💰 Budget & Funding · All Roles · Beginner
Getting Sponsors
Signature Events, Regionals, and Worlds require funding the district doesn't provide. This guide covers who to ask, what to offer them, exactly what to say, and how to keep sponsors coming back next season.
Start outreach at the beginning of the season, not after you qualify. Companies need weeks for budget approval. A team that qualifies for Worlds in March and starts asking for travel money in April will almost always hear "next season." A team with a sponsor relationship since October gets a check in two weeks.
The best sponsors have a reason to care about your team beyond charity. Target in this order:
- Parents' employers: The easiest yes. A parent at a tech company can walk the sponsorship request to the right person internally. Many large employers have community giving programs — a $500 donation is routine budget for them.
- Local engineering and manufacturing firms: They hire engineers. A robotics team is a direct pipeline. Frame it as a recruiting investment, not a donation.
- Local tech companies: Software, hardware, IT services firms. They care about STEM education and often have marketing budgets for community sponsorships.
- STEM-adjacent retailers: Electronics stores, maker spaces, 3D printing services. Often willing to donate materials or services rather than cash — which is fine, document it as in-kind.
- Local Chamber of Commerce: Ask for a referral to businesses that sponsor youth programs. The Chamber often knows who's looking to give.
- College/university engineering departments nearby: May have outreach budgets or alumni willing to sponsor. Ask the department chair, not the admissions office.
RECF Competitive Team Grant Program: Before you start private outreach, apply for RECF grants. Free money from the Foundation's sponsor network. Go to v5rc-kb.recf.org and search "Competitive Team Grant" — applications are open at the start of each season.
Give sponsors a clear, tiered menu. Businesses budget by tier. A company that wants to give $250 needs to know what $250 gets them — don't make them guess.
Bronze
$100–250
✓ Name on team thank-you post
✓ Certificate of appreciation
✓ Mentioned at end-of-season recap
Silver
$250–500
✓ All Bronze benefits
✓ Logo on team banner
✓ Logo on notebook cover
✓ Mid-season update email
Gold
$500–1,000
✓ All Silver benefits
✓ Logo on robot (tape/decal)
✓ Social media feature post
✓ Demo invitation at your school
✓ Post-season results report
Worlds Sponsor
$1,000+
✓ All Gold benefits
✓ Primary logo on robot
✓ Named in competition announcements
✓ Photo set from championship
✓ Individual thank-you from each student
Note: Logo placement on robots requires VRC legal review — confirm with your coach that the placement method (tape, decal) doesn't violate robot constraints. Stickers on non-functional surfaces are generally fine.
Day 1
Research the company
Find the right contact. Not the receptionist — community relations, marketing manager, or engineering department head. LinkedIn is useful. Look for anyone with "community," "outreach," or "giving" in their title.
Day 2
Send the initial email
Short, specific, student-written. See template below. Include the sponsorship PDF as an attachment. 3–4 paragraphs maximum — busy people don't read long emails from strangers.
Day 12
Follow up once
"Just following up" email. One line + reattach the PDF. This doubles response rate. Most companies don't respond to the first email — they're waiting to see if you're serious.
Day 20
Phone call if no response
Call the number on their website. Ask for the contact by name. A 2-minute call establishes the relationship in a way email can't. Most students skip this — it's where most sponsorships actually happen.
After commitment
In-person meeting or robot demo
Offer to bring the robot to their office. A 20-minute demo with a student presentation closes Gold and Title sponsorships consistently. Engineers love robots.
Subject: Robotics Team Sponsorship — [Team Name/Number] — [School Name]
Dear [Contact Name],
My name is [Student Name] and I'm a member of the [School Name] VEX V5 Robotics team. We're a group of [X] students competing in the VEX V5 Robotics Competition, the world's largest high school robotics program with over 20,000 teams globally.
This season we're working toward qualifying for [Regional Championship / Signature Event / VEX Worlds in St. Louis]. Our district covers our basic equipment, but championship travel — flights, hotel, and registration — requires external funding. We're looking for sponsors who want to invest in the next generation of engineers in our community.
I've attached a short sponsorship overview with our tier options starting at $100. Gold and Title sponsors receive logo placement on the robot and a post-season results report from every student. We'd love to discuss this at whatever level makes sense for [Company Name].
Would you have 15 minutes for a call this week or next?
Thank you,
[Student Name]
[Team Number] — [School Name]
[Phone / Email]
Subject: Re: Robotics Team Sponsorship — [Team Name]
Hi [Name],
Just following up on my email from [date] — I know inboxes get busy. I've reattached our sponsorship overview in case it got buried.
If this isn't the right fit for [Company] right now, no worries at all — but if there's any chance of a quick conversation, I'd really appreciate it. Even a Bronze sponsorship would go directly toward our registration for [Event].
Thanks for your time,
[Student Name]
📊 Documenting Sponsors in the Notebook and Interview
Sponsorship is a program management data point — judges notice teams that demonstrate financial self-sufficiency. Include one entry in your notebook that documents:
- Total season budget required (your number from the budget calculator)
- What the district provided
- What sponsorship or fundraising covered (by source, by amount)
- What the sponsorship enabled — "This funding covered Worlds registration and two nights of lodging for our 5-person team"
In the interview, if asked "How did you manage your season budget?" the ideal answer is: "We had a $[X] budget gap for championships. We secured [Y] in sponsorship from [general types of companies], which covered [specific things]. Here's the breakdown in our notebook." Then open to the page.
📝 Post-Season Sponsor Report Template
Send this to every sponsor at season end. It's what converts a one-time donor into a recurring sponsor.
Subject: [Team Name] — 2025–26 Season Results + Thank You
Dear [Contact Name],
Thank you for sponsoring [Team Number] this season. Your support of $[Amount] directly funded [what it covered].
Our 2025–26 results:
• Events competed: [X]
• Best qualification rank: [X of Y teams]
• Awards: [list any awards]
• Qualified for: [Regional / Signature / Worlds]
What students learned: [2–3 sentences from a student about what they took away from the season — engineering, teamwork, problem-solving]
We're attaching a few photos from the season including our robot at [event].
We plan to compete again in 2026–27 and would be honored to have your support again. I'll be in touch in August to share our new season goals.
With gratitude,
[Student Name + all team members listed]
[Team Number] — [School Name]
Sponsor outreach applies value proposition engineering — the systematic articulation of what a program delivers that justifies resource investment. Effective sponsorship proposals quantify community impact, demonstrate program sustainability, and connect sponsor interests to program outcomes. Professional engineering firms use the same framework to win grants and government contracts.
🎤 Interview line: “We build sponsor proposals using engineering discipline: specific impact metrics, documented program history, and explicit alignment between the sponsor's interests and our program outcomes. Our three-tiered sponsorship structure gives sponsors a clear value exchange at each level. We secured two sponsors this season — both cited our specific impact numbers as what differentiated us from other teams.”
A potential sponsor asks for your team's impact metrics. Which response is strongest?
⬛ "We are a competitive VRC team working hard to win at competitions."
⬛ "We have reached 120 students through two STEM demonstrations, mentored a new team that placed 3rd at their first qualifier, and achieved 72% autonomous success rate this season."
⬛ "We would appreciate any support you can provide for our program."
📝Notebook entry tip: Appendix — Grey slide — Log each sponsor interaction in the Appendix: date, company, what you requested, their response, and the outcome. If you received funding, document how it was used. A documented sponsorship trail — showing who you reached, what you offered, and what resulted — demonstrates professional outreach and program sustainability thinking.