Sustainability In FRC Teams

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Brandon_L

Id just like to throw this in:

Our team has always been a one event team, which means about $5,000 for entry. All our parts were from our own old abandoned auto shop. That means we paid exactly the minimum every year. We had the NASA grant for 3 years, and no longer do. We are having SO much trouble getting just the 5,000 and whenever I read something like "Oh, our team just fell short of our $30,000 goal " I'm not gonna lie, it somewhat angers me.

What exactly do you mean by the last line?

[Brandon_L]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

What exactly do you mean by the last line?

Nothing to the other teams, I just get mixed emotions of "HOW?!?!?" and "Why can't we do that? Whats wrong with us?" and 200 other things go through my mind

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Brandon_L

Nothing to the other teams, I just get mixed emotions of "HOW?!?!?" and "Why can't we do that? Whats wrong with us?" and 200 other things go through my mind

Frustration.

--
Do you sit down and work through/talk about the questions with your teammates?

I think what should be done is some sort of program from FIRST or anywhere really. Not a program that just gives the teams money, but one that shows them how to. How to get sponsors and host SUCCESSFUL fundraisers (which has eluded us).

I've had conversations w/folks about this. A concern that I have with young teams qualifying for monies but not receiving any type of training/understanding/encouragement in the areas of become self-sufficient and self-sustaining worries me. Your post has voiced my worries. I wasn't thinking of the NASA grant but I was thinking of other grants that I'm aware of. So many young teams are busy thinking about the upcoming/current season that they aren't thinking/projecting/planning for/setting goals for the future - when the monies are no longer available to them.

Jane

[Brandon_L]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

Frustration.

--
Do you sit down and work through/talk about the questions with your teammates?

Jane

No, Not with the entire team. Just a few..

This year we have about 20 kids. The $500 (not exactly, I think the real number is like $520) came from 5 kids, and I myself have got $270 of it from 3 businesses and I have our teams packets at 3 different businesses currently waiting to hear back from them.

Im not trying to take out frustration on anyone, I just don't get it. Sorry for hijacking this topic =/

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Brandon_L

Sorry for hijacking this topic =/

You haven't. Your team is struggling to be self-sustaining. You are spot on.

Jane

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Brandon_L

No, Not with the entire team. Just a few..

This year we have about 20 kids. The $500 (not exactly, I think the real number is like $520) came from 5 kids, and I myself have got $270 of it from 3 businesses and I have our teams packets at 3 different businesses currently waiting to hear back from them.

Im not trying to take out frustration on anyone, I just don't get it. Sorry for hijacking this topic =/

It sounds like you have the desire, but the results aren't happening the way you like. You might want to do some research with other teams to find fundraising strategies that work for your team. It also sounds like you need to make the whole team aware of what needs to be raised, what they need to raise, and what methods you already thought of.

We raised 63k in 09, 35k last year, and are well on our way to 55k+ this year. In a poor agricultural town, with a small team. We're all normal people, it's just that the entire team is made aware of what we need to fundraise, and everyone is responsible for raising it (and we're willing to TRY anything).

Trust me, you get your ducks in a row, and you'll be raising way more than $5k easily.

[Brandon_L]

I tried convincing the mentor to make a rule along the lines of each student is responsible for raising $100 and involving 3 businesses. He cut it down to $50 and one business. We have a packet that we made for them to take around to businesses, they just seem to not want to do it.

[Mr. Van]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

We raised 63k in 09, 35k last year, and are well on our way to 55k+ this year. In a poor agricultural town, with a small team. We're all normal people, it's just that the entire team is made aware of what we need to fundraise, and everyone is responsible for raising it (and we're willing to TRY anything).

Ok, Adam - I'll take the bait. What ARE you guys doing for fundraising? (I'm assuming you are not talking about "team dues" or corporate/business funding as in grants or "sponsorship" but fundraising from your community. If you had 20 students in '09, each student brought in $1800.00 or $150/month. Every student, every month. That's a heck of a tally.

So...

How do you do it?

-Mr. Van
Robodox

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Mr. Van

Ok, Adam - I'll take the bait. What ARE you guys doing for fundraising? (I'm assuming you are not talking about "team dues" or corporate/business funding as in grants or "sponsorship" but fundraising from your community. If you had 20 students in '09, each student brought in $1800.00 or $150/month. Every student, every month. That's a heck of a tally.

So...

How do you do it?

-Mr. Van
Robodox

We bring in a good deal, I don't know the exact figure, in low dollar community grants and donations from larger businesses. Primarily $100-$500 each. A few exceptions being matching corporate grants (family donates $2k, PG&E, etc.. matches it). We do not have any long term, committed $5k+ sponsors, it's all low dollar.

The difference between what we need to raise and what we raise from that is divided among the students. This year, it's $1800. Students are responsible for raising their portion, but we do A LOT to help them. They get 100% credit for any dollar they bring in on their own (soliciting business, grants, selling items, etc...), 50% of the money from an event they plan, and a portion of the money from an event they work it. They'll do car washes, bake sales, team nights at restaurants, etc... I won't go too much into how we fundraise, because it's the same as many teams do; it's the structure we have that encourages and makes students responsible for it that works for us.

We've found if students know what they need to raise, and are given many options, it's not an issue. We've never had a student just cut us a check for their amount, but we'd accept that as well.

In the past the students are very understanding about this; Once we talk they understand this isn't free, we wish it could be free, but it isn't, and therefore they must pull their weight.

[JesseK]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to AdamHeard again.

Heh. Thanks for sharing the management technique Adam! We will try that next May, once we've finished our current plan. In the meantime, I'll see what we can incorporate into this season.