Flag Fundraisers

[studdman]

Does anyone have experience with flag fundraisers? Pro's, Con's, Words of advice or flag companies to go to? Our Troop (64) is looking into the idea.

 

Thanks!

[Eamonn]

Sad to say I can't help you.

Still welcome to the forums. Maybe if you give a few more details someone will be able to help.

Eamonn

[studdman]

We started the flag fundraiser for residential neighborhoods, and modified it bit. It has such a large potential to make some big $$$. We bought flags 10 at a time that come with 2' epoxy coted rebar. Then at the homes of our subscribers, we intall a 13" PVC pipe in the ground and cap it. Then, when it comes time to put up the flag, all that needs to be done is remove the cap, put the rebar inside the pipe and place the flag over the rebar. We charge $35 for 7 holidays. So far we have 25 suscribers and more on the way. The first and second to the last day's of the fundraiser, put flyers on the neighbors 2 to the left and right and 4 across the street directing them to look at the flag that their neighbor has and that they can have the same thing too. That keeps more flags in a smaller area. The potential for $$$ is large. The flags cost 15.50 each with shipping. Get businesses to donate the cost of the flags. Don't take the hit the first year on funds. We managed to raise 1000 dollars to purchase flags in just a short amout of time. If you live in a smaller community, limit an area, or divide the area into sectors. Then take the troop and divde them up and establish routes. This way, 100 or 200 flags are managable. In one year a troop can make $3500 with just 100 flags! Divide the town up into those sectors, (we have 4) so that makes 25 flags per sector. We have 20 (boys, leaders) total, so 5 per sector. 4-5 boys can put up flags in no time, with a leader driving the truck, especially if they are in a concentrated area.

[johndaigler]

Interesting concept!

Never heard of such a thing . . .

I wonder if "subscribers" would be interested in honoring gravesites in such a way?

 

jd

[frank10]

Thanks for the update!...

 

"We charge $35 for 7 holidays"

Which 7? Vet's day, Memorial day, the 4th, flagday.. that's 4. hmm - 9/11? President's day? MLK? Labor day? Bet this is easier than I'm making it.

 

Any how, I plan to pass this one along to the troop, sounds like it might work for us too.

[studdman]

We do the following Holidays:

 

President's Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Patriot Day (9/11), $ Veterans Day.

 

I have searched many sites for good flags. They all offer this very same flag package. I found this site to be the cheapest. We purchased 60 flags and they gave us a discount.

 

https://www.colonialflag.com/article.php?article_id=6

 

Don't go through the headache of pounding those stakes into the ground. It takes too much time.

 

For another flag fundraiser, I knew of a guy who was in the scouting program in Seattle. They went to businesses to get the flags and worked with the city to get special mounting brackets installed on light posts. When a business wanted a subscription, they mounted the flag on all federal holidays, not just the 7 mentioned. They also had businesses donate the flags. He said that the first few years were decent, but when other businesses who did not subscribe saw what they had done, they got on board to. He said that they made enough money to go to National Jamboree one year. I think doing the business thing would be much easier. All you have to do is go down the street with flags bundled in your hand and plant them in a holder one by one. It would be conceivable to have 200+ or more subscribers if you are in a large city. That is $7000 dollars for just placing a flag.

 

JD, to answer your thought, the local VFW I believe has been the one installing flags on the cemetery site. Putting them on grave sites would be even easier, especially if you are in a large cemetery. All you need is the smaller flags, and the potential exists for 300 or more there. (Thats $10,500 per year) A good ad campaign and getting the city involved in it helps. Word travels fast, especially in smaller communities. If anyone has more questions, please ASK!

 

[t487scouter]

Could be the area I live in but this didn't work for us. We knocked on 500 doors, handed out fliers and now have 4 accounts. For 140/year, it is not worth it to us to put up and take down the flags for the 7 holidays. I am now wondering if I should canvas the area again and hope to get more accounts and make it worthwhile or just quit at the end of this year. Problem is I have not found any other fundraiser that has worked. I just started this troop and have put in more than 2k of my own money in camping gear etc. I have been racking my brain trying to think of something that doesn't compete with school/sports like candy and popcorn and nothing yet works. We even made bird houses out of cedar with license plate roofs, everyone though they were great yet only sold about 20. I am actually thinking about having the boys make picnic tables and try to sell them. I have found that projects which the boys get to make something really gets them motivated, I just need to find the right thing!

[studdman]

I can't imagine how frustrated you may be by only getting 4 subs. How large is your community?

