Audubon Arizona

What Audubon Arizona does

Audubon Arizona, doing business as Audubon Southwest, is the Arizona-and-New Mexico regional office of the National Audubon Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 and headquartered in Phoenix. Its stated function is to protect birds and the places they need across the Southwest through science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation, supported by approximately 40,000 members and supporters, 29 staff, and 12 local independent chapters. The organization operates three physical sites — Rio Salado Audubon Center in Phoenix, Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch in Elgin, and Randall Davey Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Santa Fe — that function as visitor centers, research facilities, event venues, and nature stores.

Its core product set consists of community science programs (Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count, Climate Watch, Hummingbirds at Home), educational offerings for children and families (Audubon Adventures, Audubon Nature Camps, Audubon for Kids), digital tools (the Audubon Bird Guide App and the Native Plants Database), an e-commerce Audubon Marketplace for birdseed, feeders, and related merchandise, and research publications such as the December 2025 Nature Works! report on nature-based solutions co-developed with Jacobs Engineering. The underlying technology stack is a conservation science platform built on bird monitoring data, habitat assessment tools, and community science collection systems rather than a software product in the commercial sense.

The business model is a contributed-revenue nonprofit model rather than a commercial SaaS or transactional model. Revenue streams include recurring membership dues, one-time and recurring donations (including memorial, honorary, and major leadership gifts through The Canopy program), and merchandise sales through the Marketplace and on-site nature stores. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: engagement runs through email and SMS newsletters, social media, webinars with state officials, on-site programming at the three centers, advocacy action campaigns, and grassroots activity across 12 local chapters serving conservation-minded individuals, government agencies, and communities/municipalities.

Name

Audubon Arizona

Legal name

National Audubon Society

Website

https://az.audubon.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Audubon Arizona (dba Audubon Southwest) is the Arizona-and-New Mexico regional office of the National Audubon Society, protecting birds and habitats through community science, education, advocacy, and three visitor centers serving roughly 40,000 members and supporters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Conservation Nonprofit / Wildlife Habitat Protection

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

akta.pro primary industry

Wildlife Conservation & Species Protection (BPAGAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wildlife Interpretation & Education Centers (Visitor Centers, Museums) (THAAAFAG), Wildlife, Biodiversity & Habitat Conservation Administration (BPAIAMAG)

Keywords

• Bird conservation
• Habitat protection
• Community science
• Environmental education
• Nature-based solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Phoenix

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Recurring membership program where supporters pay periodic dues to support bird conservation efforts
2. Donations and Charitable Gifts: One-time and recurring donations from individual supporters including memorial gifts, honorary gifts, and major leadership gifts through The Canopy program
3. Merchandise Sales: Sales of birdseed, birdhouses, feeders, calendars, puzzles, and other nature-related products through the Audubon Marketplace

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Audubon Arizona is a regional conservation nonprofit that protects birds and their habitats in Arizona and New Mexico through science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. It delivers community science programs, educational curricula and camps, digital bird identification tools, three visitor centers and sanctuaries, a merchandise marketplace, and research publications on nature-based environmental solutions.

Product overview

Audubon Arizona operates as a regional conservation organization (part of the National Audubon Society) focused on protecting birds and their habitats in Arizona and New Mexico. The organization offers a portfolio of community science programs (Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count, Climate Watch, Hummingbirds at Home), educational programs for children (Audubon Adventures, Audubon Nature Camps, Audubon for Kids), digital tools (Audubon Bird Guide App, Native Plants Database), visitor centers and sanctuaries (Rio Salado Audubon Center, Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, Randall Davey Audubon Center), an e-commerce marketplace, and research publications such as the Nature Works! report.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hummingbirds at Home: Community science program that collected data to study hummingbird feeding habits and climate change impacts
• Nature Works!
• Audubon Bird Guide App

