FUNDRAISING FOR A SOLAR CAR TEAM

Fundraising Goal Young engineers often think that fundraising is annoying and interferes with their work, but fundraising is part of your work! A solar car project brings recognition and pride to the school, therefore, it should gain school interest. It attracts community interest as well. People begin to think of your team as their solar car team.

This way to acquire this interest is to get the community to invest in your program. This brings funds, recognition, & consultants!

What comes with Fundraising? Fundraising helps students vest in the team. When competing interests intervene during the year, the vested student better understands the importance of their participation in the project. Fundraising builds team pride! Fundraising helps students correlate “dreams of spending” with the practicality of raising money. If students buy their equipment, they take better care of it!

Be Careful! Schools raise funds for many different purposes. Make sure that your fundraising doesn’t interfere with other programs. If you school has a Development Officer, be sure to coordinate your fundraising with them. Some sources of funding may be off limits to your project! Your Principal or Head of School can be your best friend. Be sure to keep them informed!

The Role of Families Be sure to involve your team member families at the very beginning. Their role is not in planning the project, but in supporting the team. Offer periodic OPEN HOUSES so that family and the community know when it is convenient to check out your progress!

What is Fundraising all about? Preparation of your idea! Preparation of your proposal & materials! Preparation of your team members

Preparation of your IDEA Make sure your have a well thought out plan to share with potential sponsors. You may not have a solar car to show them, but you can have a drawing or a model of your proposed car. You can build a simulated car out of cardboard or wood, make photos, and use this to supplement your plan! Show the investor that you are developing your plan . . . don’t just tell them!

Preparation of Materials Make sure that the materials you place in the hands of potential investors are well prepared. Criteria: does your proposal look good! Make sure you have a well developed budget. This demonstrates that you have done your “homework”. Make sure you have a TIMELINE, and be ready to explain its importance within the project.

Preparation of our Team Every member of your team must have a working knowledge of the solar car, or the plan for the solar car. Criteria: If you ask the same question to each team member, you should get the same answer! Develop a “speaking team” who can stand up on a moment’s notice and give a full explanation of your solar car project.

What your Speaking Team Say? Tell who you are – we are the engineering club at Fremont High School (introduce yourselves) Explain your goal – we want to build a solar car to take part in the 2017 SCC. Include why this is important to you! Explain your TIMELINE stressing the importance of fundraising early. Clearly set out how they can help: donations, contribution of equipment, donation of employee time to the project.

What accompanies the Oral Presentation Develop a power point presentation to show pictures of “planning”

Show pictures of students developing skills

Show “rough” plans

Bookkeeping Have a plan “in place” to keep track of your funding requests and results. Keeping good “books” will encourage respect from school administrators. Develop a plan to THANK donors! Letters, personal visits, or follow-up photos really help you lay the foundation for future donations!

Fundraising Strategy Teams need to develop a fundraising strategy. Your will be called on to do bake sales, displays, raffles, sell-a-solar-cell campaign, etc. Every time you raise money you forfeit time you could be spending on building the car. Establish a guideline and stick to it! In other words, if you can’t make $500 from a fundraising event, don’t accept the “gig.”