Whats the best way to fundraise?

[artdutra04]

Team 228 is located in a primarily working- and middle-class inner city, so all our past efforts at having fundraisers by selling things have barely broke even. So instead we focus on two main arms of fundraising: getting donations/sponsorships/grants from companies and organizations, and raising money through selling barbeque food (pulled pork, beef brisket, mac and cheese) at state fairs and other public events.

The returns from these fairs vary depending on weather and other factors, but sometimes we earn enough in a single weekend to register for a second FRC event or entirely fund our build season expenses (competition and practice robots). At our most recent fair, we used part of the proceeds to buy a 12' enclosed trailer for our team.

It also takes a fairly significant amount of money and labor capital to get involved in fundraising by selling food at fairs, but we've found it to be an effective means of raising funds for our team.


Another good idea for the teams that are in states with can/bottle deposit programs, is can and bottle drives. Team 228 has been doing them for several years now, but this year when the state of Connecticut expanded the program to include water bottles, our revenues from this fundraiser practically doubled. All we do is tell our friends, family, neighbors, etc to save their cans and bottles and donate them to our team. We bring them back to a redemption facility, stuff them into the machines, and get five cents for each.