Fundraising Ideas

[chipvalley59]

hi my name is nick and i'm the vice president of the new chippewa valley tech club. we've been looking into getting in the the competition but our major problem is funding. we can't find any. we're a first year club with just about no budget so any ideas of how to get funds would be really appreciated. also in the case that we can't compete this year we have many members who are interested in joining another team (including my self) if they need another member. thanks!

[Beth Sweet]

Well first off Nick, congrats on getting interested in FIRST! Secondly, whereabouts are you in Michigan? Thirdly, if you explore that section of the forums (fundraising and total kudos on putting your thread in the right section!), you should be able to find some great tips! Also, I bet that there is some team nearby that might be able to help you out with finding sponsors. Corporate sponsors get a great deal out of it because they get involved in the community, it's tax deductible (501 C-3) and it's really a lot of fun. Ask local companies to donate $5,000 or so. To you, that's a lot, to them, it's not so much.

[mechanicalbrain]

Well... First welcome to CD. FIRST is a really amazing program and i think you will really enjoy it. Yeah its also pretty expensive (roughly $10,000). Aim for large cooperations and local business. One thing you might want to do is create sponsor packets and mail them to a bunch of companies and see who responds, however nothing beats a little face to face salesmanship. Also this mantra will help fundraiser fundraiser fundraiser! I really wish you good luck!

[Kims Robot]

Here is our fundraising brainstorm (some are small fundraisers, some are large). Every little bit helps, and if you get some dedicated people, a lot of these are really easy fundraisers.

Our team raised over $18k last year in addition to Harris Corporation's funding. So while a corporate sponsor is the best way to go, its not 100% necessary for a team.

Our largest major fundraiser was our patron drive, which brought in over $10k of donations ranging from $10 to $500. All of the info you need to put packets together is here: http://www.penfieldrobotics.com/team/fundraising.php

Good luck!!

[KathieK]

Welcome to FIRST! If you have any mentors who are dealing with the non-technical side of your team (such as fundraising) I encourage them to join NEMO (Non-Engineering Mentor Organization) as we can give them a lot of suggestions for helping the team in those areas.
Also, NEMO recently published two papers in the Chief Delphi white papers section which might help you out:
25 Ways Sponsors Can Help Your Team which talks about ways sponsors can help you OTHER than financially, and
Creating a Killer Team Packet which tells how to put together a packet about your team to take to potential sponsors!

[chipvalley59]

were located in clinton township....i saw you go to state, sorry!


go blue!

[EricH]

My team does several fundraisers, including but certainly not limited to:
-Garage sale
-Spaghetti dinner
-talk to companies for corporate funding
-Getting a machine shop to sponsor you cuts down on machining costs
-Restaraunt deals--each restaraunt has its own thing about this, and fast-food places are the most likely bets
-Bake sale
-Box Tops For Education (run by General Mills)
-Albertson's Preferred Card
-Our newest idea: get some VEX kits (borrow from local teams/people, or have club members buy for themselves or the club), set up a game booth at the nearest fair or show, and charge people to drive the robots and compete in game of your designing.

Any other ideas will work, and it is possible for a team to get enough funding without corporate sponsors. You just have to work hard, and maybe use the KitBot if it comes this year.