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

[sbtrfly74]

Other funky ideas I've seen would be "kidnapping" dignitaries and putting them in a fake jail til their friends posted "bail." I'd just as soon they left the politicians in there.

off topic - couldnt find the smiley

My uncle stole a statue from his brothers house (they live 1000 miles apart so must have been a special occasion). He would take pictures of the statue and mail them to a friend in another state with a ransom note (then they would mail them back to his brother so he wouldnt recognize anyone from that state)... he did this for years all over the country and his brother still doesnt know who did it and has his statue.

 

[Ceila]

I think it's a cute idea!

Here are my thoughts on executing it: I think that the anti-flocking insurance might end up being a pain to track. And, when someone does get flocked, make sure that the note left explains that it will be cleaned up in X amount of time. Also, I'd skip making them pay extra to have it cleaned up early. Include a phone number so that if they do want it removed right away, it can be done, or you're likely to end up with negative publicity instead of creating good will toward your group.

 

[Nancyg56]

A couple of groups here do that or the kidnapping. I much prefer plastic birds because it doesn't interrupt my day.

I wouldn't do it to someone known to be uptight about their yard, of course.

Extortion? I suspect that they'd come get them regardless because there is a schedule. Some people are scary!

Op, maybe if they left a box for the grumpy people.

There is a schedule IIR. They were placed at sundown one evening, remained two or three days and disappeared like magic. As I said before, people make arrangements so they know who they are going to lock and if that flocking would be okay.

 

[StephMK]

DD's choir or show choir group (forget which) does flocking as a fundraiser. I have never seen them in anyone's yard so I don't know how popular it is.

I hired them to flock our yard for DD's 18th bday party. It was cute and 3 of the flamingos wore sparkly dresses & necklaces!

 

[mom2rtk]

I had a garage full of flamingos for a while this spring. My son's National Honor Society does it to select teachers every year. I thought it was cute.

 

[Lynne M]

I think there'd be a limited audience for that kind of thing. It doesn't seem like a very effective fundraiser to me. And way too much chance of misunderstandings and unpleasantness. Someone decides to surprise a relative, who mistakes a bunch of teenagers sneaking around the back yard at night for vandals, the police get called, etc.

And what if someone gets annoyed and refuses to pay to have the flamingos removed and trashes them? Now you're losing money. Just because the 'pranker' who pays to have a friend or relative flocked thinks they'll take it well, doesn't mean they will.

I bet you'd raise a lot more money doing something constructive, like a car wash, instead of pranking people.

 

[aprilgail2]

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.

I agree! We did it as a fundraiser for my daughters class one year and did not encounter ONE person like some on this thread-most thought it was great and most of the ones we flocked sent in orders to have other people flocked! We raised a couple thousand dollars by flocking that year! I got flocked 3 times in one week lol- darn things would "fly away" and the next day they would be back again lol.

 

[Katlyn]

It wouldn't bother me and I would prefer the flamingos over the purple potty that made the rounds a few years ago. I think that was an ACS fundraiser.

 

[ebtbmom]

I think it sounds fun, but just be selective about who you flock I guess. Sounds like some people would be furious. Granted, other than mow and weed eat, we do nothing to our yard, we like to go with the au naturale look.

 

[Jennasis]

I don't get it...do people pay to have them put in their yard or are these things showing up unasked for in people's yard and then the fundraising group essentially extorting money out of them to remove the birds? Tongue-in-cheek of course. But which is it?

 

[aprilgail2]

I don't get it...do people pay to have them put in their yard or are these things showing up unasked for in people's yard and then the fundraising group essentially extorting money out of them to remove the birds? Tongue-in-cheek of course. But which is it?

You pay to have them sent to your friends- it comes with a note saying who flocked you. It costs you nothing if you are flocked- the person that sent them to you is the one that pays.

 

[Jennasis]

You pay to have them sent to your friends- it comes with a note saying who flocked you. It costs you nothing if you are flocked- the person that sent them to you is the one that pays.

Gotcha! I suppose you'd better know the folks you're sending them to really well. While it's a cute idea on its face, with the crazy, often litigious society we live in, I would never chance this fundraiser if I were coordinating something.

 

[Pea's Mom]

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.

 

[mamacatnv]

OH MY Gosh, so that's what that is!
We just moved to Central TX and within a week in our new home, we saw a flock party that moved around our neighborhood, we thought it was great but had no clue who/what/how.

I would totally loved to be flocked, heck I would pay to have it done to us.
However, that said, I have no idea how good of a fundraiser it would be but thanks for shining the light of clarity on something we have puzzled over for a few months.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I think it sounds like fun.

It wouldn't work in my area though - too many gated communities and Homeowners Associations with rules about what is allowed.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Thank you for all of your responses.

And just as an FYI - we are only in the brainstorming phase and no activty has occured yet. If we do decide to pursue this idea it will be under the supervision of adults. The youth aren't old enough to drive and would be transported to and fro under reasonable circumstances.

And thank you to those who filled in the blanks for me. It is correct, the person putting in the order is the payee.

I do agree that some of the variations such as paying for early removal wouldn't be an option many would choose.

We have a guideline form we found from another site, stating more info as to who flocked you, for what purpose, when they will leave and such.

 

[Wendy31]

I adore flamingos!!

Our back yard deck is decorated w/ flamingos. And, during the summer season, I've got a "Welcome" flamingo sign on our front door, a flamingo "welcome" mat, & a flamingo/sand dollar wind chime.

So I would absolutely love it if our yard got flocked!!!!

And, even if I didn't like flamingos, I think the idea is really cute & fun!!!

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

We did something similar for Relay For Life. We only ran into one family that was upset. They had underground sprinklers and were afraid we broke the line.

Another team did a giant truck made out of boxes. It was huge!

We made a lot of money with it. It was just really a lot of work transporting and making sure we went to the right house.

 

[Laura66]

I'm pretty easy going and enjoy pranks - but no way would we want this done to our yard.

 

[wishing4PA]

I like flamingos, and it does sound funny (and personally, I would love to see a flocked yard), but I still do not like this idea as a fundraiser. First, you have no idea if the "flockee" will be happy about it. There are too many possible things to go wrong: flockee hears a noise and lets out guard dog, flockee just applied ant poison over the entire yard, flockee didn't apply ant poison and yard is infested with fire ants, etc. Then, even if the flockee isn't required to pay for removal (and doesn't remove them himself), there might be a subtle form of social "extortion" in that flockee may feel obligated to purchase a flocking of someone else, whether or not flockee's budget permits it or flockee is supportive of your group. Then, some people mentioned the HOA factor. If the flockee gets fined by the HOA, flockee's sense of humor is going to take a nosedive.

I much prefer some of the prior suggestions where a service is provided to the person paying, whether it be decorating the payer's yard with flags, washing the payer's car, etc. Yes, payer may still feel "guilted" into getting this done, even if payer doesn't want to spend $ for your cause, but it's much more appropriate, IMHO.