 

Here are some more fundraising Ideas:

 

Having a Car Wash and or a rummage sale is good way to make a thousand dollars. A few years ago we did two fundraisers in back to back weekends. One weekend we did a rummage sale and made $1200. To get the merchandise, we went around to yard sales and offered to take what they didn't sell. We also placed and ad in the paper asking for donations for things to put in the sale. We got an Army/Navy store to donate a bunch of clothes, backpacks, mess kits, etc. The next weekend, we had a carwash and sold hotdogs at Wal-Mart. They usually match dollar for dollar, but that wasn't available at that time. We put an empty 3 gallon water jug taped down at the table and sold the hot dogs and car washes by donation. We made a little over $800 dollars. We got Safeway to donate the buns and the hot dogs were cheap. You just need someone with a food handlers card to sit at the stand. I am not sure what kind of area you live in, but I have known troops who have in the past sold firewood in advance, then had the National Guard cut wood in the forest and the boys hauled it in. The guy told me that they made a few thousand easy, because wood, around here goes for 80-100 bucks a cord.

 

I know of a troop that has a desert banquet where they treat their guests to desert and they get local businesses to donate merchandise etc. They hold an auction for this merchandise. They advertise on the radio and newspaper. I am told that they do quite well for themselves.

 

Another idea is when communities hold their annual festivals, especially in warmer climates, scouts get bottled water donated and offer to sell them by donation. The potential there is good

 

I have heard of scouts run a food booth around county fair time. This is good, especially for larger troops. They can pull in quite a lot of money. It takes a lot of help to do something like this, but the profit margin is large.

 

 

[studdman]

I can't imagine how frustrated you may be by only getting 4 subs. How large is your community?

 

Here are some more fundraising Ideas:

 

Having a Car Wash and or a rummage sale is good way to make a thousand dollars. A few years ago we did two fundraisers in back to back weekends. One weekend we did a rummage sale and made $1200. To get the merchandise, we went around to yard sales and offered to take what they didn't sell. We also placed and ad in the paper asking for donations for things to put in the sale. We got an Army/Navy store to donate a bunch of clothes, backpacks, mess kits, etc. The next weekend, we had a carwash and sold hotdogs at Wal-Mart. They usually match dollar for dollar, but that wasn't available at that time. We put an empty 3 gallon water jug taped down at the table and sold the hot dogs and car washes by donation. We made a little over $800 dollars. We got Safeway to donate the buns and the hot dogs were cheap. You just need someone with a food handlers card to sit at the stand. I am not sure what kind of area you live in, but I have known troops who have in the past sold firewood in advance, then had the National Guard cut wood in the forest and the boys hauled it in. The guy told me that they made a few thousand easy, because wood, around here goes for 80-100 bucks a cord.

 

I know of a troop that has a desert banquet where they treat their guests to desert and they get local businesses to donate merchandise etc. They hold an auction for this merchandise. They advertise on the radio and newspaper. I am told that they do quite well for themselves.

 

Another idea is when communities hold their annual festivals, especially in warmer climates, scouts get bottled water donated and offer to sell them by donation. The potential there is good

 

I have heard of scouts run a food booth around county fair time. This is good, especially for larger troops. They can pull in quite a lot of money. It takes a lot of help to do something like this, but the profit margin is large.

 

 

[OneHour]

A troop nearby has been doing the Flag deal for several years now. Each year, from what I understand, they bring in around $12k a year. The end result is that the boys get a lot of subsidies for their travels ... and they travelled. This past summer, they took 15 boys to Scottland for about $300 out-pocket-pay for each boy! The year before they took the whole troop to Alaska trip, etc.

 

Our troop is trying to model after theirs. We are looking at charging $30 for 6 holidays with the boys keeping a large chunk of the proceeds in their personal accounts. $1 for planting, $1 for picking up or $12 for the 6 holidays. Each boy gets $3 for each subscription that he sold. So a boy stand to get $15 out of $30 for each flag. Even if our troop does 200 flags, I'm happy. That's $3,000 to the troop's piggy and $3,000 to the boys' camping fees. Of course, the start up cost will have to be accounted for, but after two years, we figure that this will beat many car washes and popcorn sales. The only drawback is that popcorn sales help the District and Council as well.

 

We have a local flag maker to make our flags. I'm not sure of the cost. I think that it's in the neighborhood of $5-$7 a 3x5 flag. We used the schedule 40 pvc and I think it is 1.25 in size. We use a handheld pounder (auger) to pound the schedule 40 into the ground. So far our pilot sale was to our community association. They bought 7 flags for their office. We are in the process of getting sponsors to sponsor the purchase of the flags and equipment. In return, we place their business names on our flyer as we distribute them throughout the neighborhood. So far so good. We will start the effort after our new Webelos families are settled in (say ... April time frame). We are expecting 25 of them!

 

This is why I posted the question on scout's personal account.

 

From our observations and talks to the troop that was successful, the key is to have active involvement of the scout and his parent. This requires a lot of work. Just for our pilot, it took a lot to put those seven pvc pipes into the ground. There are issues such as ... sprinkler lines, roots, sewer pipes that were not burried deep enough, cement that were mistakenly poured and left burried in the ground, etc. So cons are the necessary steps needed to ensure that the pipe planted is planted in a hopefully clear area.

