[Doug G]

We've always struggled to get sponsorships. Our first year we borrowed $5000 from the student body funds at school and then paid it back over a year as we raised $$. It's depressing to get $100 sponsorships from local businesses (which for them is a lot) and it barely make a dent in your budget. The past few years we typically raise just $1500-$2000 over the comp fees. This is just enough to buy a few key parts and raw materials. Luckily we have a lot of left overs from previous years (chain, sprockets, gears, Victors...). We're almost finished with our raffle fundraiser which should bring in about $2000-$3000. This year we're raffling off a "Gadget Basket" that has a dig camera, MP3 player, Nintendo Gameboy Advanced, and $50 Gift Card. We've been selling tickets for $5 each for 6 weeks. Two years ago we raffled off a computer that was donated and cleared about $5000.