Chief Delphi - How Much Does it Cost to Run a Team?

We host a once-a year school Superintendent meeting for school districts that don't have FIRST teams. When they ask about budgets this is the information we give them, updated to 2009 cost estimates. Metro NY costs, not airline travel from Hawaii!
--------------

FRC Team Budget
Money or portions of it can be supplied by the school, a local business sponsor, or team booster club fundraisers. Getting a shipping company as a team sponsor will save on getting tools to Championship. If you don’t have all of it, then you can make due with what you have. Some of these are one-time or infrequent expenses, like a robot crate/cart or hand tools, while most are recurring. The very minimum I’ve gotten by with on a team I mentored was $7,000 ($6k for registration, $900 parts and basic tools, $100 school van transportation).

Median team budget estimate doing one local event ~$10,000
Team budget estimate doing one local event & a second driving distance event ~$20,000
Team budget estimate doing one local event & Championship ~$37,000
Team budget estimate doing one local event, one driving distance event, & Championship ~$47,000

Entry Fee
$6000 – one Regional and Kit of Parts
$4000 – Optional additional Regional
$5000 – Optional Championship (Rookies must qualify by winning Regional or Rookie All-Star award, Veterans can register in November for open slots or after qualifying at a Regional-winning, Chairman’s, or Engr Inspiration awards)

Teacher/advisor stipend
$0 to $5,000
School dependent, but some schools pay their advisors as they do their coaches. This is school-only money that the team doesn’t raise, but the school administration has to consider based on required policy. Non-school based teams don’t have this issue of course.

Tools
$500-$1,000
Completely dependent on what you already have or can borrow in terms of:

Basic hand tools (traveling toolbox, socket set/wrenches, hex set, hacksaw, pliers, hammer, screwdrivers, taps, rivet gun, etc.)
Power tools (hand drill, tabletop drill press, jig saw, sander, miter saw)
Tooling that wears out or breaks (drill bits, saw blades, taps)
Laptop for programming at home and the Regional event (usually school issued or personal)

Materials
$1000-$3000
Nothing fancy and teams are allowed to spend up to $3,500 on the robot, plus prototyping materials, late design changes, and damaged/mis-made parts.

Additional COTS parts (gearboxes, chain/sprockets, pneumatic actuators, add-on sensors/electronics, spare components, extra 12v competition batteries)
Raw materials (aluminum plate & tubing, fasteners(nuts/bolts,rivets), electrical wire & connectors)

Practice field/game elements
$500
Yearly game dependent and doesn’t mean a full field (~$3000), but enough of the parts to test and practice with your robot design, build field elements, buy balls, etc.

Travel
$200 to $20,000 - overnight or day trip? Based on number of people, distance to Regional

Transportation (school bus-district owned or rental, commercial coach bus, parent vans)
Hotel rooms (if overnight stay)
Meals (3 meals/day if away, lunch only if close to home)
Stipends, food/board for school mandated chaparones

Example:
Local Regional 2009 Budget ~$1,000: 30 students & 10 mentors= 40 people

$1,000 – 3 days of school bus transportation for students & chaparones
Other mentor/parent transportation by personal vehicle
Lunch on own, breakfast before we leave, dinner after we return.

Away Regional 2009 Budget ~$6,000: 30 students & 6 mentors= 36 people

$225 per person, coach bus, hotel & meals
Meals: $20/day given to each student to cover breakfast and lunch at the arena, plus 3 dinners

Championship 2009 budget $22,760: 25 students & 9 mentors= 34 people

$600 - shipping of tools, materials, cart & batteries to/from Atlanta
$100 - School bus Transportation to/from NYC airport
$500 – rental of one van in Atlanta, 4 days
Travel - $640 per person, includes:
· Roundtrip airfare NYC to Atlanta
· MARTA from/to Atlanta airport
· FIRST package Hotel - 3 nights and wrap party tickets
· No daily transportation costs, hotel is walking distance
· Meals: $20/day given to each student (25) to cover breakfast and lunch, plus 3 dinners

Miscellaneous
$1200

$150 Robot cart
$200 team banner w/sponsors
$200 Robot crate
T-shirts (team image)
Incidentals like colored hair spray, body paint
Mascot costume, usually school-owned, can be rented or homemade
Give-Away items (usually buttons, but can also be chachkas/knickknacks with team logos printed)
Pit display (organize tools and work area, advertise team & sponsor logos, colorful eye attractor)