ASPEN — Pitkin County may be home to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, but there’s one that flies really low on the radar, and boasts a mascot not seen in these parts.

The International Flamingo Foundation — yes, that’s its name — has had 501(c)(3) tax-free status since about 2000.

For the 2006 tax year, it attracted $1,305 in direct public support, according to the nonprofit’s most recent tax filing, made in November.

“We are not that active right now,” said Aspen resident William O. Hunt Jr., who runs the organization.

But in the past it has been, providing money to wildlife organizations to help them study migratory patterns and habits of the exotic bird. Hunt said he and his family became fascinated with flamingos during a trip to Africa about 10 years ago, and it was then that he became inspired to launch a nonprofit aimed at learning more about them.

“In a capsule, my nephews and children found that there was no global facility that did research on flamingo migration,” Hunt said.

Among those receiving aid from the Flamingo Foundation is Dr. Graham P. McCulloch, a renowned authority on the wetlands who spent 10 years in Botswana where he researched and monitored, among other things, flamingos and their migration and feeding habits.

The International Flamingo Foundation also has given money to the World Wide Fund for Nature (originally called the World Wildlife Fund), which was founded by the late Sir Peter Markham Scott, the famous British conservationist.

The nonprofit also has given financial support to flamingo studies done by the University of Leicester, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the Earthwatch Institute.



“When there is a specific request, we will toss in money,” Hunt said.

But lately the International Flamingo Foundation has not been as active as it once was. That’s partly because of the International Crane Foundation, headed by George Archibald, has become such a great success, Hunt said, that his nonprofit does not need to be as significant as it could be.

“If it could anything, it would be like that organization,” Hunt said. In fact, Archibald is vice president of the International Flamingo Foundation.

According to tax records, the International Flamingo Foundation has net assets of $43,913. It has no full-time staff, and Hunt, who is both the president and treasurer, does not get paid.

“We originally wanted to do fundraising efforts, but our job is really being done by other organizations,” Hunt said.

rcarroll@aspentimes.com