Congrats! Our team just recently won Chairman's at our first district event, too.
We're also desperately scrambling to find the funds for the State Championships at the moment...
One thing we've done in the past for fundraising is reaching out to local restaurants to see if they'll host us for an event. I know Applebee's and Big Boy both do these fundraisers. Basically, we bring a bunch of display pieces (including the previous year's robot) to show off and some merchandise to sell, have a few team members act as servers for the fundraising hours, and sell raffle tickets for prize baskets. Ten percent of all profits within the fundraiser's time slot goes to the team. The one we did two years ago, which actually wasn't as lucrative as more recent fundraisers we've done, generated a good $700 for a mere 3 hours of service. It's not a huge amount, but it sure helps!