I'm makeing a new team! what now?

[Po-ser]

Hi there,

As far as raising money to cover travel and construction expenses goes, one really useful thing that our team has done for the past few years has been to make up a press packet and send it out to major companies in our area over the summer. A press packet is just a nice folder with our team logo on the cover. It contains a one-page letter from the presidents stating our missions as a team and explaining what we do, selected quotes from our team members, a CD with a short video showing us building and competing, and a chart that lists the monetary amounts of contributions that a sponsor can make and the corresponding publicity they will get for each amount (e.g. if a sponsor gives more than $1000, their name will appear on our T-shirts, more than $2000, on our T-shirts and our robot, etc.). Sending out a press packet is a good idea for the summer because companies generally formulate their expenses for a fiscal year June through August (or so I heard). But if you want to give it a shot in the fall, it certainly can't hurt you! A press packet is simple to put together but can look quite impressive.

Also, another word on raising money:

1. Give sponsors a ballpark idea of how much it costs to run a team. They don't necessarily know that it costs thousands of dollars just to register at one competition.

2. Sponsors will be more willing to give you money if they see that you will put it to good use. For example, let's say you hold a bake sale at school the last Friday of every month, and every time you do it you raise 250 dollars. If a sponsor knows a) that it takes a projected X thousand dollars to run your team this year and b) that giving it your best shot, you can only muster up 250 dollars a month, they'll know a) that you are trying and b) that you can't do it without them. They need to know you're dedicated to your team before they'll give you money, or else there's no incentive for them to think you'll spend it wisely.

Hope that helps. If you want to talk to our marketing president about this sort of stuff in more detail, he'll likely email you back a novel on team-starting. PM me if you like, or email pdanilyuk@gmail.com, and I can give you his contact info.

- Polina

[GMKlenklen]

Wow... haven't gotten this tread in my 'favorates' or what have we yet... can't figure out how...

Thanks to all who have posted! I will definately check out ALL of the things you mentioned! Thanks and Thanks again!!!

EDIT: Oh, can we apply for nasa without a team number? (My adult is naturally quite bussy, so I don't know the status of our team registration)

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by GMKlenklen

Wow... haven't gotten this tread in my 'favorates' or what have we yet... can't figure out how...

Thanks to all who have posted! I will definately check out ALL of the things you mentioned! Thanks and Thanks again!!!

EDIT: Oh, can we apply for nasa without a team number? (My adult is naturally quite bussy, so I don't know the status of our team registration)

Another resource for rookie teams, is MOEmentum FYI (First Year Infobase).

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by GMKlenklen

Wow... haven't gotten this tread in my 'favorates' or what have we yet... can't figure out how...

Thanks to all who have posted! I will definately check out ALL of the things you mentioned! Thanks and Thanks again!!!

EDIT: Oh, can we apply for nasa without a team number? (My adult is naturally quite bussy, so I don't know the status of our team registration)

NASA grants are awarded to teams at schools. You will definitely need to get adult(s) involved in the grant proposal process as these involve a federal contract and all the requirements involved in that. These grants are very competitive. Read the criteria carefully. Make use of the spell check before you submit.

[GMKlenklen]

thanks again for everyone's support!

Um.. my team organizer/sponsor/Adult memberness entered his information on to the TIMS, and now seems to be waiting for a response from FIRST... Is this normal? We arn't registared for an event yet... I think all they have is our contact information. So are we actually supposed to be waiting for this e-mail from FIRST?

[GMKlenklen]

Hey, anyone there?!?!

[OZ_341]

Originally Posted by GMKlenklen

Hey, anyone there?!?!

We just sent you a Team in a Box via First Class mail. You should receive it very soon.

If you need any other help please let me know.

Good luck and keep in touch.

Al

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by GMKlenklen

thanks again for everyone's support!

Um.. my team organizer/sponsor/Adult memberness entered his information on to the TIMS, and now seems to be waiting for a response from FIRST..

Team support can be reached at frcteams@usfirst.org or 1-800-871-8326 "0" for any questions re: your team. Have your adult advisor call for advice.

[GMKlenklen]

ok, thanks!