Practice Locations

[Mama Roboto]

I am new to writing into Chief Delphi although I have been tracking many posts as this is our team's rookie season (Team 2374). I am in the process of putting together a proposal to our school for next year's budget. We have 2 major issues:

1) Fundraising: we are a private Jesuit high school that relies heavily on fundraising to support our school in general. The administration at our school (I am a physics teacher) is concerned that if we fundraise specifically for the robotics team that it might take away from other fundraising efforts (for example, financial aid) or other programs (like sports).

2) Practice Location: this year, we used our physics classroom as well as a aircraft machine shop to construct our robot. Unfortunately, the classroom does not offer the space, has security issues, and we spend a good portion of our time setting up/cleaning up. The machine shop we used was about 45 minutes away, limiting many team members from getting down there.

So, I was wondering if any of you have advice about fundraising (specifically as a private school) and a practice location (how many of you practice offsite? Do you rent a location?).

I am putting together a proposal for our school, and I have been told that in order for the robotics program to continue it needs to be a sustainable, viable program.

Your advice is greatly appreciated!