Are there any good tips, guidelines, or strategies in attracting corporate sponsors for a First Robotics team?
We are a new team and would like to seek corporate sponsorship to help curb the costs and I am looking for any good information that any of the established teams might be willing to share.
Thanks in advance
A nice suit for your presentation. Looks good.
Jacob
Gail Alpert is an expert in this area. She always creates a information document like this to use:
http://www.freebmw.net/don/FIRST/TeamBooklet/TeamBooklet2006.pdf
It also is more than just getting the money. You have to represent the sponsors well and keep them involved. Gail spends an incredible amount of time working on signs for the robot, banners, press releases, etc… I’m sorry, but you can’t just stick their logo on your robot and expect to get a good response…
We spend a lot of time, weight, and money getting our robot to look good. But it’s easier to show your team exposure to potential sponsors when your robot shows up in pictures on FIRST’s web site and in their annual report.
It takes a LOT of time, and I don’t know how Gail does it. But, she’s the best…
Success seems to be a good way of getting new ones. No one wants their name on the robot that just sits there.
Other than that, if you’re talking truly large companies, they’ll have a charity department. Talk to them. A better way would be to see if you know anyone that knows someone AT that company, and get THEM to talk to the charity department to try and speed things up.
I think Sony has a pretty laid-back software development office in Madieson. You should bug them.
Look through the team lists for common sponsors, like NASA, GM, and Delphi. They sponsor many teams, so sponsoring another is probable.
If you do get an audience with a big company, have the students do the presentation. It’s a tough argument to make that you’re inspiring kids if you can’t get any to do an enthusiastic, well-researched presentation.
Get people to attend a competition. That’ll help them understand why you deserve their support.
I gotta say, that brochure is SLICK! Do you think she’d mind a little gracious plagerism from other teams? Great idea, well executed…
Become a Non-profit 501©(3) or get a parents group to be a non-profit. Any company wants to get a tax break in to feeling good about helping you.
Contact NEMO http://www.firstnemo.org/ Lots of great stuff in there about fundraising. This is a good place to start http://www.firstnemo.org/PDF/killer_packets.pdf