAT – An infographics that highlights different paths for you to connect with new stakeholders in harmony with the grassroots spirit.