[Mark Pendergast]

Some tips from 1760:

Develop a sales package for your team. (Include pictures and some narrative of who you are and why FIRST is good.) Paste some of the canned presentations from the FIRST site on the back. Also include a letter from your school saying you are legit.

Go after anyone your team touches. Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists, Car Dealers, Plumbers - and don't forget Grandma and Grandpa. Hit the employer of every mentor and parent.

The NASA grant is great for first year teams. It gets a little more complicated after the first year.

Have fundraisers at the school - sell candy bars, have a garage sale, and McPrincipal night is good.

Develop a newsletter to send to sponsors. Send them one a month in the off season and one a week in the build season. Make them feel like part of the team. (Remember, you need them back next year...)

So far we have not had to have our kids pay their way (I don't want to exclude anyone who can not pay), but many teams have the students pay travel expenses.

The other half of the equation is to trim expenses. We run on about $16K per year. (unfortunately that means no Championship trip, but we do well with one regional and IRI.) We get parents to donate snacks. We drive. We have very few bells and whistles on our robots.

Good luck on your season.