Edina Robotics FIRST® Team 1816
The Green Machine
Fundraising and Sponsorship
Step 1: Finding Potential Targets
• Anyone can sponsor a FIRST Team
• Potential donors are everywhere
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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!
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Step 2: Preparing Your Marketing Materials
• 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.)
– Technical information
– 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
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FIRST Team 1816: The Green
Machine
At a Glance:
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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.
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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.
What We’ve Done:
We’ve inspired others to engage in STEM via FIRST Robotics Outreach and Activities:
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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
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Inspired the formation of and/or mentor more than 22 FIRST Robotics (high school) teams
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Developed, created, and hosted more than 90 outreach events, activities, and
collaborations in the 2015 season
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Achieved recognition of FIRST as a varsity sport in the state of Minnesota
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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
[email protected]
Mission
Statement:
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
Step 3: Making Contact
• Request meeting with the executive who has responsibility
for community outreach or handles community sponsorships
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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
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Step 3: Making Contact
• Practice your presentation!
– Send a small group to represent the team (3-4 people)
– Wear your team uniform
– Talk about
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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
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Eye contact
Stay organized
Be clear and concise
Be yourself!
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Step 4: The Follow Up
• 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
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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
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Step 5: Thank and Reward
• 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.
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Step 6: Engage
• 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
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Miscellaneous
• Not all sponsorships involve money! Sponsors can also:
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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.
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FIRST Fundraising Toolkit
• Located on the FIRST website:
http://archive.firstinspires.org/roboticsprograms/firs
t-fundraising-toolkit
• Comprehensive overview of how to raise funds
– Primarily for FRC
– Also includes FTC materials
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Organization
• 8 sections:
– Fundraising plan
– Community analysis
– Documentation
– Presentations
– Sponsor relations
– Making your team a nonprofit organization
– Fundraising methods
– Examples and best practices
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Materials in the Fundraising Toolkit
• Instructions written by FIRST
• Other teams’ materials
– Videos
– Presentations
– Examples
• Links to resources for teams
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Local Teams
• Materials from MN FRC teams
– 1816: fundraising presentation
– 2175: business plan
– 2177: sponsor phone call
– 2220: starting a booster club
– 2470: fundraising plan
• Team 27 RUSH
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Fundraisers
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Bake sales
Silent auctions
Spaghetti dinners
Concessions stands
Rummage/Garage sale
Collecting recyclables
Bagging groceries for tips
Car washes
Restaurant fundraising nights (Chipotle, Noodles, etc.)
Seasonal sales
Get creative!
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Websites and Social Media
• Websites can be an effective way to
– Communicate
– Advertise
– Show sponsors how much your team appreciates their support
• Social Media: Be selective
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Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Vine
YouTube
Tumblr
Pinterest
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Screenshots
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Do’s and Don’t’s
• Do
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Stay organized
Be professional (and gracious)
Ask many companies
Use your website
Represent FIRST well
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Get discouraged
Pester companies
Lose information
Think little work will be highly
rewarded
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Edina Robotics FIRST® Team 1816
The Green Machine
Sponsor Presentation
What is FIRST?
• Founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen
• Gracious Professionalism
• Over 200 FRC teams in Minnesota
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About our FIRST Team
• Oldest enduring MN team (11th season)
founded September 2005
• FIRST Championship 9 of 10 years
• Worldwide impact
2015 Season:
• 4rd place - MSHSL State Championship
• Engineering Inspiration (Lake Superior)
• Regional Chairman’s award (10,000 Lakes)
• Curie Field at Championships- Quarterfinalist
• National Woodie Flowers Award winner
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What does the Green Machine do?
Outreach
• Minnesota State Fair
• STEM Advocacy in Washington, D.C.
• The Works
• Minnesota Children’s Museum
• FTC, FLL, Jr FLL mentoring
• Summer Robotics Camps
• Community Service
• Demos at businesses
• Edina Day of Service
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Budget
Expenses
FIRST Competition Fees
Robot
Marketing and Publicity
Travel
Total
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Sponsorship Levels
Level
Amount
Benefit (are cumulative from
lower levels)
Platinum Sponsor
$10,000 or more
More prominent display of
logos
Closer association with team
Gold Sponsor
$5,000- $9,999
Sponsor name appears in
event program
Sponsor name read during
alliance selection
Silver Sponsor
$2,500- $4,999
Team will visit if desired
Logo in video credits
Company name linked with
team and mentioned in team
publicity
Bronze Sponsor
$1,000- $2,499
Logo on robot, t-shirt, and
banners
Contributor
$500- $999
Hot link to company website on
team website
Name on t-shirt and pit banner
Green Machine Booster
Up to $499
Mention on Website in Green
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Machine Boosters Group
on
Advantages of Sponsorship
• Company name is read at competitions
• Company Logo is on the robot, which we show off at:
– All competitions (regionals, possibly State and/or World
Championships)
– Outreach events
• Company Logo/Name on the team’s T-shirt
• Our website receives over 1 million hits/year
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Robot Day at Jerry’s
• Robot Day:
– Jerry’s products as part of robot day display
– Use of 1816’s social media to advertise “green products” (LED’s, green
trash bags, cleaning products)
– Providing coupons for specific products
– Receiving $1-$2 per coupon/sale
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Sponsorship
• The Green Machine is very grateful for the support from
Jerry’s these past years.
• Significant team growth (54 members)
• Increased mentoring commitments to local middle and
elementary school teams
• We are hoping for an increased level of support from Jerry’s
this year. Proposed for your consideration:
– Increase to $200 gift card
– Continuation of existing 20% discount on purchases
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Conclusion
“[People are] amazed to learn
more about the fantastic program
that we are a part of, and [are]
very admiring of our work on the
robot and our community
presence.”
–Srujun Gupta, 2014 Alumnus
On Behalf of All Our team members at The Green Machine:
Thank You, Jerry’s Hardware!
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Questions?
• Contact The Green Machine at [email protected]
• Facebook: The Green Machine
• Twitter @FIRSTteam1816
• Other resources
– www.usfirst.org (fundraising toolkit)
– www.chiefdelphi.com
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