[waialua359]

Several years ago, we were able to raise a lot of funds and have been able to since then.
One of the issues was getting donations/grants that had to all be spent by year's end. If not, then why ask for what we've been getting.
It was enough to cover the entire team's travel costs, equipment, tools, and supplies.

The last couple of years however, we created a sustainability plan and have convinced many of our sponsors that the money we ask for works towards that. That means not spending everything we get.
The responsibility year in and year out is disclosing our long term efforts and being able to sustain our program at a high level with the annual gains/losses of donors.
To be able to do this, we now charge our students a portion of their airfare costs, while the team covers all transportation vehicles (gas, rental cars, insurance, etc.) and hotel costs. This is in part why we dont stay at 4-5 star hotels. We look at it as pure lodging and spend the majority of the time out anyways. We also cover certain team meals and dinners and I personally like going to a pretty mid- to high-range restaurants to celebrate our achievements/successes.
The most important part, I think, is collecting $200/student for team activities, meals, and certain expenses. We give them money for them daily. In other words, we hang on to their personal monies up-front and give it to them, little by little. I got tired of students complaining about stuff we did, since you cant please them all. Or, they used money intended for food to buy personal gifts, which left them begging us for more money. I let the team decide what they want to do during their free-time, but its a group decision. That way, I get minimal complaints, everything is up-front, and I have very little to NO issues with the spending money portion.