How to move a team from a individual school to a community based program.

[Team3844]

We have been a 2 school team for the past few years, but the program has been housed at just 1 facility. I am considering retiring from my teaching position this summer and I am worried that any sponsorship money receipted into the school account will be not be accessible by the team next year. I am not sure what course of action to take. We have about $12,000 worth of sponsorship commits for next year. We have spent the school account down to $0 this year, but sponsors are getting ready to send checks for next year.

(a) how do you setup a community team?
(b) should I take the team # with us or start from scratch with FIRST?

[Qbot2640]

We have been a 2 school team for the past few years, but the program has been housed at just 1 facility. I am considering retiring from my teaching position this summer and I am worried that any sponsorship money receipted into the school account will be not be accessible by the team next year. I am not sure what course of action to take. We have about $12,000 worth of sponsorship commits for next year. We have spent the school account down to $0 this year, but sponsors are getting ready to send checks for next year.

(a) how do you setup a community team?
(b) should I take the team # with us or start from scratch with FIRST?

I just did this with our team. The free online application for an EIN number gets you the number instantly (so you can open a bank account), and the online "EZ" version of the 501(c)3 application is actually easy, costs only $400, and we were approved in a week. PM me, if you have any questions. (I'll try to watch for a PM...I'm really horrible about noticing that I get a message).

[popnbrown]

A few teams I know about are primarily based out of One school but invite other schools within their district.

You have two options here, and they're both hard but it depends on the situation:
A) is there any other faculty or staff that can liaison with the school? There are several teams I know including mine where the lead mentor is not an employee at the school but there is A mentor that is and serves as the administrative person for the team (regarding finances, facilities)
B) are you capable/willing of setting up a 501(c)(3)? This means are there also other adults who would are invested enough to help you?

My honest opinion is that A sounds like a much better option for this coming year than B. And it'll allow you to eventually get B up and running so that if any ties must be broken with the school you can still run the team independently.

To answer your questions:
A. That's a loaded question but a 501(c)(3) really helps and a ton of community support. Especially parental support. What specifically are you wondering About?
B. if you are the main contact in TIMS, then there's no need for a new team #. if you are not, then it's a matter of figuring out how you work it out with the school. I would suggest sticking to your team #.

[Tinmint1]

You can create a parents group/ friends of team # under their own 501 c3 and have all the money go through there and still be a school team.

[GeeTwo]

3946 has a 501c3 "booster club" as well as the school sponsorship. Even if you start the booster club, see if you can find another faculty member (at either school) who will take over being the school liaison. In addition to recruiting opportunities and workspace, having your team sponsored by the school makes it much easier to do "field trips" to go to competitions, demos, and other activities. Participating in a community team would probably not be considered an excused absence, and that's a showstopper for many parents.

[TheOtherGuy]

We started out at a school, but due to the nature of their club system it became financially and bureaucratically irresponsible to remain there. We created a non-profit and started working as a community team 2 years later. I would say the most difficult part was finding a location to call home. We got lucky - there was a local hackerspace that had ample room and the right atmosphere for an FRC team. We also considered renting a local space, but the costs were a bit prohibitive.

We've kept our team number this entire time. It's a great way to maintain your identity if a majority of your current students remain on the team.

There was an awkward transition year. If you can avoid it, great. Otherwise, the end result is still well worth it.

I just did this with our team. The free online application for an EIN number gets you the number instantly (so you can open a bank account), and the online "EZ" version of the 501(c)3 application is actually easy, costs only $400, and we were approved in a week. PM me, if you have any questions. (I'll try to watch for a PM...I'm really horrible about noticing that I get a message).

Really? Ours took a couple months, as did the non-profit for my last team. Was this a temporary approval to set up a bank account?

[Qbot2640]

...
Really? Ours took a couple months, as did the non-profit for my last team. Was this a temporary approval to set up a bank account?

From what I learned, this is a relatively new option for 501(c)3 organizations who expect their annual revenue to be less than $50,000. This was in response to the huge backlog of approvals by the IRS, and was implemented to make the simple ones quicker and easier to approve allowing more resources for the complicated ones. The EIN number, like I said, was free and immediate...and we could have created a bank account with just that - but we included the application for our 501(c)3 and the receipt for the $400 payment so we could get a better, non-profit focused account.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/About-Form-1023EZ

Our application was approved exactly one week from the day I applied. It is nothing "temporary"...it's the real deal. We have to file a 990 form within 15 days of the end of our business cycle (we chose July - June). I am amazed to be saying this, but it was literally one of the easiest processes I've done.

Addressing the above comments about negatives - for us, the only issue I am even concerned about is excusing absences...and I expect the individual schools involved with our team to continue to excuse them anyway. Our state has several teams that are organized this way, and almost as many that are organized under a 4-H or Scout organization...I'm not aware of any issues with absences not being excused for those teams. Our school never provided us a workspace that would be secure enough to trust relocating all the privately owned tools and equipment we have (our milling machine is my own, for example) so that's no concern for us...we work out of an awesome 3 car garage owned by the greatest mentor in the world and his equally gracious wife.

The positives are almost infinite - most notably our ability to finally purchase insurance to cover the adults who help our team, and the access to grant money we didn't qualify for without a nonprofit group. And I will certainly not complain about being able to make common-sense decisions regarding evening build sessions when the county cancels school for 3 flakes of snow that someone saw in the remote far north corner of the county.

[Mr V]

Check with your local 4H extension, from talking to teams in our area who are affiliated with 4H it gave them instant access to non-profit status and liability insurance at favorable rates.

[legogeek24]

Check with your local 4H extension, from talking to teams in our area who are affiliated with 4H it gave them instant access to non-profit status and liability insurance at favorable rates.

I can attest that 4H has been fantastic in helping LiveWire operate as an independent team. We had a sort of rocky transition where we were forced to get a new number, but if the school will cooperate you should be able to keep your old number with no problem.

As far as finding a location to work, look into local colleges and universities, if you have some in your town. We were lucky enough to form a partnership with the Idaho State University Robotics Program, which not only gave us a place to work but provided us with fantastic mentors.