GRANTS

ROOKIE TEAMS
2024 FIRST Robotics Competition New Team Grant
DUE DATE: October 30, 2023 by 11:59 PM
AMOUNT: $6,000 total
  • $4,000 awarded for the 2024 season in November, 2023*
  • $2,000 awarded for 2025 season upon completion of “2023 Lessons Learned” by August 1, 2024.

NOTE: This season, FIRST will be awarding qualified teams on a rolling basis. Applications will be reviewed throughout the application period. Grants to eligible teams will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Requirement: Team must have a temporary or permanent FRC team number through FIRST HQ

LINK: FIRST Robotics Competition Rookie Grant

ALL TEAMS
FIRST HQ Team Grants
Visit the FIRST HQ team grants site page https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/team-grants for a list of grant offerings managed through FIRST HQ. New grant opportunities will be posted throughout the year, so check back often.
2023-2024 Ford Motor Company Grant
OPENS: Open Now!
DUE DATE: September 30th, 2023
AMOUNT: $3,000
GRANT INFORMATION: Ford Motor Company is reaching out to all FiM FRC FIRST teams this year to invite you to apply for the 2023-2024 Ford FIRST Team Sponsorship! To qualify for sponsorship, you must have an active Ford employee or retiree as a mentor and complete the following application by Saturday, September 30th at 11:59 pm.
REQUIREMENTS: Teams must have at least one Ford employee or retiree mentor as well as one non-Ford mentor. Please note – applications cannot be submitted by current Ford or agency employees.
APPLICATION LINK: Apply Here!
2023-2024 MDE FIRST Robotics State Grant
OPENS: October 1, 2023
DUE DATE: December 1, 2023
AMOUNT: VARIOUS
GRANT INFORMATION: SEE SECTION 4 OF THIS STEP BY STEP GUIDE
REQUIREMENTS: FRC teams must be registered for the season (payment not required), all other programs must be registered and paid
APPLICATION LINK: Level 5 access thru NexSys
NOTE: All of the district’s FIRST’s teams at all levels go on one district-wide application. each team on a separate page
2023-2024 TOYOTA FIRST TEAM Grant

OPEN:      Now Open!
CLOSES:    12/15/2023
APPLICATION:  Toyota FIRST Team Grant  (link).
DETAILS:

Toyota is pleased to offer a state-wide grant to new and returning FIRST in Michigan middle and high school teams intended to expand and sustain STEM access in rural and urban communities.

The grant provides up to $350 in funding for selected new/returning middle school FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams and up to $1,000 for selected new/returning high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams.

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • This is a competitive grant which takes into consideration the following factors:
    • Mentor with Direct Toyota affiliation
    • Washtenaw county
    • Locale type (urban, rural, suburban, other)
    • Free/reduced lunch percentage
    • Number of students serviced
  • Team must be registered with FIRST HQ for the 2023-24 season.
  • Submit one application per team.
  • If awarded, the grant check can only be remit to the team’s fiscal partner.
    • The team’s fiscal partner is the School, District, 501(c)(3) Organization, Foundation, or other entity that administrates grant funds on behalf of the team. Grant checks cannot be made payable to individuals.
    • Please include the team’s fiscal partner’s information in the remittance information portion of the grant form.
  • Teams accepting grant funds must agree to recognize Toyota as a team sponsor and must satisfy their FIRST in Michigan program’s competition participation requirement.
  • Help “make it loud” on social media! Social media handles can be found at this link: https://pressroom.toyota.com/social/.
BAE Systems 2023-2024 Team Grant
DUTE DATE: September 22, 2023 by 11:59 PM
AMOUNT: Not specified but usually $1,000 – $3,000. May vary.

While all teams are eligible to apply for funding, BAE Systems may prioritize applications meeting at least one of the below criteria:

  • Teams located within 75 miles of a BAE Systems site (see application for a list of our locations)
  • Teams with BAE Systems mentors; if you are interested in having a BAE Systems mentor, please tell us in your application so we can do our best to match you.
  • Teams with an existing relationship with BAE Systems

Teams demonstrating diversity in STEM (meeting one of the criteria below):

  • Teams affiliated with Title 1 schools
  • Teams with high needs (more than 50% free/reduced lunch rates at affiliated school)
  • Teams made up of more than 50% underrepresented populations in STEM fields (women, LGBTQ+ youth, BIPOC and Latinx students, youth with disabilities)
  • Teams with exemplary community outreach to underrepresented populations

LINK: BAE SYSTEMS GRANT APPLICATION

GENE HAAS FOUNDATION Grant
NO DEADLINE – The sooner you get it in, the greater your chance the money will be available.
Awards are made on a rolling basis.
AMOUNT: $2,500

ALL FRC TEAMS CAN APPLY!
WHAT TO INCLUDE: LOTS of pictures and stories about your team. They love that!
APPLY HERE

Dream Maker Grant

This grant is by invitation only.

DETAILS:

In 2020, Patti and Eric Poppe established The Dream Maker Fund at the Jackson Community Foundation. The Dream Maker project vision is to inspire parents and their children, particularly families of Consumers Energy employees and communities in which they live, to engage in FIRST programs at the middle and high school level. All members of a FIRST team affiliated with Dream Makers will be encouraged to participate in career exploration and planning activities leading to the development of a plan post high school. Ultimately, the goal is to inspire children through FIRST programs to pursue fulfilling STEM education and careers.

DonorsChoose

For teams where a coach/mentor is an educator:

The DonorsChoose program has a FIRST affiliation that has really paid for several of our MI FTC teams. News Corp. is in their 3rd and final year as a matching partner for FIRST projects submitted through DonorsChoose. Lately, they’ve been doing a 2X match on FIRST projects.

