What constitutes a sponsor?

[mhayon]

Hey guys, it's Matt from Team 1676, again;

As I've mentioned before, we're a rookie team just learning the ropes. I looked through the FIRST site, and I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I came here:

What exactly constitutes a sponsor? Is there a minimum contribution? And once the company is a sponsor, how do we make it official? Is there some sort of paperwork or something we have to fill out so FIRST knows they're our sponsor, and their contributions don't count towards the cost of our robot.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance,
Matt

[Billfred]

A sponsor, as far as I'm aware, is whatever you define a sponsor as. Usually there's some exchange of goods or services or money involved, but that's your thing.

As for the cost accounting, I think you have it a bit mixed up. FIRST allows you to have $3,500 worth of extra items (subject to the other rules in the 2005 manual). Now, if you happened to get $3,499 worth of robot items donated, then you're still going to have to count that in the cost accounting, leaving you with one more dollar.

Section 5.3.4.4 is your friend on this.

[mhayon]

Originally Posted by Billfred

A sponsor, as far as I'm aware, is whatever you define a sponsor as. Usually there's some exchange of goods or services or money involved, but that's your thing.

As for the cost accounting, I think you have it a bit mixed up. FIRST allows you to have $3,500 worth of extra items (subject to the other rules in the 2005 manual). Now, if you happened to get $3,499 worth of robot items donated, then you're still going to have to count that in the cost accounting, leaving you with one more dollar.

Section 5.3.4.4 is your friend on this.

I thought if the provider is listed as a sponsor, the item doesn't count towards the total...?

Is there any case in which the item doesn't count towards your total?

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by mhayon

I thought if the provider is listed as a sponsor, the item doesn't count towards the total...?

Is there any case in which the item doesn't count towards your total?

There are a few cases where what you shelled out (or didn't shell out) count differently for cost accounting:

-Things you bought to replace a kit part that was missing don't count.
-Shipping doesn't count.
-Buying in bulk can be pro-rated. (Example: I sell you 100 Billfred Industries Grab-O-Matics for a buck. You use one. The cost accounting would reflect one cent.)

[Cory]

Neither does a service, such as machining, welding, painting, etc.

[russell]

The manual does say something about stuff from sponsors not counting. I forget exactly what, but I remember it gave me the same impression as mhayon has..... Ok Just looked it up, and it seems to only apply to labor (I think)

• The cost of raw material obtained by a team + the cost of non-team labor expended to have the
material processed further. Labor provided by team members and/or by a recognized team sponsor
whose employees are members of the team does not have to be included.

Note that I got that from the version of the manual available on the day of the kickoff.

[Pierson]

And about making it official... Have your lead mentor enter the sponsor's information into the TIMS (Team Information Management System). This way your sponsor will appear on all materials associated with your team number at the events your team goes to. Their name will also be announced when your team compets in each round. Your sponsor will also appear in FIRST's annual report. I don't know the cut-off date this year, but it will probably be in the next week to 2 weeks (if it hasn't passed already).