Q: What is the new name?

A: Midlands Nature and Bird Alliance

Q: Why was the name changed?

A: The Audubon name was first used when National Audubon Society was formed in 1866. The founders used John James Audubon's name to add credibility and name recognition to the organization. John James Audubon was a painter who lived from 1785-1851. His work raised the profile of American birds worldwide. In recent years, his views on slavery and his history as a slaveowner became more well-known. The National Audubon Society chose to retain its name, but many local Audubon chapters have chosen to change their name. In the end, our chapters leadership and members decided that the Audubon name was not reflective of who we are and what we aspire to do. 

Q: Will we still be affiliated with the National Audubon Society?

A: Yes. Regardless of our differences about what name is appropriate, our chapter will continue to be affiliated with the National Audubon Society.

Q: What is the nature of our relationship with National?

A: National Audubon Society has very little influence on our chapter's activities and management. They do provide some financial support for us to execute our basic functions, but Midlands Nature and Bird Alliance is a legally separate organization and manages its own affairs.

Q: Why did we "land" on Midlands Nature and Bird Alliance?

A: After much spirited debate, our board decided that Midlands Nature and Bird Alliance best described who we are. Let's dissect, shall we?

• • • Midlands: Using the name "Columbia" was limiting! We have members outside of the Columbia area and we own property outside of Columbia! We hope to be a home for bird-lovers, naturalists and conservationist throughout the Midlands!

    • Nature: If you have spent more than 5 minutes hanging out with us, you probably know that we are passionate about more things than just birds. Birds bring us together as a group, but most of our members are equally passionate about bugs, plants (native plants!), slugs, furry creatures, clean air, trees, and everything else Mother Nature has given us!

    • Bird: You don't need us to explain this one, do you? 🦆

    • Alliance: This part of the name might seem kind of weird. What exactly do we mean by "Alliance"? The short answer of why we adopted "Alliance" is because a significant percentage of other chapters undergoing a name change have adopted the Bird Alliance label. The primary argument for keeping the Audubon name was because there was brand recognition that came along with that name. When we drop the Audubon name, we do lose some name recognition and we hope to rebuild that brand recognition quicker by adopting the naming convention that is already in place across the USA.

Q: Will our legal name change?

A: Our current legal name is "Columbia Chapter of the National Audubon Society". I bet you didn't know that! We have more commonly used the name "Columbia Audubon Society" as our doing-business-as (or DBA) name. In the near term, our DBA name will change to Midlands Nature and Bird Alliance, but our legal name will not change in the near future. Our legal name is still technically accurate and changing the legal name will require us to undertake substantial paperwork for retitling Wannamaker Nature Preserve and other legal documents. 

Q: Can I still wear my Columbia Audubon shirt and sport my Columbia Audubon sticker?

A: Yes! We hope all of our old logo items will be a conversation starter with potential members!

Q: What else will change?

A: We are already working on getting our communication channels (email, website, Facebook, Instagram, etc) updated. We are also working on developing a new secret handshake, but that is more difficult than you might think! Seriously, you probably won't see much change. The people and mission aren't changing!