[Jared Russell]

1. Don't underestimate the power of meeting with businesses in person. Show them video of the competitions. Bring FIRST's annual report. Once the PBS documentary is available, bring that. Face-to-face meetings (in front of the right people) are 10x as effective as letters at bringing in sponsorships.

2. Don't underestimate the value of having many small sponsors. Big sponsors are hard to get (and there are only so many of them to go around, and most are already sponsoring teams) and if you lose them, it will devastate your team's finances. In investing, it is suggested that you "diversify your portfolio" with a mixture of small, medium-sized, and large businesses across a variety of industries. The same goes for FIRST.