Broke

[Jon Stratis]

It sounds like you have two issues here: lack of funds, and lack of mentors.

Fortunately, you can work on tackling both at the same time! Get everyone out in the community, talking to local businesses - especially non-retail businesses that produce something. You're there to sell your team and make them want to be a part of it. You want them to donate money, and in return get advertising to hundreds of area students and families (remember, sponsors go on your robot and shirt!). Different levels of contribution can result in different amounts of advertising. For example, $100 gets a name on the shirt and robot. $500 gets a small logo. $1000 gets a big logo. $5000 gets them listed as a primary sponsor with the biggest logo available, AND their company name introduced with the team as a primary sponsor.

While you're talking with them, you can emphasize that FIRST is all about mentors working with students. Convince them that, even if they can't give you money, they might have some engineers interested in donating time to the team (most team mentors aren't paid, even if the school does offer a stipend to one or two teachers). Once you hook a new mentor, get them involved with your fundraising. They might know individuals at other local companies that can help!

Keeping a robotics team running does take a bunch of money. Registration fees for your regional will eat through what you have pretty quickly. Then you need to look at travel, food during the build season, supplies that go on the robot, spare parts, new tools, replacement parts for existing tools (for example, new drill bits or saw blades)... the list adds up quickly, and the students aren't necessarily aware of where all the money is going. It could make sense for you to ask your mentor to sit down and go over the teams budget. Working together, you can figure out where you really need money, and where you can afford not to spend it. You might also be able to find some areas where, instead of raising money, you can ask for "in-kind" donations, where the company donates their product to you. The easiest to get is typically food - pizza joints are great for this, and I've historically had success with Chipotle. They won't donate food, but they can donate a meal to your team! You can also set specific fundraising goals - for example, ask a local company to donate $100 for a new drill for the team, or $400 for a new cRio, or whatever "big" purchases the team needs to make. You'd be surprised how specific goals like that can change the conversation with a sponsor... We used that strategy to buy our team a trailer last year!