Audubon of Southwest Florida

What Audubon of Southwest Florida does

Audubon of Southwest Florida is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization chartered in 1958 as Chapter E33 of the National Audubon Society, headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. The organization supports conservation, ecosystem stewardship, and environmental education across Southwest Florida, with a focus on the Caloosahatchee River region and regional birding habitats including Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, CREW properties, and Sanibel Lighthouse. Its core programmatic offerings include the Shorebird Stewardship Program (in partnership with the Florida Shorebird Alliance), organized field trips, monthly educational meetings, citizen science participation in the Christmas Bird Count and Great Backyard Bird Count, a native orchid and habitat restoration program at the 70,000-acre CREW property, purple martin housing installation at CREW Flint Pen Strand, the Birds & Windows collision-prevention education program, and the Charles Foster Conservation Fund scholarship (up to $1,000 annually for FGCU environmental studies students).

The chapter operates on a nonprofit funding model combining annual membership dues (tiers from $15 student/senior to $1,000 lifetime), tax-deductible donations (online and by mail), and project-specific grants from partners including Audubon Florida, Florida Power & Light, Lee County Electric Cooperative, and the Community Foundation Tampa Bay. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via the audubonswfl.org website and in-person field programs; the organization does not use third-party resellers or commercial channels. It is governed by a volunteer board (President Gerri Reaves, Vice President Dan VanNorman, Secretary Robin Serne) and operates with 1-10 employees, leaning heavily on volunteer labor across field trips, stewardship walks, and citizen science events.

The organization has recently expanded its regulatory and institutional footprint, successfully influencing the Florida Green Building Coalition to add bird-friendly design certification points across all five project categories, and has secured named grants in 2024 (LCEC) and 2025 (FPL/Audubon Florida) for habitat restoration projects. It maintains strategic partnerships with CREW Land & Water Trust, FGCU Ornithology Club, Florida Shorebird Alliance, Naples Garden Club, and local wildlife rehabilitation providers (CROW, BluePearl). No proprietary technology, AI/ML capability, or commercial software products are part of the operating model; the underlying 'platform' is a community of volunteers, members, and partner organizations coordinated through a Wix-hosted website, monthly Flyways newsletter, and social media channels.

Name

Audubon of Southwest Florida

Legal name

Audubon of Southwest Florida, Inc.

Website

https://audubonswfl.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Audubon of Southwest Florida is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation chapter founded in 1958, serving Southwest Florida through bird habitat restoration, citizen science, environmental education programs, and regional advocacy for bird-friendly building standards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

akta.pro primary industry

Wildlife Conservation & Species Protection (BPAGAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Marine Wildlife & Coastal Nature Tours (Whale/Dolphin Watching, Sea Kayaking) (THAAAEAD), Conservation, Research & Volunteer Experiences (THAJAIAJ), Environmental Conservation & Sustainability Volunteering (EDAIAGAB)

Keywords

• Wildlife conservation programs
• Environmental education services
• Bird habitat protection
• Citizen science programs
• Habitat restoration initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Myers

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Chapter Membership Dues: Annual membership fees at multiple tiers ($15-$100 annually, $1,000 lifetime) provide core operational funding. Separate from National Audubon Society membership.
2. Donations: Tax-deductible donations support programming, community outreach, and scholarship fund. Accepts donations online and by mail.
3. Grants: Grant funding from partners including Audubon Florida/FPL Plants for Birds Grant and LCEC Environmental Funding Award to support specific conservation and education projects.
4. Charles Foster Conservation Fund: Endowment donations invested in perpetuity; interest funds conservation and educational goals including annual scholarship of up to $1,000 for FGCU environmental studies students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Audubon of Southwest Florida is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation chapter delivering bird habitat protection, environmental education, and community-based stewardship in Southwest Florida. Its core services include the Shorebird Stewardship Program, citizen science counts (Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count), guided field trips to regional birding hotspots, monthly educational meetings, and the Charles Foster Conservation Fund Scholarship for FGCU environmental studies students. The chapter is funded primarily through tiered annual memberships, donations, and grants.