 

Pros ... as I have said, if it works out, it beats car washes and popcorn sales several times over. We may even can afford a new trailer, new chuck boxes, new equipment, new tents to replace the 10 years old ones that stood up to the beating of the boys, and subsidize the boys camping fees (that is my personal goal ... it has been very painful to the pocket)! Good luck.

 

1Hour

[studdman]

OneHour

 

The problem I have is that I am forbidden to have personal Scout accounts. Since we are an LDS troop, having those kind of things are against church policy. So, the motivation of selling is limited. I tried really hard to have personal scout accounts, but the Bishop read from the handbook concerning that matter.

 

That troop you know, how exactly do they run their fundraiser?

 

As for the PVC, we have a good method of installation. We pound in a wide stake and that opens the hole. Then we insert the PVC and cap it. We prefer to place them where there is no grass and where having a bit of pipe peaking out of the ground isn't too noticeable. So far, we haven't had any problems of what you mention.

 

On order to compensate the boys' time and parents, we set a minimum for attendance. If the boy's meet that, they get summer camp paid for, and what is left over goes towards other camping trips and outings.

 

[t487scouter]

Studdman, thanks for the additional thoughts. I am in Wa as well, just north of Vancouver. We have had xmas tree recycling fundraisers every year, what used to yield 2500 now pulls in about 500. I thought the flag service was a great idea, I just don't know why it failed. I bought flags at Home Depot for the few accounts we have. I do have a phone number that would sell 3x5, American made flags for about $3.50 if they were bought in bulk (100) I can try to find it if you are interested. I used EMT, I was afraid of the plastic bowing. I use 3/4" for the base and 1/2" for the flag pole. To install the bases I sharpened a piece of 3/4 EMT and welded a handle across the top. I can then push it into soft soil or hammer it into hard soil. Made the mistake of putting the 1st few into grass, even with careful measuring and marking the sidewalk they are too difficult to find. Thought about buying a metal detector if we could get more accounts. I got this idea from a SM in TX. He told me that he sends some boys out the day before the holiday and they place those little yard flags (2x2" plastic flags on a wire) that they use for marking utilities and invisible dog fences in their holders so they spend less time placing the flags. Also, using EMT you can use connectors for the metal pipe. I figured if I ever get any parents that are interested in helping out they may not have a truck to haul the flags. I could cut the poles into 2 5' pieces so they could haul them in their cars.(This message has been edited by t487scouter)

[studdman]

t487scouter

Glad to meet a fellow Washingtonian. I am in the bustling metropolis of Ephrata. The flag package we use was meant for outdoor use. The epoxy coated rebar is inserted inside the PVC that goes in around 12-13 inches. That helps give the PVC pole that the flag is mounted to some strength and stability. True, having a 7 foot flagpole can be hard to manage, but we have found that they fit inside most minivans. Using trucks is the ideal method. The flags come in increments of 10 inside a tube. This makes it good for storage and keeps the dust out.

Another fundraiser that I thought of is have a community flag day where you advertise and work with local leaders to have the citizens trade their old flags for new ones, or just get one for themselves, either by donation, or for free. This could even be an eagle project. Get businesses to donate the flags, advertise around the community, and have a flag swap old for new. Then take the old flags and have a public ceremony or just one with the scouts, and retire them formally.

The key to any fundraiser success is advertising! Radio, Newspaper, flyer's, the works! Radio stations have to do public service announcements per order of FCC, and many newspapers will print your project for free or at a significantly reduced cost.

If a troop is suffering with an inflow of money, then they are not doing the right things to make their fund-raising successful. We try and stay away from things that require purchasing up front, such as candy, first aid kits, etc. Doing a fundraiser that involves the community and keeps the scouting program in the public eye is a good thing. Many of these people were, in one time or another, involved in scouting. When they see a need, they contribute.

 

[frank10]

Studdman, Thanks for this info. We just ordered our first 10 flag kits, now to see how it works out. If it works I like the image it will present.

 

We are adding this to our current fund raisers - Popcorn, can drive and flint and steel kits ( http://www.onmyhonor.com/events0001/flint/ )

 

[studdman]

One thing about the PVC pipes, make sure you shave off the ends of the pipes, otherwise, you will not be able to get the caps of. We had a fixed belt sander and we took off about an inch down the pipe and just enough so the cap will still fit on it, but loose enough to take it off. Does this make sense? Dry fitting PVC is a nightmare. Those caps will stay in place too well if you don't shave off the sides about an inch down in one end. We just had our first rollout last week. It went very well. Picked up 3 more subscribers for a total of 27. It would be a good idea to have the local paper go out on your next run. The publicity will help the troop get more subscribers, and is good PR for the local troop.