[AndyB]

The best and probably easiest way to find sponsors is through local colleges that have a strong emphasis on engineering or technology.

As far as corporate sponsors go, start with companies in your area, or even better, start with the parents of students on the team. Prepare a folder with information about your team, how to become a sponsor, the benefits of being a sponsor, and a personal letter to each target sponsor and give them to the parents of students. Specifically parents who are engineers, know engineers, or work in an industrial setting.

The first place to start though is getting a list of target sponsors ready. Get a contact name for each one by calling them or looking at their website and see if they have any sort of Public Relations department. Thats where you want to start. If it is a smaller local business, go straight to the owner. It is important to keep in mind that even a $100 sponsorship will cover the cost of a gearbox, or some other part.

It is important to have a mentor help you, preferably a mentor who plays a larger role on your team. They will help breed relationships with high-up people in these companies and then in future years, you just need to nurture that relationship by doing an end of year video, newsletter, or doing an offseason demo at some of your major companies.

Sorry my post is kind of unstructured, but there is a lot of information available to seek mentorships.

A good way to find companies as well is to find your nearest engineering college, attending a career fair there, and getting a list of companies who attended.