The FIRST program is meant to foster the engineering skills of competitors while promoting "Gracious Professionalism"; robotics teams are able to compete against one another while encouraging each others growth.
Using this mentality we (SGF Robotics) have created "FIRST To The Harvest" (F2H). From 09/07/24 to 01/24/25 teams will compete to raise the most money & create lasting impacts for their communities– while also gaining bragging rights.
That's right, bragging rights! At the conclusion of this fundraiser the three teams who raised the most money will be awarded the "Sprint Award" (SA). This victory can then be boosted in a teams engineering notebooks, helping to win the Connect Award.
In order to reward hard work, teams may also submit a one page portfolio with a short description & pictures of how they raised money. At the fundraiser's conclusion, teams will vote using these documents for which three teams win the "Marathon Award" (MA). Or, in other words, which teams worked the hardest to fundraise (Ex: Was the most involved with the community, most creative fundraising techniques, had the most fundraisers, etc...). VOTING IS MANDATORY FOR A TEAM TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR BOTH THE MARATHON & SPRINT AWARDS. Provided here are some optional portfolio templates.
However, bragging rights are not limited to just the winners of the Sprint & Marathon rewards. Any team can show off their fundraiser in their engineering notebooks. Teams may also team up, form alliances, and/or host fundraisers at their school, contributing to the Motivate Award.
All proceeds will go to Ozark Food Harvest, a, "...Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 270 nonprofit organizations across 28 Ozarks counties." (OFH Website). You can find an agency near your school here.
How To Join
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Collaborating & Alliances
Teams may collaborate. When collaborating, donations will be split in half between the two teams in the rankings. (Or in 1/3 for 3 teams, 1/4 for 4 teams, etc.) For this, please have people donate to a separate fundraiser template (see "How To Join"). Just make sure to message us so we can add it to your donation totals at the end. Alternatively, you can split the donations yourselves.
Up to 2 teams may also form something called an "Alliance".
Ex) team "Blue" & team "Red" may group together as team "Blue+Red" in the rankings. Donations will be made to team "Blue+Red" instead of team Red or team Blue.
However, these teams may NOT fund raise separately while adding their totals together. They must do the same fundraiser, together.
Correct Example: Team Red & Blue both alternate between holding fundraising events at each other school. Red will help Blue set up an event at Blue's School, then Blue will help Red set up an event at Red's school.
Incorrect Example: Team Red & Blue each hold fundraising events at their own schools and don't help one another. They function as two separate teams besides the fact that they share a ranking.
Why form an Alliance? This is good for teams from the same school, or smaller teams lacking the resources to raise large sums of money alone. Alliance & collaborating may also contribute to the motivate award.
Q&A
Can Team Members/Their Sponsors Donate Money Themselves?
Yes, and please do so if you are able to. However, doing just this will reflect poorly in the MA. So, make sure you are raising money in other ways too.
Can A Team Win Both The Marathon and Sprint Rewards?
Yes. In-fact, that team will just get extra bragging rights!
What's The Difference Between Teams Collaborating & Alliances?
Teams that collaborate only team-up on some occasions & split the money donated in the rankings. (ex: 1/2 of donations to Red & 1/2 to Blue) On the other hand, allied teams always work together & share a ranking (ex: all donations go to team Red+Blue).
How Can I Raise Money?
Any way you want, but we have some suggestions:
1. Making/selling things at your school/sport game/community event is a great way to raise money. We'll add our 3D-prints to thingiverse, feel free to sell them. Also remember, more creative fundraisers are more likely to win the MA. Try to take advantage of November/December holiday shopping.
2. You could also buy something & sell it. "Worlds Finest Chocolate" is a great brand to do this with.
3. Agree to do something if you hit your donation goal. Ex) Your Robotics Teacher and Team gets pied in the face.
4. Take inspiration from other teams on our socials.
Don't Forget To Tag Us #F2H_Robotics!
This will get the message out about what we're doing & make it easy for teams to take inspiration from each other's fundraisers. We'll also post updates about the fundraiser on our socials, in this fundraiser's comment section, & through email. This is also how we'll release the survey to vote on the MA.
Let's do this together! If every team raised just $70 we would surpass our $2,025 goal.
Contact: First2HarvestWins@gmail.com
Find us under F2H_Robotics on