[scottandme]

We received our letter today.

I'll echo the same sentiments above - diversifying your sponsor base is the best way to insulate your team from the loss of a major sponsor. Our Finance and Marketing subteams represent about 30% of our student members, and they work nearly year round following new leads, keeping in touch with existing sponsors, and running fundraisers.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet - this isn't necessarily the end of Bristol-Myers Squibb's involvement with FIRST. The letter indicated that it was due to a reduction in the community outreach budget, and that those funds may be restored/available in some way for the 2014-2015 season.

BMS (and Fred Egenolf) have been a fantastic supporter of our team and many others in the area. We certainly wouldn't be where we are today without their support. They were our major corporate sponsor starting in the 2010 season, as we transitioned off the NASA rookie/2nd year grants. Hopefully we'll see BMS logos on robots again in the 2015 season.