Quail Unlimited faces bleak financial outlook

Quail Unlimited, the nation's largest conservation group devoted to bobwhite quail, has shut its doors, furloughed its 24 remaining employees and put its national headquarters in Edgefield, S.C., up for sale to resolve what board members say are catastrophic financial problems. "It is bleak," said Bill Bowles, a member of the organization's national board of directors and an officer on the board's executive committee for financial matters." On Oct. 27th we realized we couldn't make payroll for the 31st. How do you ask someone to stay when you can't pay them?" The organization, founded in 1981, has about 30,000 members and an annual budget just shy of $6 million that is generated from sponsors, banquets and fundraising programs nationwide. Although conservation groups everywhere are struggling with declining membership and the impacts of an economic downturn, the problems at Quail Unlimited were compounded by internal strife and a lack of communication with the volunteer board of directors, which meets just twice a year, Bowles said. "The financial position of the organization was in a steady decline," he said. "We were reaching critical mass and it is hard for a board of very, very smart businessmen to give guidance and leadership to a nonprofit conservation organization if the board is not shown accurate financial data."...read more