Products and services

• Audubon Bird Guide App A downloadable mobile application serving as a guide to North American birds for identification and birding purposes.
• Native Plants Database A searchable online database for finding native plants, supporting backyard bird habitat creation.
• Christmas Bird Count Longest-running community science initiative where volunteers count birds during the holiday season to gather population data.
• Great Backyard Bird Count Joint community science program with Cornell Lab where participants count birds over a four-day period to track bird populations globally.
• Climate Watch Community science initiative where volunteers survey birds to help predict how species will respond to climate change.
• Audubon Adventures Educational program for children that provides curriculum and activities about birds and conservation.
• Audubon Nature Camps Summer camps offering outdoor nature experiences for children to learn about birds and wildlife.
• Audubon for Kids Online activities and resources for children to engage with bird conservation and nature education.
• Rio Salado Audubon Center An Audubon center in Phoenix, Arizona featuring bathrooms, hiking trails, binoculars to borrow, exhibits, and a nature store.
• Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch A research ranch in Elgin, Arizona offering venue rental, group meeting space, lodging, and a herbarium.
• Randall Davey Audubon Center and Sanctuary A center and sanctuary in Santa Fe, New Mexico featuring a pollinator garden and picnic area.
• Audubon Marketplace Online store offering Audubon-branded merchandise including birdhouses, feeders, birdseed, calendars, puzzles, games, and DIY kits for bird enthusiasts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500 species of birds protected in the Southwest region
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Healthy Headwaters Working GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 February 2026Partnered with the Healthy Headwaters Working Group to host a webinar on February 11 with Colorado state officials, walking restoration practitioners through new permitting requirements under Regulation 87, including temporary authorizations, general authorizations, exemptions for voluntary restoration work, and inter-agency coordination procedures.
• Jacobs EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 December 2025Collaborated on the 'Nature Works!' report featuring 11 case studies of nature-based solutions for environmental challenges including flooding, coastal erosion, and climate change impacts. The report includes policy recommendations for communities and government agencies and serves as a primer for decision-makers seeking cost-effective alternatives to traditional gray infrastructure.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Defenders of Wildlife: National wildlife conservation nonprofit with comparable science, advocacy, and habitat protection mission; competes with Audubon for member dues and major gifts in the wildlife conservation space.
• The Nature Conservancy: Largest global conservation nonprofit; comparable nonprofit mission, science-based approach, land/center stewardship, member-supported revenue model, and major gift programs. Operates at much broader scale across all ecosystems, including Arizona and New Mexico.
• World Wildlife Fund (US): Global wildlife conservation nonprofit with similar science-driven, donor-supported model and habitat protection focus. Competes for the same major-gift and corporate-partnership dollars in U.S. wildlife conservation.
• Sierra Club: Major U.S. environmental nonprofit with overlapping advocacy, education, and grassroots chapter structure. Comparable member-supported revenue model and conservation advocacy positioning, though broader in scope than bird-specific conservation.

Direct peers

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Co-runs the Great Backyard Bird Count with Audubon; shares the same community science, ornithological research, and bird-identification tool focus. Directly comparable mission and digital-product approach.
• National Audubon Society: Direct parent organization and the nation's largest bird-focused conservation nonprofit. Operates the same model (centers, sanctuaries, chapters, community science) at national scale; directly comparable mission, programs, and revenue model.
• New Mexico Audubon: State-level Audubon affiliate focused on New Mexico bird conservation; shares the chapter-based, member-supported model and conservation mission. Operates with a similar footprint to Audubon Arizona's New Mexico presence.

Regional players

• Desert Botanical Garden: Phoenix-based nature-focused visitor attraction and conservation nonprofit; directly comparable regional operating model combining visitor experiences, education programming, and conservation mission in the same Southwest geography.
• Arizona Land and Water Trust: Arizona-focused land conservation nonprofit protecting habitat across the state. Comparable regional conservation mission, donor-supported model, and on-the-ground land stewardship work in the same geography.
• Arizona Center for Nature Conservation (Phoenix Zoo): Operates the Phoenix Zoo and conservation programs in Arizona; comparable regional visitor-based conservation nonprofit with education programming, membership model, and habitat protection work in the same geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/audubonsociety
• YouTubeyoutube.com/audubon
• Facebookfacebook.com/nationalaudubon
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/audubon
• Instagraminstagram.com/audubon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Audubon Arizona