New Team

[StevenB]

Rion, I'm going to make several educated assumptions based on the little bit I know about you and your former team. If they're incorrect, let me know.

Fundraising
I haven't heard for sure, but I would guess the Oklahoma Department of Education will be giving out grants again this year for rookie teams. NASA also has grants for rookie teams. Between those two, you may have enough to get started.
In regard to how you dress up and what you present to potential sponsors - it depends on your audience. Some companies may just want to see the robot or some competition footage, others may be more interested in a well polished presentation. Think carefully and adapt to each situation. In addition to our team shirts (which are bright blue tie-dye), 1519 has navy blue embroidered polo shirts. These are great for talking to sponsors and going to other more dressy events.

Location
I'm going to guess that you're homeschooled or otherwise unaffiliated with a public school that doesn't have a team. Despite this, working with a public school is a really good option. They likely have some space, a machine shop or wood shop, teachers who would be interested, and they certainly have a huge supply of potential recruits. Will you find all this right away? No, not everything (2359 has space and teachers, but no access to the woodshop, for example), but you'll find something.
Also, a school is a recognized entity for contact and sponsorship. For at least two years, used a local school as the donation contact so that we could receive tax-free donations. We now have our own non-profit organization: MAYHEM, inc.

On top of all this, there is a limited number of non-public-school teams an area can support. We have three unaffiliated teams within about twenty minutes of each other here in NH, and unfortunately we are competing for students. I fear that ultimately not all of the teams will have the student resources to continue long term. It sounds like you're not full of warm and fuzzy feelings for your former team, but avoid making enemies by stealing all of their recruits.

Team Communication
Like most other teams, 1519 and 2359 have email lists for the team managed by the coach(es). Traffic is relatively low; it contains primarily meeting announcements, to-do lists, and other important information.
I enthusiastically to second Brendan's comment about a wiki. Our wiki lets us store all kinds of information, including team contact information and shirt sizes, motor characteristic tables, lists of suppliers, awards and competition history, lists of things to pack, and the list goes on. It's simple, flexible, and accessible nearly anywhere. 1519's wiki is hosted on a server at one coach's house, which gives us complete control over it. As others have said, there are also numerous hosting options, some of which are free.

Recruiting:
You mentioned the aid of a couple of college students - I'm going to guess that at least one of them is majoring in mechanical engineering. As a college student in engineering, I want to caution you to not lean on them too heavily. I have been blessed to have had a lot of time during the beginning of the spring semesters to help 2359, but in general, being an engineering student is a lot of work, especially after freshman year. As a college student, I have too much on my plate to put the kind of time and energy into FIRST that I did as a (homeschooled) high school student.