Edina Robotics FIRST® Team 1816 The Green Machine

Fundraising and Sponsorship

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• Anyone can sponsor a FIRST Team

• Potential donors are everywhere – Local businesses and retailers

– Parents’ employers (and friends!)

– Technology companies

– Any major employer, regardless of trade

Remember – start early!

No one will want to fundraise during build season!

Step 1: Finding Potential Targets

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• Prepare a Sponsorship Folder or Packet

• Include: – Benefits of sponsoring a FIRST Team – specifically yours!

– Information about FIRST

– Team information

• Name of robot, school, etc.

• Brief team overview

• Team giveaway item (button, t-shirt, etc.)

– Sponsorship Level Information (spell out what sponsors receive for different levels of sponsorship)

– Specific request for sponsorship. State what you’d like, in terms of dollars or donations

Step 2: Preparing Your Marketing Materials

FIRST Team 1816: The Green

Machine At a Glance: • Entering our 11th year, started in autumn of 2005 • Based at Edina High School, Edina MN • Average team size from year to year is 37 students, grades

10-12 • Award-winning team: 4 Chairman’s Awards, 3 Engineering

Inspiration Awards, 2015 National Woodie Flower’s Award – Mentor Mark Lawrence

• 36% of our team is non-Caucasian (double our school’s percentage); over 1/3 of our team members are women

• 22 Multi-year sponsors including Medtronic and Dow.

To bring the message of FIRST and STEM to new audiences To strengthen other FIRST teams To maintain a strong foundation of FIRST in Minnesota

Mission

Statement:

Who we Are:

Edina Robotics FIRST team 1816 competes in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. This pre-college, varsity-level competition encourages students to delve deeply into many aspects of STEM, including design, build , and programming.

What We’ve Done:

We’ve inspired others to engage in STEM via FIRST Robotics Outreach and Activities: • in 2016, we support and/or mentor 6 FIRST Tech Challenge, 10 FIRST Lego League, and 7 Jr

FIRST Lego League teams, most based in Edina • Inspired the formation of and/or mentor more than 22 FIRST Robotics (high school) teams • Developed, created, and hosted more than 90 outreach events, activities, and

collaborations in the 2015 season • Achieved recognition of FIRST as a varsity sport in the state of Minnesota • Volunteered for 6,000+ hours over 5 years, from LEGO camps to park cleanups

Your Support:

The US needs to produce over 1 million STEM workers by 2022 to remain globally competitive. Funding p re-college STEM programs such as FIRST are one of the best ways to reach students in grades K-12 and to inspire lifelong excitement and interest in STEM fields. 89% of team graduates have pursued STEM in college and to date 71% have pursued STEM careers.

Contact Us:

www.edinarobotics.com contact@edinarobotics.com

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• Request meeting with the executive who has responsibility for community outreach or handles community sponsorships – Call (If you have a contact)

– Email

– Face-to-face

– Tweet

• If the executive can’t meet with you immediately, make sure you mail or drop off the information packet and your contact information for follow-up.

• Always offer a presentation and robot demo

• Contact many companies

Step 3: Making Contact

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• Practice your presentation! – Send a small group to represent the team (3-4 people)

– Wear your team uniform

– Talk about

• Your team

• Why you need their sponsorship

• What’s in it for them, as a sponsor

• Other fundraising you’ve done, and the results

• Maybe mention names of team’s other sponsors

– Remember

• Eye contact

• Stay organized

• Be clear and concise

• Be yourself!

Step 3: Making Contact

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• What to do if a company doesn’t respond? – After 3-4 business days, re-contact the company

– Send an email or call the executive

• Remind them of the meeting or information you sent out

• Offer to answer any questions

• Give them more info about sponsorship benefits

• Always thank them for their time and interest

You don’t want to pester a company, but you don’t want them to forget about you either

Step 4: The Follow Up

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• Put their logo everywhere (pit signs, robot, website, social media, etc.)

• Gift baskets (team shirts, pictures, buttons, etc.)

• Build a relationship – Keep them updated on your progress

– Offer to present to their employees at corporate events

• Represent them well – mention them by name when interviewed by the media

• Sponsors on-board by December should be entered into TIMS by your team’s main contact. This information is used in the FIRST Program Books distributed at competitions.

Step 5: Thank and Reward

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• Maintain an ongoing dialog with your sponsors – Ask if your team can attend company events and bring a robot

– Join them for community service events

– Invite sponsors to your team’s outreach events

Step 6: Engage

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• Not all sponsorships involve money! Sponsors can also: – Supply mentors and volunteers

– Offer workspace and storage

– Supply materials and equipment

– Donate food

– Offer a discount on needed materials and items

Often, businesses are happy to offer “in-kind” goods and services. Add up the value of their donations to determine

sponsorship level.

Miscellaneous

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• Located on the FIRST website: http://archive.firstinspires.org/roboticsprograms/first-fundraising-toolkit

• Comprehensive overview of how to raise funds

– Primarily for FRC

– Also includes FTC materials

FIRST Fundraising Toolkit

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• Materials from MN FRC teams

– 1816: fundraising presentation

– 2175: business plan

– 2177: sponsor phone call

– 2220: starting a booster club

– 2470: fundraising plan

Local Teams

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• Bake sales

• Silent auctions

• Open House

• Concessions stands

• Rummage/Garage sale

• Collecting recyclables

• Bagging groceries for tips

• Car washes

• Restaurant fundraising nights (Chipotle, Noodles, etc.)

• Seasonal sales

• Get creative!

Fundraisers

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• Websites can be an effective way to – Communicate

– Advertise

– Show sponsors how much your team appreciates their support

• Social Media: Be selective – Facebook

– Twitter

– Instagram

– Snapchat

– YouTube

Websites and Social Media

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Screenshots

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Sponsorship Levels (cont.)

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• Do – Stay organized

– Be professional (and gracious)

– Ask many companies

– Use your website

– Represent FIRST well

Do’s and Don’t’s

• Don’t – Get discouraged

– Pester companies

– Lose information

– Think little work will be highly rewarded

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• Contact The Green Machine at edinarobotics.com/contact• Facebook: The Green Machine

• Twitter @FIRSTteam1816

• Other resources– www.firstinspires.org (fundraising toolkit)

– www.chiefdelphi.com

Questions?