One of the most important things needed to even start a robotics club is funding. A cookie or bake sale, while they help, won’t be enough to afford the things you need. So, my advice is to have at least a part of the team focus their efforts on fundraising throughout the entire year. For example, we created a school magazine and sold ads to local business and boosters for our supporters to raise money. Our magazine was made up of articles about club activities and other events happening in our school. So, think out of the box. Don’t be afraid to get out there to stores to ask for sponsorship. Do a car wash! Have a talent show and sell tickets! If your school has a uniform code, you could even ask your principal if you could have a tag day that would allow students to wear casual clothes for the day! You must be creative and put in the effort to get money. – Pedro
Although the price to compete may seem like a lot of money (and it is), don’t feel overwhelmed. With rookie grants through FIRST and creative fundraising, everything is possible in the end. We did things like host a school-wide pizza party where we sold pizza to the students and staff throughout all the lunch periods of the day. We also sold boosters and planned giant car wash day to make some extra money. – Bahama