2. October, 2010 Team Leader for FRC Team 000 receives check from Acme Manufacturing for $10K!

3. November, 2010 Team Leader registers for 2 nd Regional and orders new t-shirts. GO ACME!!! ACME

4. December 2010 Enthusiastic, young mechanical engineer from Acme, Tim, joins team.

5. January 2011 Tim introduces Stan, Acme’s crackerjack machinist, to the team.

6. March 2011 Team competes at home Regional. VP attends with grandson. Grandson leaves inspired… to become a rock star!

7. April 2011 Team displays robot at Acme’s Take Your Child to Work Day.

8. May 2011 Team mails out thank you letter with team picture plaque.

9. Fast Forward to November 2011 No word from Tim, Stan or Acme. Team Leader, concerned, calls Tim.

10. November 2011 Tim sheepishly explains why team hasn’t heard from Acme.

11. December 2011 Team Leader contacts FIRST to cancel 2 nd event registration. She is now in panic mode.

12. December 2011 Team Leader calls FIRST Senior Mentor and Regional Director looking for money!

13. Sound Familiar? What did FRC Team 00 do right? What could they have done better?

14. Re-thinking your fundraising strategies Consider several small sponsors Your sponsors are actually your customers Develop customer-relationship-marketing strategies Get the word out about team and FIRST Cultivate team-sponsor partnerships Deliver a strong customer experience Create Believers

15. “Believers… have an emotional attachment to your company. They feel part of your business and think you are an important part of theirs…. Believers will be your advocates and recommend you to everyone else. “ ~ Dr. Ian Brooks, www.drianbrooks.blogspot.com, ©2012www.drianbrooks.blogspot.com Believers are plugged in to your team.

16. Things you can do Brainstorm with the team on how you can develop this relationship. Make sure team knows who sponsor is. Want a donation? Ask for it. Each year. Tell your stories! Enable the sponsor to share your stories! Create photo ops. Communicate.

17. Develop your brand – and incorporate the sponsor name wherever you can. Include sponsor information on website – not just a logo. Encourage sponsor employee participation on your team. Engage your sponsor in your team activities.

18. Participate in your Sponsor’s events. Demo (not just display) your robot in cafeteria and at family events – and let people drive it! Shadow workers – part of workforce development. Consider renaming your robot after the President of the company.

19. Say Thank You – and let the robot deliver it! Thank You from FRC Team 00!

20. Thank you to FRC teams 1912, 1123, 359, 1501 and Dr. Ian Brooks Clip-art purchased from www.clipart.comwww.clipart.com Kathie Kentfield FIRST Senior Mentor Director, NEMO kkentfield@usfirst.org www.usfirst.org www.ctfirst.org www.firstnemo.org