<div>We all need a space to feel we belong and where we are supported. This is what Flocks aim to do for ornithologists. For the past two years, three professional ornithological societies have been working in concert to develop affinity groups—or “Flocks”— to create spaces for ornithologists to gather with those with similar experiences and backgrounds, and to share resources, network, and provide support for each other.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Guiding this effort are lessons learned from the first and only affinity group for ornithologists and insights gained through a survey of ornithological society members. From our interviews with the existing affinity group members, we were struck by the role the group played in strengthening a sense of belonging within ornithology and among members of ornithological societies. One member expressed the value this way: “It felt like I had a place to go, that I wasn’t going to be alone.” Our survey, which includes data from 1175 members of the three ornithological societies, shows that there is great interest in affinity groups —with nearly half of the respondents wanting to join one–and more wanting to support them.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Through the hard work of over 40 people for more than two years, the Flocks were preparing to launch in the summer of 2025 at the three ornithological societies’ annual scientific meetings. These plans have been interrupted as federal funding priorities recently shifted with the new administration. Our four-year grant proposal to implement the Flocks project will not be funded as the federal grant program to support inclusivity in science fields was eliminated. Further, our current funds were put in jeopardy with recent executive orders.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are calling on the membership of professional ornithological societies to champion this effort—especially well-established members who are well-aware of the importance of feeling a sense of belonging and support in ornithology! Your donations will allow us to launch the Flocks this summer as planned, with adequate bridge funding for a Coordinator to support the volunteer Flock leaders and the needed funding to kick off our new Flocks. These funds will also afford us more time to shift our focus to appeals for long-term funding from private foundations or donors to help sustain our Flocks.
</div>

Lindsay Easter

Margaret Whitehead

Megan Tamakloe

Carolyn Matzinger

Tyler D'Antonio

Danielle Hupp

Suzy Cahn

Anuradha Desai

Anaar Desai-Stephens

Jeff Nickels

Rachel Darling

Luanne Johnson

Kim Derrickson

Sheila Conant

David Aborn

Anonymous

Katie LaBarbera

Maina Handmaker

Stacey Faught

Pamela Van Fleet

Help Flocks take flights for ornithologists!

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Flocks take flights for ornithologists!

Still $12,090 to go. Help us build momentum.