FIRST Team Grants

[Chi Meson]

I am not aware of any "FIRST Grant" at all. The NASA Grant is the only grant that is widely available, but it is specifically only available to US teams.

Other than the NASA Grant, and only then if you are in your first 2 years of competing, I have always found the links provided on the FIRST site regarding grants highly disappointing. I followed one set of repeatedly recommended links to see several grants with deadlines expiring 6 or 7 years prior.

The grants that teams get are mostly local grants. If you do a search for some sort of "community foundation" in your area, you should be able to find a source of local grantors. We have had success getting $500 to $1000 from local electric corporations, the local Rotary Club, a nearby 4H (which is an excellent partnership if available to you).

When I first started, 5 years ago, I found that sponsorship and grantwriting was the single most frustrating and least rewarding aspect of FIRST Robotics. Some teams NEVER have had to go through what most teams have to deal with each year (the stories I hear of $30,000+ checks being written, sight-unseen, and no obligations, bring tears to my eyes).

Still, not to sound too daunting, after 5 years, we have a rather stable system going, and we can scrape together $35,000 to $40,000 a year. You're just not going to find your budget in the grants section of FIRST.org .