Product overview

Audubon of Southwest Florida offers a portfolio of conservation and educational programs rather than a unified software product. Core offerings include the Shorebird Stewardship Program (volunteer-based beach stewardship), field trips to regional birding hotspots, and citizen science initiatives (Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count). The Charles Foster Conservation Fund provides merit scholarships for environmental studies students at FGCU. The chapter publishes the Flyways monthly newsletter and maintains educational resources on bird safety, local birding hotspots, and wildlife rehabilitation. Membership programs and donation-based funding support all chapter activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped modify Florida Green Building Coalition standards to include certification points for bird-friendly design features
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Florida Power & Light Company (FPL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Audubon of Southwest Florida was awarded an Audubon Florida/FPL 'Plants for Birds' Grant. With other local and state partners, the chapter assists in repopulating native orchids in the 70,000-acre CREW property. FPL provides grant funding to support habitat restoration projects.
• CREW Land & Water TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership for the Native Plants for Birds Success Story project: successfully planted 380 native orchids (12 species) in the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed. Project involved over 20 participants and nearly 360 volunteer hours. CREW Trail Operations Coordinator Robin Serne serves as chapter leader in this partnership.
• Florida Green Building CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAt the request of Audubon of Southwest Florida, FGBC modified its project standards to include certification points for bird-friendly design features in all five project categories (commercial, high-rise, green home, land development, local government). Chapter collaborated on a short video to introduce the new standards.
• Collaboratory (Fort Myers)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChapter president Gerri Reaves inquired whether the Collaboratory's architect had incorporated bird-friendly design features. After discovering glass hazard, CEO Sarah Owens worked with the chapter to install dynamic micro-dot window film to prevent bird collisions at the LEED-certified building.
• Florida Shorebird AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAudubon of Southwest Florida teamed up with the Florida Shorebird Alliance to form a community-driven Shorebird Stewardship Program. Goal is to protect and raise awareness about Florida's imperiled shorebird species through volunteer Bird Stewards who educate beachgoers.
• FGCU Ornithology ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for CREW Flint Pen Strand purple martin housing project: the site will be monitored and maintained by the FGCU Ornithology Club, which also participates in educational collaborative workshops for installation of the housing.
• Audubon of FloridacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState-level Audubon organization that awarded the Plants for Birds Grant in partnership with FPL. Audubon of Southwest Florida is an affiliated chapter (E33) of Audubon Florida and National Audubon Society.
• Naples Garden ClubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in the Native Plants for Birds Success Story project for planting 380 native orchids in the CREW property.
• CROW (Clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife)minorOthersCROW on Sanibel Island is the primary referral contact for injured birds (239-472-3644, ext. 222, 8am-5pm daily). Chapter directs community members to CROW for injured bird care. Note: CROW operations were disrupted due to Hurricane Ian.
• BluePearl Pet Hospital (Fort Myers)minorOthersOne of CROW's drop-off points for injured birds, open 24 hours/day at 9500 Marketplace Road, Fort Myers, FL 33912. Chapter directs community members to call before delivering animals.
• National Audubon SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAudubon of Southwest Florida is an affiliated chapter (E33) of the National Audubon Society and Audubon Florida. In accord with National Audubon's Statement on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Leverages national resources, brand, and citizen science programs (Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• CREW Land & Water Trust: Local land trust that stewards the 70,000-acre CREW watershed where Audubon of Southwest Florida runs its native orchid and purple martin projects. Comparable as a SW Florida conservation nonprofit with membership, volunteer, and grant funding on similar-sized operations.
• Florida Shorebird Alliance: Statewide coalition coordinating the very Shorebird Stewardship Program that Audubon of Southwest Florida runs locally. Comparable in mission (imperiled shorebird protection, beach steward volunteers) and in reliance on partner-driven local implementation.
• Audubon of the Western Everglades: Another Southwest Florida Audubon chapter operating the same chapter model with membership dues, donations, field trips, and conservation grants. Highly comparable geographically, structurally, and operationally as a peer chapter.
• Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society: Neighboring Audubon chapter in Southwest Florida that runs the same chapter-level membership, field trip, and conservation programming model. Directly comparable in scale, structure (501(c)(3) chapter), revenue model, and product offerings, making it the most analogous operational peer.

Broad incumbents

• Ducks Unlimited: National waterfowl and wetland conservation nonprofit with the same member-dues, donations, grant, and chapter-based fundraising model. Shares the bird-and-habitat mission but operates at vastly greater scale across North America.
• Coastal Conservation Association: National marine and coastal habitat conservation nonprofit with a comparable chapter-based, member-dues-funded structure. Shares the coastal habitat stewardship mission relevant to SW Florida's shoreline, but focuses on fisheries habitat rather than birds.
• Defenders of Wildlife: National wildlife advocacy nonprofit working on species and habitat protection, similar in advocacy and conservation focus but operates through lobbying and national campaigns rather than local chapters and citizen science.
• Audubon Florida: State-level Audubon affiliate that charters Audubon of Southwest Florida as Chapter E33. Operates the same conservation, advocacy, and citizen science model across Florida, but at state scale with paid staff and policy resources well beyond what any single chapter can deploy.
• National Audubon Society: The national parent organization of which Audubon of Southwest Florida is an affiliated chapter. Delivers the same brand of bird-focused conservation, citizen science (Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count), and policy advocacy but at national scale with much larger staff, budget, and donor base.

Regional players

• Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW): Wildlife rehabilitation hospital on Sanibel Island that Audubon of Southwest Florida refers injured birds to. Operates in the same SW Florida geography and bird-conservation ecosystem with a similar nonprofit, donation-funded model but focuses on individual animal care rather than habitat and citizen science.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• Xfacebook.com/AudubonSWFL
• Facebookfacebook.com/AudubonSWFL
• Instagraminstagram.com/audubonswfl
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/audubon-of-southwest-florida-inc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Audubon of Southwest Florida