[rsisk]

4H is a great way to cover your non-profit status for fundraising and cover your team's insurance needs. A church is another great non-profit partner as is local service organizations (Kiwanis, Rotary, etc...). We are covered by our church's non-profit status.

Your next problem is build space. Sometimes a sponsor can help, a mentor's garage, a local service organization (see above). These type of build spaces are somewhat less permanent than school provided space, so be prepared to be able to move on a moments notice. Our home is a 16ft utility trailer and our build space is a Boy Scout clubhouse sponsored by the Kiwanis.

Another problem is recruiting students. You no longer have club rush week, assemblies, school lunch breaks, and a captive audience to recruit from. On the other hand, you can recruit from all the schools in your area and home schoolers. Its just tougher to get your word out. Good thing is outreach is a fundamental exercise of a FIRST team and a great way to recruit students. Another good resource is mentoring FLL teams. Have a couple teams you mentor and you have a steady supply of trained students that are ready to step up to FRC.

A similar problem will be recruiting mentors. You no longer have the teacher or two from your school that you can visit at lunch time, or hold a club meeting right after school. You more likely will be meeting evenings and weekends to avoid interference with school activities. You will need to recruit mentors from outside your school.

There are also things that happen in FIRST that are geared towards teams that are in schools. Since most teams are associated with schools, this makes sense. For example, read the promotion for the Brandeis study, it is designed for teams that are associated with schools. Doesn't really apply to community teams. Not a big deal most of the time, just don't get upset when it happens.
You will also be competing with the school for the student's time. Most competitions require some time away from school, when you are part of a school, you call it a field trip, get a bus, and go compete. When you are a community team, you are asking your students to take 1-2 days off from school as an unexcused absence (schools don't like that).

There are upsides to being a community team, some I have hit on, more outreach, wider recruiting base, the need for more community mentors, fewer rules (and more responsibility viz. your own insurance), better control of your funds (and more responsibility), etc...

Good luck on your transition to a community team, it is tough the first couple of years, but a FRC team can survive and grow both inside and outside of schools.