Tennessee · Nonprofit
Ducks Unlimited Inc
Ducks Unlimited Inc (Tennessee) receives grants from 609 organizations whose IRS filings report $198,895,550 to it, the largest being The Pew Charitable Trusts ($60,112,245). 370 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $380M
- Funders on record
- 609
- Grants received
- $199M
- Net assets
- $373M
What Ducks Unlimited Inc does
Mission
Ducks unlimited, inc. Conserves, restores, and manages wetlands and associated habitats for north america's waterfowl. These habitats also benefit other wildlife and people.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Ducks unlimited supports the life cycle of waterfowl in north america by developing, preserving, restoring and maintaining waterfowl habitats. Direct allocations are made to affiliated organizations - ducks unlimited canada ($22,137,717) and ducks unlimited mexico ($1,234,767).
$292,744,174 spentof which $23,372,484 as grants$28,228,320 earned by the program89% of program spendingEducating 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.
$27,688,679 spent8% of program spendingDucks unlimited maintains a public policy presence in washington, dc because of the critical importance of public policy to maintaining wetlands and ecosystems that support migratory waterfowl.
$5,882,719 spent2% of program spendingDucks unlimited provides member services to approximately 653,414 total members (including greenwings) through educational membership materials, ducks unlimited magazine, conservation brochures, and educational components of fundraising events.
$4,409,052 spent1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $330,724,624.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $343M to $460M (+34%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 42% · 2018 43% · 2019 42% · 2020 54% · 2021 48% · 2022 31% · 2023 39% · 2024 29% · 2025 40%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of Ducks Unlimited Inc’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Adam Putnam
Chief Executive Officer
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 139 funders to 245 funders, grant income rose $14M → $23M.
98 of 609 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $458M from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Ducks Unlimited Inc Group Return). These are real filings, and they are not money Ducks Unlimited Inc raised.
From the IRS filings of Ducks Unlimited Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 609 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Ducks Unlimited Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 30% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
37% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Ducks Unlimited Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 68% · 2019 60% · 2020 42% · 2021 56% · 2022 25% · 2023 32% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
43% of Ducks Unlimited Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
Ducks Unlimited Inc draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 45 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $27M arriving through sponsors registered in 37 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Ducks Unlimited Inc's funding base is broadening — from 139 funders to 245 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 15 environment nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding Ducks Unlimited Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8.2M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$6.5M
- Department of the Interior$1.7M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Ducks Unlimited Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 35 states
Part of a family of 4 related entities
- Ducks Unlimited Lands LLC · disregarded
- Wetlands America Trust Inc · exempt
- Ducks Unlimited Group Return · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Unitrust · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Ducks Unlimited Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Ducks Unlimited Inc?
- Ducks Unlimited Inc (Tennessee) receives grants from 609 organizations whose IRS filings report $198,895,550 to it, the largest being The Pew Charitable Trusts ($60,112,245). 370 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Ducks Unlimited Inc have?
- IRS filings report 609 organizations giving $198,895,550 in grants to Ducks Unlimited Inc, 370 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Ducks Unlimited Inc?
- The Pew Charitable Trusts is the largest funder on record, with $60,112,245 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Ducks Unlimited Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Ducks Unlimited →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 609 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing