My team can actually relate to this quite a bit, we have been lucky though.
We ended up paying our registration at the last minute (literally, I think it was payed the on the deadline) and only thanks to one of sponsors generously wiring us the money. We have since fixed this for the most part.
I do not know if this can help but my team discussed this at one of our planning meetings dedicated to fundraising for this year.
How to Approach Sponsors: (I hope this is useful advice)
1) Start with companies that are more likely to sponsor you. Generally start with the companies that you have a connection to (students' relatives, school connections, ...) these should be the easiest to get because you already have a foot in the door; then try the high-tech, manufacturing, and engineering companies, I don't think I really need to explain why these should be a primary target; the third type of company would the non-technical company these can be more difficult because they may not be able offer anything other than money.
2) Whenever you approach a company, always contact the highest ranked person you can, preferably a president or general manager type person. You generally do not want to make the cold call to someone other than a executive because it easier for them to shut you down by saying that they cannot authorize it or something along those lines.
3) One thing that I have learned is that a company is much more likely to sponsor a team if they have more members. Why would a company give a team tons of money or resources if it is only going to help 10 kids. Companies are much more willing to give money if it is helping 20 or 30 or more students.
4) Companies also want to know that your organization is legitimate. There is no better way to do this than to show them that other companies have supported the team; doing this helps a company see that another company is helping them so they must be real. The best way to do this is to get referred to the potential sponsor by another company (hopefully one who has already sponsored you) thus showing them that you aren't just some guy trying to scam them or something.
5) Another way to help show you are real and worth sponsoring is by looking professional. What this means is have your team look like a company (if not functioning like one); you should have a business plan, flyers/brochures, a
short powerpoint or video about your team, a team uniform (team shirt, all team members wearing the same color, or something), badges with your team name and your name on them, and so on. Basically look like a team not a bunch of teenagers.
6) It also helps to have a defined,
realistic monetary goal. My team right now is trying to raise $34,540 this year (a drastic change from $11,000 and $9,500 in the past) in order to get new tools and machine equipment and of course pay for competing. The number we chose was created by analyzing our expenses last year and the costs of purchasing tools and so on; basically we spent some time and mapped out our budget. One of our mentors (who is in sales and marketing at his company) explained to us why more exact and realistic numbers are important; he said that whenever you do something, the expenses will never end up giving you a nice even number like $34,000 on the dot. By using more realistic numbers it makes it seem as if (even if you did not) you planned out your budget.
7) another thing along those same lines is when asking for money don't say that you haven't raised any if you haven't, say that you are halfway or a third of the way there (using realistic numbers) already, and by doing this it makes the potential sponsor feel "safer" sponsoring because others already are. This may seem somewhat dishonest but this is what one of our mentors told us from there own experience in marketing and sales.
8) Now this is probably the hardest part (at least for me): the cold call. Making a cold call or email or letter, to a company you have not had any contact with is difficult and requires practice. I do not know of any real advice I could give you on how to go about doing the actual call but here is what we try to do. first, we always try to aim for as high an executive as possible, generally the president or vice-president of something (not accounting, they can shut you down the easiest), these are the ones who are calling the shots at the company and have the final say so they are more likely to be able sponsor you. second, you should try to call, email, or mail the potential sponsor to make the initial contact do not try walking in because they generally do not like that and are thus less likely to help. third, whatever you say you will do,
do it,this may seem like common sense, but if you say you will call them in a week, you better call them in a week. a fourth thing you should (need) do is to have a spiel rehearsed about what your organization is ... and be prepared for any questions, and if you do not know answer say that do not lie and get stuck. there are probably more things about cold calls but this is all I got.
9) Always make sure that only one person (salesman) is contacting a company because it can be really, really bad if you already hit up a company and one of your team members tells that company something that conflicts with what you told them; and now all your credibility is gone, or at least you look like you need to coordinate better. The point is coordinate who hits up which company and make sure that everyone reports back about what they have done/accomplished.
10) If you guys are really committed to keeping your team going you need to cultivate those sponsors you can secure. Make sure that you always thank them, give them team t-shirts, plaques, and other things to show them that you appreciate them. It is important also to keep your sponsors informed about what is going on with your team; invite them to build sessions, team parties, planning meeting, competitions, add them to a mail list, do something; it is not a good idea to get money in november and not contact them again until next november and ask for money again.
11) Try to contact all (if any) of the high-tech companies in your area. See if you can get anything whether it be money, services, materials, a workplace, or whatever. If they offer you something "take it and go". You never ask for more unless you really have a good relationship with the sponsor.
I know this will only help if you have companies in your area but do not limit yourself to just your area go wherever you can find companies that may sponsor. The only reason I am emphasizing sponsorships over fundraising is that if you can build a relationship with the sponsors the team is more likely to survive otherwise the team really will not have a strong and dependable source of "income" and may end up going through this again
I really cannot off the top of my head think of anything else about approaching sponsors.
The only other things I can add are:
-contact the regional coordinator people in your area or other people who generally know which companies are looking to sponsor and direct you to them or them to you.
-Try fundraising (I do not know how well this will work with a small team)
-Apply for grants
-If worst comes to worse you could charge a team fee to help pay for registration.
I really hope this helps.
Good Luck
