[DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

This is part of a series of posts called Drinking From The Firehose on getting Dr Joe back up to speed on All Things FIRST.

Today's topic:
Rookie Grants 101

NASA has a great program. I am amazed at how many teams they help out. The even helped a team I was associated with back in MD (Ursa Major 2849). But had nothing to do with the application process.

So... ...I know next to nothing about it. Searching the web hasn't really been that fruitful.

The JC Penney grants, same same. About the only thing I have managed to discover is that there is something about being 20 miles or less from a JC Penney store (luckily, BCHigh is just under the wire at 19.4 miles according to The Googles) But, other than that rumor, I haven't been able to learn much about the program.

Are there other grants to be had?

Don't know.

So... ...I am asking you. What do I need to know about these and other grants? How much can we hopefully get? Are there follow on grants for future years? Are there strings attached? What are the odds of getting one? Are there things to keep in mind or key words to stress when we right the proposal?

Do tell.

Thanks in Advance.

Cheers,
Joe J

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

First, speak with your Regional Director for [hopefully useful] suggestions about your specific area.

NASA's grants always come with "strings". The year we got one (because we were attending a new Regional competition), rookies had to submit an essay equivalent to a Chairman's Award entry, every student must complete a survey at the beginning and the end of the season, things like that. Odds of getting one are usually pretty good. The jcpenney grant program is supposed to be administered from corporate central, I think; your RD should have the information you need.

Check with your school and your state's Department of Education to see if there are is grant money that can be used for STEM programs like robotics clubs/teams. Ask around to see if your community has any funding for high-tech or education or youth program activites. If you know anyone involved with a local Scout troop, they might be able to point you to someone who can give helpful advice about that.

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

Regional Directors will hook you up with a JCPenney within 20 miles of your team.

Rookie year, the team gets $6500 in unrestricted funds. Along with whatever support the store will give the team. Totally depends on the store and team chemistry how well this works.

Second year, a team can get $2000.

Third year, a team can get $1000.

The key to connecting with a store is your Regional Director.

Another option for a rookie team is to have a Boeing Mentor and apply for a grant from Boeing. The mentor (active or retired) applies for a grant from Boeing around mid September. The funds are restricted to paying your registration fee.

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

Thanks folks.

Regarding timing. Approximately when are the applications due and when do they get awarded?

I'd love to hear from someone who received a JC Penney or NASA grant their rookie year. Nothing like getting a first hand account. I'd love it even more if they shared their applications.

Thanks,

Joe J.

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

Last year NASA grant applications opened mid-October and were due October 30. Team awards were announced by NASA a month later.
In 2010, the applications opened about two weeks earlier at the beginning of October, but the rest of the timeline was similar.

I wasn't directly involved in writing either grant application last year, but I can try to get more info. from the people here who were responsible.
Another team I'm helping this year is ramping up for the grant writing now.

Here are last year's jcpenney granted teams. You can see if there is one near you and/or one you know that can give advice.
"If you are interested in forming a high school robotics team, request an application for a $10,000 i.am FIRST rookie team grant by emailing first@jcpenney.com" - http://jcpenneyafterschool.org/

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

On the FRC site, there is a Mentor Resources Library. I was involved in the original concept and suggesting resources. Unfortunately many of these resources are out of date and dead links, but I have been told there are various folks updating. It was intended to be a fluid Library with constant updating, but has fallen victim to competing priorities for time.

I have recommended that your [DFTF] threads be used to help update.

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ources-library

Under the Finances section there is a heading for Grants. There are 2 links here for NASA Grants. I highly recommend the one by Kressly on "2009 NASA grant writing tips".

The link will bring you right back here to the white papers, but I wanted to introduce you to the Library. ;)

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

Last season was our rookie season. We became an FRC team because our 4-H club was offered & turned down for a JC Penney grant because we were told we live too far from a regular store. We do have a catalog store affiliate in our local hardware store just 5 miles away.

In the process of getting that grant proposal prepared, we found out that a 4-H club member has a relative who works with NASA. He advised us to apply for the NASA grant & proofread our application. We never figured out who at NASA was responsible for administering our grant and it was (and still is) kinda nerve-wracking. We didn't know for sure if they would pay our entry fee until the very last minute. They paid directly to FIRST financial so we never had to cut a check.

