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Birdathon is Payne County Audubon Society’s premiere FUNdraiser! Birdathon is a great way to spend a day birding while
competing for prizes and raising money for PCAS. Birdathon Teams conduct their Birdathon in any 24-hour period during
April or May each spring.
It’s fun and easy to spring into Birdathon each spring:
- Organize and name your Birdathon team. Many of us go out year after year with the same avid “Thoners.”
- Case out your birding areas, and perhaps add a new and promising area.
- Begin to enlist your sponsors—the more the better. Don’t be shy. Ask your doctors and dentist, ask your co-
workers, ask your friends and relatives, ask businesses that you frequent, ask your hairdresser. Ask your boss if
your company will match the funds you raise. And/or . . . sponsor yourself. (See sample request techniques under
Sample Messages for Soliciting Sponsors.)
- Give prospective sponsors an idea of the number of species you are likely to see. Explain that all donations are tax
free and that sponsors may donate a flat amount or an amount per species. Be sure to keep a list of addresses,
phone numbers, and amounts pledged and collected. [See Pledge Tracking Sheet.]
- The fun doesn’t end when your 24-hour Birdathon is over. Be sure to attend the potluck awards picnic following the
event. Bring your team, your pledge tracking form, and the sponsorship money you have collected. Bring your family
and your favorite sponsors! Bring a potluck dish and your own utensils and plates. Eat, socialize, and win awards
and prizes.
Our primary objective is to raise money to support the Payne County Audubon Society’s Nature Camp and Nature Day
educational programs. Funds raised are also used for PCAS scholarships, to maintain our web site, and to publish
Feathers, our quarterly newsletter.
Last year we raised an amazing $5,000 for these causes. With your help, we can reach a goal of $7,000 this year!
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How to Get Started with Birdathon
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New to the Birdathon? Before signing up your team, check out the information below on how to get started, which has
hints for new team leaders. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Walker.
- Invite one, two, or three friends, associates, or fellow birders to join your team. (It’s helpful, but not absolutely
necessary, for one or more of them are able to identify birds.) Every team member is not required to ID every
species encountered.
- Choose an area where you will conduct your Birdathon. Birdathon can be done anywhere. It does not have to be
conducted in Stillwater. We’ve had Birdathon reports from members who were as far away as Alaska and Costa
Rica.
- Choose a 24-hour period in April or May when your team can meet to search for bird species.
- Pick a team name and take a digital picture of the group. Be creative!
- Review the Fundraising Tips to decide how each Team member will collect donations.
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(ASK and ye shall receive . . .)
- GO FOR IT! Fundraising for PCAS is easy. Most people like birds. Everyone has heard the name Audubon. All you
have to do is explain PCAS Audubon—our highly reputablecharity that—
- Provides opportunities to observe, enjoy, and study birds and other wildlife
- Encourages interest in the study of nature, with special emphasis on youth education
- Promotes research in the natural sciences through scholarships, Teaches our community about natural
resources and encourages citizen participation in conserving these resources
- Assists in the maintenance of the Teal Ridge Wetlands
- Keeps PCAS members and the community informed through our website and newsletter
- Talk about the critical educational and environmental mission of the PCAS and tell sponsors why you think it is
important to further it. People want to give to environmental causes like ours and just have to be asked.
- Work the subject of the Birdathon into conversations with friends and colleagues and ask if they will support your
efforts to help the Payne County Audubon Society as it helps the community.
- Use our sample messages (e-Mail, snail mail, voice mail, and live messages) to ask for support. Your message is
more compelling and personal if it includes the name of your team, your team picture, and a personal statement
about why you are participating in Birdathon.
- When you ask, tell your potential donor how to respond to you and include any pledge and collection deadlines so
you will be eligible for Birdathon awards and prizes. Remind your donors that they can pledge a fixed amount or a
per species amount.
- Ask your donor to check if his or her company has a matching gift program and if it will match the donor’s donation.
- When you fill out your Pledge Tracking Sheet put your own name at the top of the list so others will know that you
support Payne County Audubon with your wallet as well as your time. (Your Pledge Tracking Sheet must be turned
in by May 20th so the pledges you have solicited will be eligible for Birdathon prizes.)
- Assure donors that their donations are tax deductible. (Payne County Audubon Society is a §501(c)(3) tax exempt
organization).
- If your donors pledge a fixed amount, collect that money in advance. If they pledge a per species amount, follow up
immediately after your 24-hour birding period, tell sponsors how many species your team ID’d, and collect their
donations as soon as possible.
- Remember to thank your sponsors. They will greatly appreciate receiving a personal thank you note from you with a
list of the species your team sighted.
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- PCAS Birdathon logo T-shirt (All individuals who raise $200 or more in sponsorship)
- Green-backed Heron Award (most money donated by a sponsor)
- Golden Eagle Award (most money raised)
- Hawkeye Award (most species counted)
- Rara avis Award (most unusual sighting)
- Sitting Duck Award (most money raised/species counted at a backyard feeder)
- Fledgling Award (most money raised by a novice birder)
- Wild Goose Award (most remote Birdathon locale)
- Pterodactyl Award (oldest participant)
- Speckled Egg Award (youngest participant)
- Sapsucker Award (best team name)
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- Birdathon teams should abide by the following simple rules in order to be eligible for awards
- Official Birdathon period: Any 24-hour period in the months of April or May.
- Birds can be identified by sight or by sound.
- Birds counted must be alive, wild, and unrestrained. Birds attracted to recordings or feeders may be counted. Birds
observed by artificial light may be counted. Injured birds may be counted if wild and unrestrained. Birds such as
ornamental waterfowl or escaped cage birds cannot be counted.
- All counting must be within a single 24-hour period.
- Any geographic area may be covered—whether in Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma, the U.S. or any other
country or locale.
- Teams may consist of two or more members; all members must stay within direct voice contact distance during the
count period. (i.e., you cannot split up your team and send it in several directions and then add the total species
seen)
- Team members must make a reasonable effort to personally identify—and to help other team members identify—
every species.
- To be eligible for prizes, bird count checklists and special notes/write-ups (see the Team Report and Pledge
Tracking Sheet) and pledges must be turned in to the Birdathon Coordinator as soon as possible after the day of
your Birdathon. It is very helpful if all monies are collected before the Awards Potluck Picnic.
- The Birdathon Team Report should used to submit team results. The Report includes an appropriate pledge to be
signed by the team compiler affirming that all participants have reviewed and complied with all rules.
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COPYRIGHT 2007 PAYNE COUNTY AUDUBON SOCIETY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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