>> why would you differentiate these groups from Washington and Oregon
>> chapters of Audubon (not all of which have "professional staff", BTW)?

>Why not, I thought Audubon was a national organisation ??

>Do they contribute to national coffers or is the organisation a federation ??

Ahh!!! I could just e-mail to you, but on the chance there are others
who don't know the structure...

The national organization and affiliated chapters are separate. Chapters
themselves tax-exempt not-for-profit organizations under the IRS code.
We, like all exempts, have a President, Treasurer, Secretary (required
by law, just like a corporation) and a board (defined by our charter).

To be an affiliate of National Audubon, a chapter must have a certain
structure, i.e. a Conservation Committee, etc etc, each of which has
at least one Board member. This requirement actually warps very large
chapters like PAS where, for instance, Education is run by a staff
member who reports to a Committee of the Board - the Committee being
necessary due to the dictated nature of our charter.

People who join National Audubon are assigned by fiat to the
chapter which "owns" their address, and the chapter gets a piece
(about 1/4, I believe, currently) of their membership fee - the
size of the piece differs for new vs. renewal memberships, etc.

Some chapters - such as PAS and I believe SAS - have "Friends of"
memberships. This allows you to join the local chapter without
joining the National organization, and in our case (PAS) at least
your money stays home. The charter requires chapter Board Members
to belong to National Audubon, if not I'd join the Friend of PAS
and that would be it.

Some chapters do help out National via participation in their
fund-raising Birdathon. PAS does not - we run our own and keep
the money. They've asked us to join their effort (and give them
1/3 or 1/2 of the proceeds) but we've refused - we did Birdathons
several years before NAS picked up on the idea.

PAS history with NAS is different than many chapters - we were
independent and only joined NAS in the late-60s/early-70s in
order to get their help with national issues. (PAS was formed
before WW I). We sometimes regret it...

Under Peter Berle's rule, which ended recently, NAS shifted emphasis
from chapter work to national lobbying. This has caused a lot
of upset in the chapters, including PAS. We are hopeful, though,
that the new leadership will move towards a more balanced position.
For the chapters, the lobbying roll is of course important. But
for the smaller chapters especially, organization help, materials,
membership fee sharing, etc is very important.

Larger chapters like PAS mostly want more cooperation. "send
us your direct mail schedule so you don't ding our members
the same week we ding 'em" - that kind of thing (and quit
dinging them eight times a day, gawddamnit!!!). Smaller chapters
lean on NAS (and have missed the shoulder to lean on recently);
large chapters feel leaned on and want our big brother to quit
acting like a bully.

So - yes, it is like a federation, but chapters don't have anyway
to vote other than for board members of NAS. Recently NAS
decided that a number of board positions would come from
the chapters, and we think this may help.

Also, lest I seem too negative, NAS has done a lot on the old-growth
issue, though PNW chapters felt like they had to beat 'em over the
head to get them involved. At least they didn't cut a deal with
Hatfield the way national Sierra Club (fronted by their Oregon
chapter) did! And the Audubon Activist is very good - and you
can get it, BTW, without joining either your local chapter
or NAS, by pledging to write or call your congresscritters
twice a year. And, of course, only national organizations
can apply organized lobbying pressure in Congress.

Audubon has a good capacity for a "hit 'em high and low" approach -
nat'l lobbying plus grassroots pressure. We hope the new leadership
has a clearer understanding of the importance of the latter - which
comes from chapters - than their predecessors.




- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>