With us discussing over here, I dont think FIRST is going to reduce the prices. Therefore, However incredibly hard some teams need to work to secure the money they need, they just need to do. It is unfortunate for some if they cannot participate just because of financial concerns, but I guess working hard and giving it a shot isnt too bad. Sometimes I wish it were that easy to get sponsors, but no. If teams can organize a fund-raising game-plan for the next 5 months, I think its possible for them to gain enough.
Here is my idea:
1) Gather all ideas for fund-raising
2) Separate the team into two groups. One being small.
3) The smaller group goes full-force searching for sponsors and working with that matter.
4) The other group sets up weekly schedules for things and ways to fund-raise.
So 5 months = about 22 weeks = 154 days.
I feel in 22 weeks a team could pull together a good amount of money to satisfy the teams needs. I know talking is easy, but doing is hard, but lets just accept the fact and work towards it. You could also mantain a notebook or something and update it weekly, so that it tells you how much more to your goal... I can just wish good luck to all teams

-Bharat