[AshWalker]

We started our own 501 this summer after a horrendous last season with the school dealing with finances. Money would be donated to the school and put into one large account for a lot of programs. It was up to us to keep track of it. This backfired in many ways. FIRST uses up money faster and in larger quantities than most other programs. It took us (the mentors) 6 months+ to get money back from the school from build season. I had nearly a month's rent tied up in that. I also think they gave the last of our money away to another program. That was our rookie year. Live and learn.

Our own 501 was relatively easy to get. A parent who had done a 501 filing before filled out the papers and a few weeks later we were rolling. We now have everything under our name and it is much easier. Should we need to make a purchase I have a debit card with the team's legal name on it or I write a check. We also know exactly how much is in our account at any moment. (And I've not given a debit card to the mentor who over spends!)

The best benefit in my view is that I can hand the finances over to the student leadership and allow them to see it and really run the team as a business. They get to see the money in the account and make choices about how to spend it. Previously it was all very fuzzy since the school put it into one account. It was "our money" in as much it was our donation to a larger fund we were allowed to draw out of.

Your mileage may vary on this, but I have really enjoyed our own 501. Schools are in the business of running schools. This allows us to be in the business of FIRST.