Ethan Troll is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Edge high school for AZPreps365.com

Sometimes, it takes one small step at a time to reach your goals.

Desert Edge softball has been able to gain more financial support over the last couple of years, but this season has been a little different for them on the positive side of finances.

A big contribution to their program has been Adrenaline Fundraising, an online-based fundraiser that provides products to sell on their website to help raise money for schools’ sports programs. Small portions of the money that they make also go towards funding for helping in the cause of finding a cure for cancer.

Anthony Simeonov, CEO of Adrenaline Fundraising, has been a part of fundraisers for over 20 years and knows what the program is all about when it comes to raising money for sports programs.

“We operate a text-based crowdfunding platform featuring a dynamic event called 'Blitz60,’” Simeonov said. “This hour-long event boasts a live leaderboard, infusing our fundraiser with excitement, competition, and profitability. Teams can count on making 30%-200% more money with our platform over their previous fundraiser. We pay out an impressive 80% profit on donations.”

“Our app is state of the art and does a lot of the work," Adrenaline Fundraising's James Carter said. “They [Desert Edge] did a fall and spring fundraiser with us and it did great.”

Adrenaline fundraising was established in 2009 and it has helped raise over $3 million per year in Arizona and over $100 million nation-wide. They have now raised over $1.5 billion for schools nationwide since the company was established. Desert Edge softball raised $18,458 last season.

Head coach Mike Mendoza and his squad had a fundraiser with Adrenaline Fundraising earlier in March and it turned out to be a success.

“It’s basically all done through email and text communication,” Mendoza said. “The girls input contacts into the app and allows them to reach out to those contacts. Those that are contacted can either make a donation or purchase other items such as cookie dough, personalized coffee mugs, and other stuff.”

“We offer a digital discount app with over 700,000 discounts, cookie dough, candles, caramel corn, steel tumblers, Coffee, beef jerky, apparel stores and more. All sold through our app and text drip process.”

Another part of the softball team being able to raise a good amount of money is also due to their booster club. They have their own Facebook page so that they can post updates on future fundraisers while also posting gameday announcements. Many people involved in the program come together to help the team earn the support and money that they need in order to put towards the girls’ equipment.

“We have parents that run our booster club,” Mendoza said. “They with banquet stuff, feeding the girls, senior night, end of the year gifts, etc. Our softball club account is there to provide equipment and stuff we need for the program.”

With these small efforts, Desert Edge softball is looking to keep adding more financial support to give the team everything they need to continue their current success.