Re: Team budgets?
 

Thanks to everybody who posted. We basically expected to need 50k or so, and from what I see here, it confirms this.

Thanks,
Otaku & All of 675

Re: Team budgets?
 

You don't really need 50K...

Team 114 operates yearly on an average of 30K. We do three regionals, but it's not that much different to stretch that up to be two regionals and Champs, which is actually what we're thinking of doing this year. 16K goes into competitions, fixed. Next up is the bot, which is actually like 5k realistically. The other 9k goes to keeping the program running, which means paying for tools that break, supplies for side projects, and shipping and so on. The students pay their own travel fees, which actually doesn't come out to that much. We fly up to PNW, and the whole trip usually rounds out to 500 per student. It's a bit stiff, but it's our favorite regional (IMHO, the best in the US!). SVR is local to us, so team members drive individually there. The Davis regional, near Sacramento, we all caravan down in buses, so hotel and food is all that needs to be paid. That usually comes out to 100-150 per student, with a bit of budgeting.

Our team operates on that budget by not paying for student travels. However, in the past we've had members who can't pay for the trip, and are an essential part of the team. When that happens, the team will then pay for that student.

50k is a little overkill, though it's a nice budget to shoot for.

Re: Team budgets?
 

I have some rough numbers for our 2007 competition season budget, but nothing that captures our annual expenses. We attended two regionals -- both "away" -- and the Championship event as a qualifying team. Because we were eligible to compete in Atlanta as a result of performance, we paid through the nose for transportation, particularly. This budget also includes a lot of expenses that most teams here haven't mentioned or don't have to worry about. We provide door-to-door transportation to meetings for students (and mentors, for that matter) that don't have a way of getting there on their own, we feed about thirty people three or four times a week for about three months since most of us go straight to meetings from work and don't have a chance to eat dinner, and we pay for about 75% of student travel expenses and 100%* of mentor travel expenses as many of our students could not otherwise afford to travel with the team.

Altogether, we spent about $80,000 during the competition season. $15,000 in FIRST fees, ~$35,000 in travel expenses, ~$10,000 for meals, ~$5,000 for robot parts, ~$5000 for marketing and recruitment, and $10,000 on who knows what else -- incidental costs like shipping crate, shipping overages, team building parties at regional events, etc.

*Though the team pays for mentor travel expenses, we are funded almost entirely through participating, as a 401(c)3 organization, in donation-matching and time-for-money giving programs at Microsoft, Boeing and Federated Department Stores. Student are responsible for fundraising to meet their travel expenses as much as possible, so that helps us to offset these enormous additional costs. We allow them to pay the team back throughout the year, however, rather than require that they do so before being allowed to travel.

Re: Team budgets?
 

Since the students and mentors and advisors are the team, no money is "saved" by charging the team members to travel. The team members that work hard to raise money for the team have earned the right to travel with only spending money coming out of their pockets...at least that is 987's philosophy. We have found that it is easier to hold on to team members if they don't have to hit up their parents for travel money, etc...