Today’s guest is Brad Doherty, athletic director at Branson High School in Colo. In a small rural community with a dilapidated football field, Doherty launched a fundraising campaign for a new turf field in December. In just over three months, he has led an effort that has brought in $440,000. They plan to have a $540,000 project completed by the fall football season. Doherty goes through all of the steps you need to take to get approval for a project like that as well as how his marketing efforts, grant applications and community outreach led to a viral fundraising campaign. To check out the specifics of Branson’s fundraising effort, visit: https://bransonschooldistrict.com/football/ Doherty talks about: Why his program needed a new field (3:00)What he had to do to get approval from the School Board (5:00)How a viral YouTube video caught the attention of the entire nation (7:00)A media and social media strategy that brought national attention to his program (9:00)How he met his goal of raising $450,000 in three months (13:00)The secret to applying for grants (17:00)How he pitted vendors against each other to bring the price down (22:00)How to create a sense of urgency for donors (27:30)Why the proposal should include benefits beyond football (33:00)How he put the kids to work to appeal to donors (35:00) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices