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Regrant: Process, Procedures, and W-9 Requirements


Regrant Policy

Last revision August 2025

FIRST® receives funding from a variety of donors, some of which are designated as restricted grants. These are earmarked for specific purposes, such as covering team registration fees or purchasing materials through the FIRST Dashboard or FIRST® Tech Challenge Storefront. Restricted grants cannot be disbursed as direct payments to teams. Any unused funds from these grants are returned to the donor at the end of the season for future use at their discretion.

Program Eligibility for Regranting

Ineligible for Regranting (All Grant Types & Payments):

  • FIRST® LEGO® League – All Divisions
  • FIRST® Tech Challenge

Eligible for Regranting (Unrestricted Grant Funds & Payments Only):

  • FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC)

Regrant Requirements and Procedure

Applicable to U.S.-based FIRST Robotics Competition teams only.

For U.S.-based FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams, FIRST may also receive unrestricted grant funding and payments that can be disbursed directly to teams as a regrant. If your team is eligible for such funding, FIRST will regrant the funds to your team as a “pass-through” check.

All pass-through checks are subject to specific guidelines, including requirements that the funds be used solely for costs directly associated with participating in FIRST programs. 

These funds are issued in the form of a check, subject to the following conditions:

  1. Only U.S.-based FRC teams are eligible for regrants.
  2. FIRST receives a contribution with written donor’s designation that the funds are an unrestricted grant., The funds are added to the team’s account as a credit and can be used to pay outstanding fees.
  3. Once all fees and open purchase orders have been paid in full for the team, any unused unrestricted credit balances can be regranted.
  4. Funds must be used exclusively for expenses directly associated with participation in FIRST programs.
  5. FIRST cannot disburse funds directly to vendors or service providers of teams or schools. Funds can only be disbursed after submitting a fully filled in W-9 form to FIRST
  6. Regrant checks will be issued in batches made out to the legal entity on the W-9 and are limited to 3 regrants per team, per season.
    Request periods: 
    - October 1-31
    -December 15-June 30
  7. Teams must submit a formal regrant request by the regrant deadline, June 30th, and are responsible for maintaining expenditure receipts, which may be reviewed by FIRST for audit purposes.
  8. Teams are responsible for ensuring that regrant usage complies with the terms of the underlying grant agreement.  
  9. A valid IRS Form W-9 is required for all regrant requests. Checks can only be issued and mailed to the legal entity listed on the W-9. Checks cannot be made payable to individuals.
  10. Regrant requests must be submitted by June 30, the end of FIRST’s fiscal year.
  11. Regrants are subject to the guidelines outlined in the FIRST Gift Acceptance Policy

Submittal of IRS Form W-9 by all U.S. Based FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Teams

Every U.S.-based team receiving funding from a Donor must submit a fully completed and signed IRS Form W-9 to FIRST. The W-9 must be uploaded to the team’s FIRST Dashboard account prior to filing for a regrant.

 Please ensure the following required fields on the W9 are completed:

  • Line 1 
  • Line 2 (if applicable)
  • Line 3a*: If “other” is selected, provide a brief description of the specific entity type or Federal classification that doesn't fit into the other predefined categories
  • Address 
  • Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  • Signature & Date: The form must be signed and dated within the last 5 years, by an authorized representative of the organization.

Click here for an IRS Form W-9.  

Please Note:

  • The EIN is not a State Tax Exempt number.
  • FIRST cannot accept any IRS Form W-9 from an individual.  
  • It is the responsibility of the team to inform FIRST of any changes to their IRS Form W-9.
  • It is the responsibility of the team to inform their W-9 entity that a regrant check will be issued to them and then follow up with a copy of the submittable regrant application, and/or regrant policy. To ensure that the W-9 entity understands the restrictions on the intended use of the funding.
  1. What if I need to request a regrant but my team does not have an IRS Form W-9? 
  2. Sometimes teams are not directly associated with a school or an organization who can formally provide a W-9. We totally get that! Luckily, we have found that local organizations, such as libraries, booster clubs, afterschool organizations, youth organizations, and other charitable organizations (such as Hack Club- https://hackclub.com/bank/first/), will often accept the regrant on the team’s behalf and distribute the regrant funds to the team.

Regranting Procedure

Notice: By selecting this button, you will be leaving the FIRST website and be redirected to Submittable. Once you arrive at the Submittable website, you will need to create a Submittable account if you do not already have one.

Submit regrant