Start Your Own Chapter
The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) is a national nonprofit focused on increasing appreciation and understanding of wild, free-flying butterflies. With dozens of chapters across the country, you may find one or form one to foster learning, make new friends and enjoy the outdoors for the love of butterflies.
What’s a NABA Chapter DO?
There is no one-size-fits-all for NABA Chapters; rather, they organize around community interests, opportunities, location and resources.
A typical chapter might meet 10-12 times/year for:
- Presentations by members or special guests.
- Butterfly surveying, counts or monitoring.
- Public and private garden tours.
- Public outreach and education.
- Volunteer service for the benefit of butterflies, like habitat planting.
- ‘Swap’ meets for sharing butterfly plants & seeds, or butterfly photos, field guides & gear.
It’s all about camaraderie and activities that contribute to conservation!
How do I get started?
If there is no chapter near you, email [email protected]. Send us a brief message about your interest and some basic information about yourself. Make sure to tell us a bit about your background, especially where butterflies are concerned. NABA’s Chapter Liaison will help you define a territory, issue chapter bylaws (uniform for all chapters), and provide additional information as required by the group exemption rules of the IRS for your chapter of our national non-profit organization.
7 Sterling Benefits for NABA Chapters:
- As part of a national 501(c)(3) organization with an IRS group exemption, your chapter will automatically be tax-exempt and donations to the chapter will be tax-deductible. In addition,
if your chapter so desires, the national organization will file required IRS tax forms for your chapter. - Each NABA chapter is conveniently covered by NABA’s liability insurance. This insurance protects the chapter and its officers from liability during all chapter meetings/outings.
- NABA chapters are included for free on the high-ranking website, which appears on the first page of searches for “butterfly” or “butterflies.” Chapters choose whether they want a simple listing or their own web page(s) to increase visibility and public accessibility. The chapter may also create its own website.
- Membership tracking and dues are administered through NABA, so there is no administrative burden associated with this aspect of chapter operation.
- NABA’s Chapter Liaison exists to serve you by sharing information between each chapter and NABA National, and among the NABA chapters. This helps chapters learn what other groups are doing and which activities work and which do not.
- NABA Chapter actvities and members may be featured in American Butterflies and Butterfly Gardener, the two quarterly magazines that NABA members receive, in order to highlight and promote their achievements that advance our mission.
- Affiliation with a reputable national organization lends more credibility to chapters pursuing local projects.
Part of something bigger for butterflies
In addition to owning and operating the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, NABA runs the NABA Butterfly Count Program, which now has the largest database of butterfly occurrences and abundance in the world. This database is increasingly used by scientists to answer important questions about butterfly biology and populations trends. Furthermore, NABA is on the steering committee of the Monarch Joint Venture and is the only NGO member of the Florida Imperiled Butterflies Working Group.
If we can save the butterflies, we can save ourselves.®
NABA’s motto says it all. Our concern for butterflies reflects and relates directly to our concern for a healthy planet—one that provides for these precious pollinators as part of a comprehensive and integrated approach to sustainability. Join or form a NABA Chapter, today!
