Grants?

Because of my job I interact with several foundations and I audit a few entities that receive grants from foundations.  Several years ago I was on the board of a little league so I created my own database with names, numbers, addresses, contacts, etc. of all the foundations I could find - this was before I even started coaching high school football. 

Our current HC came into the school a few years ago with a list of upgrades he'd like to make to the program but the school wasn't willing to spend that kind of $$.  He asked everybody with any interest in the program to help and I think I was the only one that showed any real interest in helping.  I told him I wanted to approach some non-profits and he said, "That won't work, I've tried it before but didn't have any success.  But you can try if you want."  To do it successfully takes a LOT of work.  My recommendation -

Determine your wants/needs for the program and make a list of the wants/needs
Explain why you want/need each item
Explain what it will do for your program, who it will benefit and how many it will benefit
Determine what the useful life of the item is
Price out the item, have a solid understanding of what it will cost to acquire/install the item
Find your funding sources
Submit grant requests
Follow up
Once received be prepared to submit progress reports.

Foundations are like hot girls - you're going to get turned down a LOT, some won't even acknowledge you, some will tell you to get lost & lose their number.  But when you finally score it is awesome.

They typically don't want to give you money for operating expenses - salaries, insurance, supplies, consumables (uniforms, helmets, footballs, etc.).  They want to be able to stand there and go, "Look what we did!"  They also want their money to provide something that will be around for along time - operating expenses don't do that.

I was successful in getting:

New sleds (Rae Crowther sleds tackling and blocking)
Chutes
A new weight room

The weight room was a big deal - the grant was for $100,000 and we actually spent more than that.  With the $100 grand we were able to go around to some other organizations and say, "We're building a new weight room, we have most of the funding, would you help get us over the top?"  When the weight room was finished we had a dedication and put some signage up "This facility made possible by the The XYZ Foundation."  Occasionally I send them pictures of kids working out and some players have sent personal notes of appreciation to the board members.  It's not required but they appreciate it and it keeps the funding source alive.  We're actually in discussions now about getting them to re-turf our field.  It's a long shot but worth a try.  It wouldn't even be a possibility if we weren't maintaining the relationship.

Good luck!

Most came from interactions with clients and other business relationships I have/had.  But you can find a lot of information just by googling.  Again, it's a LOT of work but the rewards can be significant.  Good luck!

USA football has an equipment/uniform grant