PROJECT 25: $25,000 for Hometown Football.
One Community at a Time.
The All-State Foundation is a Colorado-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Hometown football programs don't lack commitment. They lack access: to outside funding, to national partners, to foundations and grantmakers, and to the opportunities that open up when hundreds of programs work together. Project 25 is built to change that.
Why Start Local?
A football program in one small Colorado community may have only a few dozen athletes. That makes it hard to draw attention from national companies and foundations. Put dozens of Colorado communities together, and eventually hundreds across the country, and the picture changes.
Project 25 is not a fundraiser for a single school or team. Each community campaign builds the Foundation's national network and its ability to bring outside resources into hometown football.
The $25,000 Community Goal
Each participating community works toward $25,000 in unrestricted Project 25 support. It starts with the Founding Five.
The Founding Five
We are looking for five local businesses whose success depends on the same thing hometown football does: a strong community.
Each makes a founding commitment starting at $1,000. Our suggested commitment is $5,000, and a $3,000 option is also available. Each community will raise a total of $25,000 with the Foundation's help.
The Founding Categories
Insurance and Financial Services. A locally owned or locally connected business that depends on trust, relationships, and community reputation.
Community Banking. A bank or credit union with a meaningful presence and investment in the community.
Real Estate. A brokerage, team, or real estate professional whose business depends on local relationships.
Automotive. A dealership or automotive business serving the families, farms, and businesses of the community.
Agriculture and Equipment. An equipment dealer, agricultural supplier, cooperative, or related business serving the surrounding rural economy.
Every community is different. Where another kind of business makes more sense locally, the Foundation may adapt the Founding Five to fit.
What "Founding" Means
A founding commitment of $1,000 or more makes a business an original Founding Community Partner, and that recognition lasts. Active promotional benefits apply to the initial partnership term and may be renewed annually.
For example: Founding Insurance Partner, Springfield, Colorado, 2026.
Let Your Community Know You Stepped Up
Founding Community Partners aren't just names on a donor list. Every one receives website recognition, a community-specific Founding Partner graphic and digital badge, a Foundation social media announcement, a printable certificate, and shareable materials. Businesses that invest in their communities should get credit for it.
What Happens After You Join
Right away, you'll receive a welcome and confirmation of your partnership. During your first week, we'll add your business to our website, announce your partnership, and send your graphic, badge, and shareable materials. As Project 25 grows, we'll keep showing you what your early support helped build.
Completing the Goal
When the Founding Five launch a community below the full goal, fundraising continues. Other local businesses, alumni, families, community organizations, and individual supporters can help the community reach $25,000. The Founding Five keep their place as the originals.
Why Unrestricted Support
Project 25 funds support the Foundation's broader work: outreach, technology, communications, fundraising, administration, partnerships, program development, and the infrastructure behind a national network.
A community's $25,000 goal is not a promise that $25,000 will return directly to that community's football program. The goal is larger: build a system that brings substantially more outside resources into hometown football than individual programs could find on their own.
Turning Local Support Into National Leverage
Local support is the beginning. As the network grows, the Foundation intends to pursue national corporate partnerships and philanthropic grants that multiply what communities start, and matching funds will become part of that strategy.
Each source strengthens the others. Community participation shows funders that the people closest to these programs believe in them. Outside partners are more willing to invest when others already have.
Community support + national partners + foundation and grant funding = more resources for hometown football programs.
Why Colorado First
Because this is home. The Foundation grew out of Colorado's 8-man football community and the Colorado 8-Man All-State Football Game. We know these coaches, schools, and communities.
Colorado is our proving ground. We will learn what works, improve the model, and build the evidence to expand, starting with Texas and then hometown football communities across America.
A Message From Coach Ball
I've spent 20 years coaching small-town football. I've seen what coaches give, what communities give, and what these programs give back to young people.
I've also seen how often small programs spend their limited time asking the same small group of people for money. I want to help change that. I'm building a system that brings more money to them year over year.
That's what Project 25 is about. We start with local businesses and communities willing to help us build it. Then we use that foundation to pursue opportunities these programs could rarely reach on their own.
If you believe hometown football is still a place where responsibility is taught, standards matter, and leaders are built, I hope you'll help us.
Coach Ball
Help Launch Project 25 in Your Community
For businesses: Become one of your community's original Founding Community Partners. Founding commitments start at $1,000, with $5,000 suggested. Become a Founding Community Partner
For community supporters: Help your community reach its $25,000 goal.
For coaches: Join the network and tell us what your program actually needs.
Contact Coach Ball. His phone and email are at the bottom of this page.
All-State Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
EIN: 93-3478511
Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.