If your team is short on money read this

[Caroline]

another great way to get funding is through grants. FIRST is such a great program that if you can find foundations in your area, you have a good chance of receiving a good sum of money (anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000+, depending on the grant and the foundation) if you put a few hours into typing up a proposal. a good place to start is asking your school for any grant opportunities they know of, or go tothe foundation center . Even if the foundations you come up with don't seem to be a good fit for your team, they can often point you towards other foundations that may be focused at giving funds to these sorts of activites. Speaking from experience, it often helps if students write the grants, instead of the advisor... the foundations i applied to were very supportive and expressed their excitement to see students so involved with an activity that they actually went through the trouble of writing up a grant. Good luck!