Financial help? Work space?

[alexvasile]

Hello once more,
About a month and a half ago, I started a new team in my school, and since then we've been doing our best to get the team of the ground. So far everything has been ok with the exception of two major things:
1. We are not doing so great financially.
2. We couldn't find a dedicated space YET.

As far as it goes financially we are trying and doing fund raisers, but that doesn't seem to prove efficient. Therefore we are turning to what has possibly become our last line of hope: Grants. So far I have gotten this list of companies(sponsors): (http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc...t.aspx?id=7024 ) which I think everybody else knows about, so the next step would be applying to them. Here's where the problem comes in: I don't know how to do that. The only things I heard about applying for grants, is that you need to write to the certain company that you choose, a letter asking them about what you need(amount of money) and why. Even though that seems like a simple task, it has proven pretty confusing for me and my team.
So my questions are: What exactly should be mentioned in the letter? What kind of format should it have? Where do I find the address that I have to sent it to (for different companies)? I'm guessing it's sent by mail, but just to make sure; is it mail or e-mail?(sorry stupid question)

Now for the space, I know I have asked this before but the problem still exists, so here's the story. In our school, pretty much every single room is being used by something or someone, therefore we haven't managed to get a space in school, at least not a dedicated space. And there really isn't anybody that offered to help us so far. So I want to ask for a favor: Any NYC team that has a space and is willing to let us use it would be much appreciated. If so please contact me at: alexvasile101@gmail.com Thank you!

If anybody can help with any of the above, it would be great.
Thank you for reading and helping!
-Alex

[neoshaakti]

Hey as a rookie team this year, we applied for the NASA grant
we are also going to apply for a grant from Best Buy, Home Depot and Barnes and Noble
the good part about these grants is that they are given out through the store

hmm about workspace, our team is having the same problem...
we are gonna keep plugging away and looking for space

good luck!

[vivek16]

How much money do you guys have currently? www.firstnemo.org has some great resources for rookie teams. I would say that about 10000 dollars would be the minimum for a season. I would be glad to help you guys. Do you guys have a mentor yet? if not find a teacher or parent or engineer to do it. Mentors are an absolutely invaluble resource. Try to find sponsors in your area by sending a handout (like the one listed under the resources section of the NEMO website under the sponsors section with different levels of sponsors they can be) and give them to every business in your area.

I hope this helped, vivek

p.s. pm or email me, I would love to talk to you about stuff.

last year we built mostly in a parents basement and a school room after school that was used as an engineering subject teaching room.

[danshaffer]

you'll want to talk to local companies, although NYC is a big place. This trick works better in smaller towns. NASA is probably the way to go.
At bare minimum you'll need a closet to store your stuff in, and a classroom where you can work after school, however if you want to work at school, you'll probably need to have a teacher present.
Without a teacher, you'll probably be working in a garage or basement, as was said above.
8 would love to help you out, but we're a little far. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions, though. You've come to the right place!

[synth3tk]

Maybe get a sponsor that may also have some shop space. I know some teams never meet in their school, even if there is space, because you have more freedom than when your school is involved (as far as dates/times to meet).

[alexvasile]

Thanks for the replies guys. Sadly enough the NASA grants application deadline just passed from what I've heard. We don't have that much money yet in fact too little to speak of, that's why I came here for help. So again, what should be in the letter to the companies(sponsors); is it like I thought? Oh and we do have a mentor, but we can always use more help .
Anyways thanks for the replies guys, I'm hoping for more .

-Alex

[danshaffer]

talk about FIRST, how it's more than building robots, it's about gracious professionalism. "the hardest fun you'll ever have" i'm not really sure how to sell a rookie team, but that's probably something that sponsors will want to get involved with more than an established team because it's about expanding the program and bringing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to more people at more schools. Oh and don't forget to offer ad space on your robot, t-shirts and website.

Good luck!

[Carol]

We have found that the best way to approach companies for sponsorship, at least those without a formal grant program, is to make phone calls. Call up the company and ask who should you contact about sponsorship. Talk to whoever you get (and you may be transferred between several people before you get the right one) and ask what do you need to do to get their sponsorship. They will often tell you to write a letter about your program addressed to someone specific. We have samples of letters we have used in the past if you need help.

As danshaffer said, don't forget to keep mentioning the ad space!

Another good source is through your parents. Ask who they work for, and if they can help getting sponsorship. We have gotten some volunteer grant money in the past - some companies will donate money based on an employees volunteer hours. If you have a parent who works for a company that does this, get the parent to help out and see if you can get funds that way.

We have had some students who personally went to small, local companies (such as a neighborhood car dealership), and asked for funds to support their participation. A lot will only give $100-200, but it adds up.

Don't be discouraged - most of your contacts will turn you down, but you will find some receptive to your plea.

[Akash Rastogi]

Also, it depends on which part of NYC you're in but you could always find contacts with Goldman Sachs or other big financial companies. For the space problem....do you know of any warehouses or mechanic shops that would be willing to help you guys out. Best solution would be to apply for the NASA rookie grant. In a big place like NYC it may be hard but the main thing is to be persistent in whatever you apply for. Small shops and stores can help too. Hope everything works out in the end. =)

[George]

Hi Alex,
Space is always a problem, a couple years ago we lost a donated work shop and had to scramble. the school had no unused rooms, (during the day)
We ended up buying a 20' con ex (shipping container) and putting it in a back parking lot near the weld shop.
Every day after school we rolled out 2 lathes and a drill mill plus 2 carts and a bench with the robot. at the end of the night we would roll it all back out and clean up. Used up about 1 hr a day

The next year one of our sponsors let us use a two car garage for 4 months
(much Better!) over build season. we had to supply our own port-a-john
and wash station but it worked out well.

Last year the local college came thru and gave us an area we can call our own.

This may not be much more then an idea or two, but it was our solutions to the problem of build space and they did work.

Where ever you end up don't forget the First aide cabinet and fire extinguishers, setup a safety station early

Have Fun!
Geo.

[RoboMom]

Depending on where you are in NY, you have at least one Regional Director (there are 4 in NY), as well as Senior Mentors.
Contact them. There may be a grant opportunity that they are working on.
http://www.usfirst.org/contact.aspx?id=2988

[Joohoo]

One thing that I did to attract sponsors is to emulate first itself. have multiple levels of sponsorship and start hitting up as many local companies and ask for space, money, materials. Don't just ask for donations try to "sell" the space on your robot, t-shirts, heck even your team's name. The Company x and company y team #### from such and such a school.

[danshaffer]

might want to look for in-kind sponsorships, too. space, food (a big one; we love our pizza), aluminum and machining. companies may not be able to write checks, but they can make their engineers available to you, which should lead to more learning and a better final product. team 8 has been going pretty strong with only one real technical mentor, but the more the better!