Ducks Unlimited
Legal name: Ducks Unlimited Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 135643799
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Memphis, TN, USA
- Phone
- +1 800-45-DUCKS (tel:+18004538257)
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $380,340,506
- Expenses
- $386,688,706
- Assets
- $449,920,008
- Liabilities
- $76,772,940
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
81 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Adam Putnam (Chief Executive Officer)
- Bob Spoerl (President)
- Rex Schulz (First Vice President)
- Brad Hempkins (Regional Vice President - Region 8)
- Dave Bowers (Regional Vice President - Region 3)
- Don Marold (Regional Vice President - Region 5)
Highest reported compensation
- Adam Putnam (Chief Executive Officer): $722,570 total reported compensation
- E Nichols Wiley (Chief Operating Officer): $548,742 total reported compensation
- Karen Waldrop PhD (Chief Conservation Officer): $441,256 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Every donation supports DU's mission to conserve, restore, and protect wetlands across North America. Every donation supports DU's mission to conserve, restore, and protect wetlands across North America — the same landscapes that make America's waterfowl traditions possible. Celebrate 250 years while helping protect the next 250. Donate Today cons_for_continent_banner.jpg. “Conservation For A Continent” set an audacious goal of securing $3 billion in support of DU's mission, a target that supporters ultimately surpassed, by raising $4.06 billion. Learn More [.
What it reported doing in 2024
Educating the public about wetlands and waterfowl management is a critical component of sustaining the life cycle needs of migratory waterfowl. Activities include wetlands demonstrations, educational literature, interpretive center, youth programs, and outdoor conservation exhibits.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 99
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 88%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 98.5%; rating input score 99; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.7%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.16; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.4%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 88% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 67 of 68 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $330.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $723K · 81 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $37.7M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.