Company Issue

Can you describe an important issue that you had to resolve?
Well right now we really have to diversify our revenue lines and our revenue streams. We have learned from experience that relying on 1 or 2 revenue lines can really put you in jeopardy. A non-profit is really no different than a for-profit business. If you are going to be successful over the long period you have to have multiple and strong revenue lines coming into your business to fund it and that is really the challenge that lays before us, we need to diversify and we need to be successful in that diversification.

Cause:

What caused this issue to arise and why was it important?
The funding for Ducks Unlimited can be a complicated and interesting piece of business. Traditionally much of our funding for the organization came through our sister organization in the U.S. and that was a pretty straightforward scenario in which the U.S., water fowl hunters in particular viewed Canada as the production area for water fowl so if they were to enjoy their heritage then invest it in Ducks Unlimited Canada to put habitant in the ground to increase the number of waterfowl in which they were able to take benefit from. That has changed significantly over the years now, where at one time 100% of our funding came from the U.S. that has now dropped to about 25%. We get funding from a variety of different sources here, working with the federal and provincial governments we get support and we get support from private individuals, corporations and through our own fundraising mechanisms

Background:

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your career path to date?
Hi, my name is Tom Duffy and I am Manager of Provincial Operations in Atlantic Canada for Ducks Unlimited, which makes up the four Atlantic provinces. My career literally started in the swamps in Maritime Canada. My interest was on wetland conservation and I pursued an education with Holland College first in Charlottetown to obtain an Environmental Tech Diploma and then went on to Acadia University where I received a BSc in Biology. I have been working in the field since then. I then moved from the wetlands into management with Ducks Unlimited. I now oversee a staff of 16 across Atlantic Canada that deliver conservation programs where we manage over 120,000 acres of wetlands for the benefit of waterfowl, wildlife and people here.

Tom_Duffy_Q2: Can you describe a typical workday for yourself?
One of the interesting things about the work I do is it is difficult to say there is a typical work day. I might find myself in one of three different offices here in the Maritimes, either in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Fredericton, New Brunswick or Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. My work will vary from managing and working directly with our staff for delivering conservation programs to working with our volunteer directors focusing on raising the resources and funds in order to keep our conservation program going. I can find myself in one of the Premiers offices, I can find myself in an office in Parliament or I can be sitting in a local office with a local businessman soliciting their support for our program. So it is quite varied.

Tom_Duffy_Q3: What is your role in the organization?
I am really the interface between our staff and our volunteers. As a non-profit organization we are run by a board of directors who are all volunteers typically drawn from the business community and from across Atlantic Canada. I work closely with them and as I said, interface between them and our staff. Our staff deliver conservation program here in the Maritimes. What that means is they may be restoring wetlands by working with land owners, they may be raising resources from local businessmen and business people across the region or they may be working with our more than 700 volunteers we have here in Atlantic Canada.

Tom_Duffy_Q4: What does your organization do?
We conserve wetlands. Wetlands come in a variety of shapes from coastal areas to inland. Most people identify what a pond may look like or a salt marsh but there is a variety of different types. They offer pretty significant benefits to society and we are totally dedicated to conserving these habitats particularly for the benefit of water fowl. Waterfowl is really our interest but we focus on conserving their habitat in order to sustain their populations.

Tom_Duffy_Q5: Why is your organization important for society?
Well there are many different individuals in society that view our work as important. They may be outdoor enthusiasts, they may be photographers. They may be canoeists. They may enjoy birding, hunting or trapping. The resources that we produce by conserving the wetlands manage to provide a significant amount of benefits to these people directly and what we are learning about even more so now are the ecological benefits these areas provide, especially in terms of flood control and this is becoming more important here in the Maritimes with significant rain events that are causing flooding. There has been much talk about carbon sequestration and greenhouse gases. We know now through research that these resources sequester significant amounts of carbon so their ecological significance is now becoming that much more important than what we knew only four or five years ago.

Tom_Duffy_Q6: Who are the stakeholders of your organization?
The stakeholders of Ducks Unlimited at the basic level would be land owners. Much of work actually takes place on private lands so many landowners benefit from the work that we do directly. Then it is the folks who use the outdoors. It could be hunters, trappers and the general public who also benefit from the wide ranging benefits the wetlands offer.