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FLY THE COLORS CAMPAIGN
The Task• Board to vote – ”Go” or “No”• If “Go” solicit volunteers to manage:• Product Creation, Supply Mgmt. & Testing• Marketing• Creating Interest • Local Outlets: Grocery stores, Coffee cafes, • Solicitation• Should we have neighborhood representatives?• Installation• Take Down / Storage / Inventory & Supply Management for the following spring
Ridgefield, Connecticut• Ridgefield Rotary Club launched the program about 6 years ago to residential homeowner communities• Ridgefield Fire Department manages the flags in the business district• Copied the pgm from Canfield Ohio – where streets are flat.• 600 +subscribers today. Increases in numbers by approx. 100 subscribers per year. • Transactional Churn = 250/year: They lose about 75 each year - relocation/deaths and add 175 each year yielding the incremental growth of 100 per year.• Launched publicity for the Fly the Colors Pgm within Town.• Flags are installed pre Memorial day and stay in place till post Veterans Day.• Public loves seeing flags on both side of the street. Ridgefield has become a very patriotic town.• Support local veterans in CT. Rotary donates about $18K per year to veterans. They support a cause teaching vets on how to get back into the work force.• They replace for free any torn flags. • Flags are Rotary Club assets.
Subscription• All subscriptions are handled online.• Subscribers can sign up for 4 years total at a time.• Rotary sends out renewal notices that go out in February – end• Some order/renew automatically on their website.• They decided that every subscriber from last year goes in this year again. If they don’t pay up, they get the benefit of a free year and are eliminated from the list the following year.
The Product• 14” white PVC pipe in ground• Initially, Ridgefield ordered PVC in longer lengths from a local lumber yard and cut them.• Cap on the PVC pipe• 10’ poles • Flags are 4 x 6 or 3 x 5(?). • The Rotary has sampled several different flag manufacturers. Not all flags are created equal.
Installation• Rotary has a volunteer installation committee• One or two members must know how to use an auger or be trained on the same• Drill a hole in ground.• When the PVC pipe goes into the ground, they place the PVC pipingso the flag is perpendicular to the front door of the house. • The Rotary member marks the location of the PVC pipe. To do so, they use white spray paint in the road perpendicular to where the PVC pipe is located. • PVC pipes are placed relatively close to the street, about two feet in.• Need members with trucks; 10-foot flags won’t fit in a car.• Easy program but includes effort, to pull together.
Issues the Ridgefield Rotary Has Encountered• At one point some residents wanted the Police flag. There was push back from others on that idea for the reason that it dilutes the effect of having consistent American flags throughout Town. The Police flag is history at this point. • Vandalism – The flags are not bolted or chained. Police caught kids stealing the flags and assigned them to community service.
Advice• Start off slowly. Build the program gradually rather than get loads of subscribers in the beginning because it is a lot of work.• Advertise the program through the local paper. Local website. Word gets out. That’s where people will become aware of who you are.• Not worth it to put something on the pole to advertise the Veterans Foundation. Poles are skinny. People won’t see it anyway.
Vets Foundation Installation Pgm Process Recommendation –Brain Trust Source: George Hall, Eric Fox, Ellen Manzo• Order arrives with schematic for location 2 ft off road or sidewalk. The schematic will include homeowner notice for irrigationsystems.• Foundation goes to site with spray paint and places a white “x” for where the flag will be installed. Marking out the intended location in advance also alerts subscribers to the planned location. That way, they can communicate with us if the planned location needs to be moved per their view for any reason. • Foundation notifies USA - Underground Service Alert• Within 48 hours, utility companies are expected to identify where utilities are located on the property. • If There is no marking performed by any of the utility companies, that is clear indication that there is no under the surfaceinterference. • USA sends an email to us alerting us to the fact that no utility exists.• Instead of using an auger, George would prefer to use a cylinder that can contain the PVC pipe internal to it. The cylinder gets hammered into the ground and pulled out thereby leaving the PVC pipe in place. “This approach provides a nice tight hole with a nice tight fit.” – G Hall • Foundation contact notifies Boys Team Charity of addresses for installation. • The balance of the installation in May and take down in November is handled by Boys Team Charity.
• All volunteer, Ages 10 – 18, stretch across 7 grades in school – organized by class (Class of ’24, ’25, etc.)• Organized into regional leagues with chapters by location• The Fox husband & wife team are Los Gatos League Chapter Heads for zip codes 95032/30• There is a Saratoga league• 30-50 leagues around the country.• The Los Gatos chapter has over 200 boys• Includes Moms and Dads stretching meeting attendance to 350 at times.• Someone is responsible for each of the philanthropies whom they support e.g., House of Hope, Second Harvest• No pre-qualification for who can join other than someone needs to know the candidate.• Boys sign up to commit donation hours each year. On average 10 – 15 volunteer hours.
• Board meets monthly• Everything is real time.• The organization is good with publicity• They do not need a general meeting to publicize this.• Especially important to get the boys to be able to speak with veterans, i.e., the benefactors of their efforts. Connecting veterans with the boys would be very important.
The Task –Looking for Volunteers and Vote• Board to vote – ”Go” or “No”• If “Go” solicit volunteers to manage:• Product Creation, Supply Mgmt. & Testing• Marketing• Creating Interest • Local Outlets: Grocery stores, Coffee cafes, • Solicitation• Should we have neighborhood representatives?• Installation• Take Down / Storage / Supply Management
Sample Suppliers
https://www.united-states-flag.com/white-titan-12ft-flagpole-with-3ftx5ft-us-flag.html