2023-2024 Dow FIRST Grant
DUTE DATE: Closed
AMOUNT: Up to full reg fee but you have to do a DEI initiative. You get 50% from Dow and the other 50% from Dow with a DEI initiative.

This year, Dow updated its grant process and teams can earn up to 100% of their category’s registration cost. Dow will provide 50% of the team’s registration cost for teams in Dow communities (teams nearby sites, offices, etc.) and/or teams that have a Dow mentor.

The remaining 50% can be earned based on the following:

ID&E Efforts (15%) – team has awareness of its ID&E current gaps and improvement opportunities and at least one initiative on this space;
Community Engagement (15%) – team is engaged in the community, successfully describing 1 or more community engagement activities;
Title 1 Schools/Free or Reduced Lunch applicants (U.S. only) OR Low-income communities (20%) – if a team is from a low-income background, it automatically qualifies for the 20% amount.
Apply here: DOW application link

2023-2024 NASA FRC Sponsorship Grants
NOW OPEN! – Rookie Teams only
DUE DATE: September 30th, 2023 @ 11:59:59 PM EDT
AWARDED GRANTS POSTED: Week of October 10, 2023

All teams selected to receive a NASA grant will have funding sent directly to FIRST. This funding will be applied to the teams registration costs

For full list of requirements click here: NASA FRC GRANT

Argosy Entrepreneurial Fund for FIRST Alums
NOW OPEN!
DUE DATE: Oct. 30th 2023

FUNDING INFORMATION:

This new initiative looks to build upon the entrepreneurial spirit of the FIRST community by actively seeking to invest in innovative ideas and companies. We believe in supporting FIRST alums who possess a commitment to pioneering solutions and driving industry change.

We are primarily seeking to provide finance to early-stage companies. However, we encourage companies at all stages to apply.

To apply, please fill out this short form.

If you have any questions or need further information, please direct all communications to Jacob or Gerardo at argosyfirst@argosyfnd.org

Autodesk FIRST Team Grant – Open
NOW OPEN!
DUE DATE:  When grant funds are expended

APPLICATION: Autodesk FIRST Team Grant (link)
DETAILS:

Autodesk is pleased to offer a state-wide grant to new and returning FIRST in Michigan middle and high school teams intended to expand and sustain STEM access for teams that are composed of underserved populations and/or are underresourced.

The grant provides up to $350 in funding for selected new/returning middle school FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams and up to $1,000 for selected new/returning high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams.

Grants are reviewed on a quarterly rolling basis. Sponsorship is limited to one award per team per season.

INSTRUCTIONS:

This is a competitive grant which takes into consideration the following factors:
Locale type (urban, rural, suburban, other)
Free/reduced lunch percentage
Usage of Autodesk products
Team must be registered with FIRST HQ for the current season.
Submit one application per team.
If awarded, the grant check can only be remitted to the team’s fiscal partner.
The team’s fiscal partner is the School, District, 501(c)(3) Organization, Foundation, or other entity that administrates grant funds on behalf of the team. Grant checks cannot be made payable to individuals.
Please include the team’s fiscal partner’s information in the remittance information portion of the grant form.
Teams accepting grant funds must agree to recognize Autodesk as a team sponsor and must satisfy their FIRST in Michigan program’s competition participation requirement.

GRANT TIPS
Items to check before submitting a grant application.
  • Application lists the team’s correct team number. Most grants require the team’s permanent team number. Temporary team numbers start with “.
  • Where required, uploaded proof of purchase document(s) must be properly labeled with team number
  • The “remit to” name on the grant check must be the team’s fiscal partner. The team’s fiscal partner is the School, District, 501(c)(3) Organization, Foundation, or other entity that administrates grant funds on behalf of the team. Grant checks cannot be made payable to individuals.
  • Veteran teams at a given school or organization must be registered for the current season.
  • Team should have two screened coaches
  • Team profile should list your team’s school or organization affiliation.
Regrant process.

FIRST HQ sometimes receives grants from various Donors which are designated to FIRST Teams. These grants are shown on the Team Dashboard. These are restricted donations with parameters as defined and imposed on FIRST HQ by the Donor(s). Should FIRST HQ receive a grant designated to your FIRST Team, FIRST HQ will “re-grant” the funds to your FIRST team as a “pass through” grant with no deductions for overhead or processing costs. 100% of the designated funds will be re-granted provided that the Team follows the guidelines listed below:

To apply for your team’s Regrant Check:

Click on this link: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/regranting-process-procedures-and-w-9

  • Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on black box labeled “Click here to Submit”.
  • This will divert you to a “Submittable” form.
  • If you do not have an existing account with Submittable, you will need to create one.
  • Please upload a W-9 dated 2015 or later (REQUIRED).
  • FIRST HQ cannot disburse funds directly to an individual so the team must find a school, community organization, library, etc. to accept the funding on behalf of the team
  • Checks will be made payable to the Entity listed on the W-9
  • Once the application is completed, click “Apply” and the form “Submitter” will receive an email from submittable@firstinspires.org indicating that the submission has been received.
  • Please allow time for processing and review. An email will be sent to the “Submitter” designated on the form when the application has been accepted or declined.
  • Once the application is accepted, FIRST HQ will issue a check on behalf of the team.
Ways to thank a grant sponsor.
Say “thank you” to grant sponsors by recognizing their contribution on the team’s social media outlets and include their brand on the team’s robot, pit swag, team shirts, engineering book, etc. Sponsors often serve as volunteers at events and visit the teams that accept their funding. Logos are available for download on the RESOURCES site page.