Would you "flock" somebody or get "flocked" as a fundraiser ?

[FlightlessDuck]

Never heard of it. Personally, a find a lot of fundraising to be a waste of time and puts more money in the pockets of fundraising companies than the actual group you are trying to raise funds for.

 

[krcit]

I would definitely pay to flock a couple of my friends, they would love it!

 

[Nancyg56]

Never heard of it. Personally, a find a lot of fundraising to be a waste of time and puts more money in the pockets of fundraising company's than the actual group you are trying to raise funds for.

Most of the organizations that do this kind of fundraising are directly connected to the purpose. They are not organized by commission based companies. For instance, the booster club in our town donates the money to our school system, is run by adults, and has almost no overhead. The flocking fundraisers require almost no upfront money to start and that initial investment has a long shelf life. It dies not require volunteers to pitch in personal money on Zn ongoing basis, and raises more than the volunteers donate.

Flocking can be fun, but those folks who purchase a flock should know their audience. If someone would not enjoy the "birds" it would not be cute to flock them. If a flock backfires, I bet it is because someone bought the flock knowing their victim would not appreciate the humor.

 

[robinb]

While I think it's a cute idea, we found out the hard way not everyone agrees. My DD's Girl Scout troop does this as a fundraiser for a 2016 trip to Europe. When her turn came around we were setting out the flock when the entire family came out and the mother proceeds to have her daughter call 911 on us. Not worth it. Needless to say, DD hasn't flocked anyone since.

That was overkill. Didn't someone help setting the flock up know the family?

 

[anniemae]

It's cute, but sounds like a lot of work. Do you have to have a crew "on the ready" in case someone wants them cleaned early? Then people have to clean them, take them to another house etc. What if nobody can go remove them?

 

[Nancyg56]

It's cute, but sounds like a lot of work. Do you have to have a crew "on the ready" in case someone wants them cleaned early? Then people have to clean them, take them to another house etc. What if nobody can go remove them?

The people who commit to this fundraiser generally have a schedule. I imagine in teh event a family wants them removed immediately, they have folks who could do this.

 

[pat fan]

I think flocking is hysterical! Funny story. I think the flamingo's are funny, so last year I bought a couple in put them in my front yard. They're cute and make me smile. Anyway, my DS comes to visit and asks if I've been flocked. No, I say. Why do you ask? Well why do you have flamingo's in your yard? he asks. Cause I like them, I reply. He shakes his head and dies of embarrassment....To each their own I guess!

I really don't know anyone who would be offended by it, but I guess I live in a mellower community!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The flocking fundraisers require almost no upfront money to start and that initial investment has a long shelf life..

Oh, so there's no flocking companies, then? That's a little better than, say, selling candy or pizza or coupon books.

 

[skylizard]

Wow, there are some pretty uptight posters on this thread. They're plastic birds in your yard. I think it sounds like fun and sure beats the kids panhandling outside the grocery store.

It's silly that people would get so mad over that. Sure I wouldn't be thrilled about being "flocked", but I'd appreciate their effort at trying to raise funds for something important to them.

 

[Burnedout]

Oh, so there's no flocking companies, then? That's a little better than, say, selling candy or pizza or coupon books.

I hate those companies! We get calls to help our police dept and they can't even tell me what city or the percentage the locals supposedly get.

 

[mom2rtk]

Ever wonder where those cutie pies hang out in between appearances?



flamingos by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[Nancyg56]

Oh, so there's no flocking companies, then? That's a little better than, say, selling candy or pizza or coupon books.

It is actually a lot better. The books and candy sales are outside companies as well, so the donation to the cause is minimal. When you have fundraisers such a Flocking, the organization is closely connected to whatever group is going to benefit, so the overhead is minimal and the profits are channeled directly to the group. These are volunteers who have no expectation of payment. I would bet that with the exception of the initial investment of flamingos, the sales are all donated to the group.

 

[aprilgail2]

Oh, so there's no flocking companies, then? That's a little better than, say, selling candy or pizza or coupon books.

We bought our flamingos at the dollar tree-minimal expense. One dad made the wood signs saying "you've been flocked" to put next to the flock at each house.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

To answer a few questions,

It's correct that we would not be working with a flocking company (if there is such one) we would be doing it ourselves.

The start up cost is minimal $1-2 per bird, so that if the event occured where the birds are sent to a "sanctuary" there would be very little loss.

There will be no high pressure door to door type pitches. The youth and parents had discussed with offering to family first, and whomever accepts we will be greatful, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with somebody saying no or not being interested.

There would be guidelines set up and agreed upon before we even go through with purchasing the birds.

Everything would be donation based, we may settle on having suggestions per size flock, but there is not hard and fast set price.

Yes, there would be a youth/parent network "crew" that would be avaliable to rescue any birds that were about to be sent to the sanctuary.

Thank you for all the suggestions and input

 

[clarkshel]

Wow, there are some pretty uptight posters on this thread. They're plastic birds in your yard. I think it sounds like fun and sure beats the kids panhandling outside the grocery store.

Op, I do think it's a fundraiser that should be carefully supervised by adults to ensure the kids don't get overly enthusiastic.

It is DIS, what did you expect? It is full of them. Lol

 

[Pea's Mom]

That was overkill. Didn't someone help setting the flock up know the family?

I have no idea, but did find out later that it was the woman's ex who ordered the flocking. I'm guessing it wasn't a happy split . I hope the requests are being better screened now, as I said DD is more than reluctant to do it again.

 

[FlyingDumbo]

Someone flocked my Gram and she got such a kick out of it! The elderly folks flocked each other with great enthusiasm for weeks, she lives in an over 55 community! They had a great time with it. Great fun and great sense of humor. It was a point of pride to get a photo with your flock. Now they have a knome making his way around the neighborhood.

 

[MissMichigan]

I'd never heard of this before seeing this thread, but it sounds fun. I think I would participate. We don't need any more candy, pizza, candles, or wrapping paper.

The only problem would be here in Tucson, no one has a yard! It's all just rocks and cacti, so I'm not sure it would work as well as it would somewhere with real grass front yards.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Our church youth group did it and it was a huge success and they made a ton of money. Here are a few things they did that made it work.

-We live in the South where church families are close and most know each other.

-They only flocked church families.

-When they started, people would "sponsor" a flamingo. Basically they paid for the bird so there was no start up cost. They had like 75+ birds.

-The fund-raiser had a limited life span....like 6 months maybe. It does get old.

-You could buy flock insurance for like 20.00 and no one could flock you.

-You pay the group to flock whomever you want to. I'm thinking it was like 20.00 too, it's been a while.

-They would be removed in 3 days, or if you wanted instant removal, you would pay like 10.00 or something.

No one got upset and it was a lot of fun and made some money they used on a mission trip.

 

[NFLDERS]

It is actually a lot better. The books and candy sales are outside companies as well, so the donation to the cause is minimal. When you have fundraisers such a Flocking, the organization is closely connected to whatever group is going to benefit, so the overhead is minimal and the profits are channeled directly to the group. These are volunteers who have no expectation of payment. I would bet that with the exception of the initial investment of flamingos, the sales are all donated to the group.

. Awesome!