We were obligated to have the kids fill-out an entry survey and an exit survey as well as create a Chairman's Award entry. It really wasn't too bad. Especially considering that we only had 400 bucks in the club account last fall and wouldn't have had such a wonderful time this year without their support.

RE: 4-H & JCPenney....my understanding is that JCPenney has provided funding for the state of Missouri to start 10 FRC teams. There is a grant associated with the entry fee and another one of $3000 per team to help get started. Apparently JCP sent the money to the state 4-H office to administer & distribute.

RE: state 4-H...the Missouri 4-H Foundation (a private group, separate from 4-H administration) came through for our team when we couldn't find funds to go to the championship. It would be worth it to find out if your state has a similar foundation.

Although I love the 4-H Learn by Doing philosophy, being an FRC Team that has to report to two government agencies and FIRST makes for an awful lot of paperwork to administer this program. :eek:

RE: community foundations...several of the towns in our region have community foundations and there is a regional foundation. We contacted a local person who has a personal foundation and asked for help and they sent us the amount we asked for....$1200. Ooops!will know how much to ask for next time. Call your local chamber of commerce for leads on this type of funding for your team.

RE: Local Kiwanis, Masons, Shrine, VFW, etc.....figure out what other organizations your team members also belong to and ask if the kids can give a presentation at a meeting.

My goal this year is to find corporate sponsorship for our team. We live in a rural area so this has been tough finding community resources but all those little donations add up. At our last meeting, I asked the parents to list at least 25 people or businesses they would personally commit to asking for sponsorship. If every adult & youth member of our team does that we will eventually find what we need.

If I could just win the lottery...I could support this crazy robot addiction.

Good Luck,
Peggy Painter
Robotics Program Director for Bit by Bt 4-H Club/FRC Team 3784

2011 High Seed Rookies at GKC Regional
2011 winners of "Gracious Professionalism" Award
2011 final alliance partners at GKC Regional

"Do or do not. There is no try."----Yoda

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

Joe,

Of possible related help...
I published a whitepaper with tips on submitting NASA grants for 2009, here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2167
While there have been some changes since then, I'm sure much of it can still help you answer questions.

In general, save all questions and answers from any grant app as that type of info can invariably be helpful to all kinds of grant apps.

I'm not here much, but if you'd like some more old grant application Q and A files I have, drop me an email at kres[at]uprobotics.org

-Rich

Re: [DFTF] Rookie Grants 101
 

Applying for the NASA and jcp Grants are good things to do. However, they are not solid enough to rely for the long term. I would highly suggest putting togeather an informational packet about your team to give to potential sponsors. While you can't say what sort of stuff your team has done (because you haven't done anything yet) you can certainly explain the values of FIRST and how their money can help make a difference in your team's and America's success. When we are presenting our team to various companies this is always very important to them.

In 2010 after we lost our sponsorship from Chrysler, we had our team budget nearly cut in half. This was devestating and we knew that unless we did something about it we would not be able to compete at our normal level the next year. We ended up putting togeather a trifold brochure and team informational packet including prices for various sponsorship levels. Our parents then went and contacted their respective companies and relatives companies. Meanwhile students also found other prospective companies. We sent letters to each asking for a meeting. This meeting is crutial to success. We'll have a group of 4-5 student at the meeting at the prospective sponsor's company who have prepared a presentation covering FIRST and our team. They practice potential questions and handshakes beforehand in addition to their speaking skills. Students must be confident during the presentation and a firm handshake at the beginning can set the tone right from the get-go. Bringing a robot to demo is also very important. Even top CEOs are very impressed when they see that highschoolers built these robots. During this meeting you also present them with your trifold packets and brochures. After the meeting you follow up with a thank you letter for allowing you the time to present your team to their company. Once they become a sponsor we give them each a plaque for them to hang on their wall showing that they sponsor us. We also invited all the CEOs to our kickoff and unveiling party at Chrysler. In fact we even made an unveiling video for them this year. Keeping your sponsors involved and up to date will ensure that they stick around for the years to come. This system worked very well for us and we ended up with a budget which far exceeded our previous one. We plan to do basically the same thing this year, except perhaps a bit less finatically.

I highly suggest that you implement something similar in order to maintain long term finantial stability.

Good Luck, Bryan