Quote:
|
Originally Posted by KenWittlief
Members of the IEEE are individual engineers. The IEEE is an organization similar to FIRST, it exists to promote the engineering profession.
|
I wouldn't call it similar to FIRST. It is a professional society the same was a SWE, ASME, and a multitude of others. They had a fundamental interest in what FIRST does because they want students going to college in Engineering. Professional societies exist to advance thier field(s) or branches of engineering. They exist to provide education, networking, professional or technical standards. And in IEEE's case, they have a major political lobbying arm. So similar is a stretch, but you're right, they are not a corporation.
Yes they are not a for-profit business. I don't think they are non-profit in IRS terms either. They have a group dedicated to education which includes "pre-university" education (thier term not mine). They already give out 1 scholarship.
But let's assume that they have little money to spare. They are a large organization with engineers in hundreds of companies, big and small. If they put press on FIRST in a major publication and asked for volunteers and sponors for teams that could be a major boost.