I am just wondering about the application process and want to be sure to get everything I need in order. On this site: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/team-grants-faq
It says that there are currently no grants posted. Does anyone know when they are usually posted? And when they are posted what is the typical application process? An essay from the students? Descriptions of your team? Photos?
NASA grant info is usually posted in the fall, with selections published right around payment deadline. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other grants posted on the FRC website.
Neither. You’re being confused, though not deliberately.
There are MULTIPLE grants. There are multiple different types of grants. FIRST may not publish all of them; I’m actually pretty certain they don’t.
There are the NASA grants (rookie, continuing, “other”). There are the Boeing grants (need a Boeing employee on the team, as I recall the discussions)–I don’t think those are posted, due to the employee requirement. There are other grants around; you just have to look. NASA grants are the biggest “name” grants, though.
There are also a number of other grants that may or may not be available to all teams.
If your team’s sponsor pays FIRST, without the money going through the team’s accounts, then that could, by that definition, qualify as a grant; if 50% of teams have that, then 50% of the teams can be counted as receiving grants of some form.
I am not aware of any “FIRST Grant” at all. The NASA Grant is the only grant that is widely available, but it is specifically only available to US teams.
Other than the NASA Grant, and only then if you are in your first 2 years of competing, I have always found the links provided on the FIRST site regarding grants highly disappointing. I followed one set of repeatedly recommended links to see several grants with deadlines expiring 6 or 7 years prior.
The grants that teams get are mostly local grants. If you do a search for some sort of “community foundation” in your area, you should be able to find a source of local grantors. We have had success getting $500 to $1000 from local electric corporations, the local Rotary Club, a nearby 4H (which is an excellent partnership if available to you).
When I first started, 5 years ago, I found that sponsorship and grantwriting was the single most frustrating and least rewarding aspect of FIRST Robotics. Some teams NEVER have had to go through what most teams have to deal with each year (the stories I hear of $30,000+ checks being written, sight-unseen, and no obligations, bring tears to my eyes).
Still, not to sound too daunting, after 5 years, we have a rather stable system going, and we can scrape together $35,000 to $40,000 a year. You’re just not going to find your budget in the grants section of FIRST.org .
You should also contact your regional director or the FIRST Senior Mentor for your area if you have one, they will often have information about local grants as there are many grants that companies and/or states make to teams in their specific area that won’t show up on the FIRST grants page.