Boeing Sponsorship and Grants ?

[sanddrag]

I know there are a handful of teams out there who are sponsored by or receive grant funds from Boeing. We have a Boeing employee that is potentially interested in working with our team and setting up this sort of partnership, but he is unfamiliar with the process of how to apply for the sponsorship or grant. Can anyone give me some insight? Is there a Boeing internal link for employees?

Thanks in advance.

[Ian Curtis]

Yes. The Boeing grant is done annually, and is published on internal employee news when it is available (usually October). The window is closed for this year.

If your Boeing employee is SPEEA represented, there is also a SPEEA grant in September he/she can apply for.

Boeing will also donate $10 for every hour that mentor volunteers (if they volunteer at least 20 hours in a quarter).

If you want to PM me their name I can provide them the internal links.

[SenorZ]

As Ian said, it is internal for the grant. We do get a large amount of money each year from the time donated by three or so Boeing mentors. The Boeing $10/hr donation amazing and helps many teams stay afloat.

[Mark Sheridan]

Same thing with 3309, Boeing donates proportional to the mentor hours. David I will PM you 3309's lead mentor who works at Boeing. There is also a number of Boeing events in the summer where you can get more funding and mentor support.

[matthewdenny]

Do you need to be in proximity to a Boeing facility to be able to partake in this?

[Mark Sheridan]

Originally Posted by matthewdenny

Do you need to be in proximity to a Boeing facility to be able to partake in this?

Depends if you have Boeing mentor. some have long commutes. They could also ask if their team can demo at a Boeing facility.

[Dale]

I also believe the Boeing mentor can be retired from the company.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Dale

I also believe the Boeing mentor can be retired from the company.

Yes as of last year a retired Boeing Employee can apply for the Boeing grant though there is a different process for them to do so. They do not qualify for the hours matching though.

[vertigo]

The grant form is incredibly easy to fill out and will pop up around October. The $10 per hour volunteer matching is also a very easy process. Let me know if you need help or specific instructions.

[seg9585]

FYI, the Boeing volunteer hours donation is a separate program from the Boeing grant. To receive a Boeing grant, a Boeing employee must be involved with the team to any extent and apply in October. Volunteer hours may be applied in addition to the grant as a bonus, even if the team is not a Boeing sponsored team.
The key difference is:
- Boeing Grants are applied for and awarded in October, and are applied directly to the cost of attending a regional. This officially qualifies you as a Boeing-sponsored team
- Volunteer hours (part of the employee GIVE program) can be applied to ANY nonprofit organization, including FIRST. The funds can be distributed to a nonprofit org affiliated with the team, or transmitted to US FIRST. If transmitted to US FIRST, you can receive "re-grants" in the form of a payment to your organization in the amount of surplus payment for regional costs. Volunteer hour payments does NOT make you a Boeing-sponsored team! Also, payments are "after-the-fact" on a quarterly basis. For example, I record hours volunteered Jan 1 - March 31 sometime in March, and the payout occurs by May.

[Ryan Dognaux]

Just wanted to remind everyone with a Boeing mentor to make sure they've applied for the Boeing FRC and / or FTC grants for the upcoming 2016 season. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[tauhid98]

I am trying to find some latest update on "Boeing grants" (not volunteer hours) for FTC teams. We have a Boeing employee mentor in our team, who is relatively new to FIRST programs/grants.

Previous posts mentioned that -
* teams apply for the grants in around Oct.
* there're different application systems for current employees and for retirees

I see a Boeing grant link (below) - which lists $275 FTC grant for veteran teams, with June 30 as deadline. But the application looks more like for Boeing Retirees (filename, headline, former BEMSID field) though the desc inside mentions "Boeing employee/retiree".

http://www.firstwa.org/Programs/FIRS...nge/FTC-Grants

* Has anyone (current employee) applied for this above grant, or is the application actually for Retirees?
* Was there a different grant/amount last year for "veteran FTC teams"?
* Are we expecting to see grants for teams in Sept/Oct this year also? Or, has the timing changed this year?

[InFlight]

Details of the Boeing grant amounts 2016-2017 Season are as follows:

FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams for students in grades 4–8 that have at least one Boeing mentor.
FLL teams (rookie or veteran) will receive a grant of $225 each that will automatically be applied to the team's registration fee.

FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams for students in grades 7–12 that have at least one Boeing mentor.
FTC teams (rookie or veteran) will receive a grant of $275 each that will automatically be applied to the team's registration fee.

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams for students in grades 9–12 that have at least one Boeing mentor.
• Rookie teams (brand new team, has never competed before) will each receive a grant of $5,000 toward the team's registration fee and kit of parts. Rookie teams are awarded a larger grant to help get their program started.
• Veteran teams (the team has competed before) will receive a grant of $3,500 each toward the team's registration fee and kit of parts.
 New this year, Boeing FRC grants are no longer restricted to covering just initial event registration. FRC teams can use their Boeing grant to cover any registration fees that can be deducted by the team’s account held by FIRST. This might include the initial event registration (Regional event or District event), additional regional or district events, District Championships, or World Championship.

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by tauhid98

* Has anyone (current employee) applied for this above grant, or is the application actually for Retirees?
* Was there a different grant/amount last year for "veteran FTC teams"?
* Are we expecting to see grants for teams in Sept/Oct this year also? Or, has the timing changed this year?

There is a retiree application but for current employees there's an actual link that takes you to a web form to fill out. This is only available for Boeing employees.

I believe last year's grant only covered FTC team registration costs similar to this year's grant.

The grant application period was moved forward this year - and you are correct, it's due June 30th - for FLL, FTC & FRC.

If you want to be considered for a Boeing grant and have a Boeing mentor, make sure they apply by June 30th!!

[bcampbell]

Originally Posted by Ryan Dognaux

There is a retiree application but for current employees there's an actual link that takes you to a web form to fill out. This is only available for Boeing employees.

I believe last year's grant only covered FTC team registration costs similar to this year's grant.

The grant application period was moved forward this year - and you are correct, it's due June 30th - for FLL, FTC & FRC.

If you want to be considered for a Boeing grant and have a Boeing mentor, make sure they apply by June 30th!!

Are you sure about the June 30th date to apply for the grant for the 2017 season? Or is that the last day to apply for the 2016 season...