how to add value to the school that sponsors us

[Bruceb]

The title sucks but I could not think of a better one. Where I am going with this is as follows.
Our team does a great job of fund raising, or at least has for the past few years and has some money left at the end of the year. There was some discussion as to what to do with it. We use the metals shop in the school that sponsors us. The school budget for machine maintenance and replacement is low so we are dealing with VERY OLD EQUIPMENT. Some of it is broken and we could use some new and different equipment. It would benefit both the club and the school if the club would buy a new piece of equipment here and there or pay for some repairs, etc. We were thinking about buying a new finger brake as the one the school has is small and well worn. The club has already bought a CNC router that is not used by the metals classes but takes up space in that room. The rub is this. The school keeps telling us that the entire area is going to be rebuilt and equipped in a few years so us buying new equipment may not make sense. However, it is needed NOW. There was a thought that instead of us buying equipment and keeping it we might give it to the school so all can use it but then who is responsible for maintenance? Another thought was that we would pay some sort of annual usage fee that would be earmarked for new equipment and maintenance.
The school is our sponsor and it seems odd to make payments to our sponsor so I don't really know what to do here.
Looking for your thoughts
Thanks