THE HAIL CALL The Official Volunteer Publication of Georgia Ducks Unlimited Neely Raper, State Chairman, neelyraper@yahoo.com Volume Nine, Issue Three March 2014 Sharing Duck Camp Neely Raper, GADU State Chairman I recently received the year-end totals for calendar year 2013, and it was no surprise that Georgia posted a better than 20% increase in grassroots income over 2012, which posted a 23% increase over 2011! It didn t surprise me because I have said all along that we have the best volunteers and staff in the country. Your efforts never cease to amaze me, and I am proud to be a part of the juggernaut that is Georgia Ducks Unlimited. I firmly believe that we shall succeed in all that we set our minds to. We must remain determined to find out about the existence and extent of every opportunity, and we must then attack it with unyielding resolve. We will achieve true greatness as long as we are Ducks Unlimited in our heart and soul, in spirit and purpose, remaining clearly aware of the responsibility implied in the very name of Ducks Unlimited and proud beyond measure of the privilege of bearing it. Something I would like to encourage each of you to mark on your calendar is the State Convention. The dates for this year s convention are July 18th-20th. This year s convention will be held at Sea Palms on St. Simons Island, along the beautiful coastline of SE Georgia. The State Convention is the time of the year when we recognize the men and women who have worked tirelessly towards our shared conservation mission. It s also a great time to reunite with fellow volunteers from across the state, as well as create new relationships. VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTH The Winners for February Are MITCHELL CO/CAMILLA DU, COASTAL GA DU AND ALTAMAHA DU On January 31 Mitchell Co. / Camilla DU had their largest event ever. They had over 100 attendees and will net/net over $16,000 for the event. That is up $5,000 from last year. On February 6, Coastal Georgia DU held their annual event at the Brunswick Country Club. This committee have done it again and are up for the 3rd year in a row. On February 8, Altamaha DU held their first event in over three years in Jesup. This strong committee pre-sold the event and made a name for themselves in the ranks of small town DU chapters. South Georgia RD Clint Murphy wants to especially thank Coastal Georgia and Altamaha for their hard work as they move from his South Georgia Region to the North Florida/ SE Georgia Region with RD Jarrett Lafferty. THE GREATEST VOLUNTEERS ARE IN GEORGIA! GADU BRAGGING RIGHTS Bragging rights for March go to a dedicated group of young men and women at the Kennesaw State University DU chapter. They had a great event in February with double the attendees from last year, filling the hall. They also improved their net/net by 65%. Jarrett Greene and committee have made KSU one of the top college chapters in the state. KSU you DU it! From the Duck Blind (continued) This year the celebration begins as soon as you arrive and doesn t end until you depart! There will be more information concerning the festivities coming soon. Thank you for all that you do for Ducks Unlimited!
UPCOMING GEORGIA EVENTS SEE www.ducks.org/georgia FOR MORE DETAILS WHY WE VOLUNTEER FOR GEORGIA DUCKS UNLIMITED 03/13/14 - Chattahoochee River Banquet 03/13/14 - Macon Banquet 03/18/14 - Cartersville SNO 03/20/14 - Newnam/Coweta Co. Banquet 03/20/14 - Rockdale County Banquet 03/25/14 - Gwinnett SNO 03/27/14 - Winder Banquet JULY 18-20, 2014 GADU State Convention at Sea Palms Resort on St. Simons Island, GA The membership registration cost will be $75, and the room rate is $129 per night. GEORGIA DU RANKED 6th IN 2007, 3rd IN 2008 AND 5th IN 2012! WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP US BE NUMBER 1 IN 2014? GEORGIA QUICK FACTS Total DU Membership: 15,656 General Members: 13,650 Greenwings: 916 Legacy Greenwings: 61 Sponsor Members: 700 Major Sponsors: 329 Two generations of clan Boree show off canvasbacks from Lake Seminole. Dad Brian in 2008 (top left) and son Drake (bottom middle) in 2013. Grassroots dollars: $1,262,612 Total acres conserved: 22,962
MARCH TIP OF THE MONTH GEORGIA DU STATE OFFICERS State Chairman Neely Raper State Chairman Elect Marc DeMott State Council Chairman Tommy Griffin State Membership and Recruitment Chairman Drew McCall State Treasurer Marc DeMott State Sponsor Chairman Frayne Bentley State Greenwing Co-Chairman Louie Maloy and DeWayne Blair State Ladies Chairman Tanya Sims State Shoot Chairman TBD State Campaign Chairman Matt Dubnik State Public Policy Chairman - Monty Lewis State Marketing and Publicity Chairman George Erwin GA DUCKS UNLIMITED WILL FILL THE HALLS, INCREASE OUR EVENT EFFICIENCY TO 60 PERCENT OR MORE AND SEEK MORE UNDERWRITING IN THE 2014 BANQUET SEASON! SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISING REQUIRES SOME NEW IDEAS FOR YOUR EVENT THE BASICS FOR A SUCCESSFUL EVENT 1) Fill the hall by pre-selling all your tickets. 2) Watch your expenses to increase your efficiency to at least 60 percent. 3) Pursue underwriting for your meal, bar, raffles and auction to raise your net/net. 4) Build up your chapter s Bronze Sponsor attendance for profitable second-event opportunities. TIP FOR MARCH - GET READY FOR YOUR BANQUET WITH A PRE-EVENT CASH RAFFLE! Last month I bragged on the Okefenokee Chapter in Waycross that held only two events and had a $74,000 net/net. Here is an interesting raffle the chapter uses which is a different spin on the bucket of bucks raffle. 1) THE NEED FOR PRE-EVENT CASH FLOW - In this era of debit/credit cards it is hard to generate the necessary cash at the banquet to pay event bills since all card receipts go directly to Memphis. 2) PRE-EVENT CASH RAFFLE - Sell 150 raffle tickets several months before your event for $100 each. This will gross $15,000 and net your chapter $7,500 in much needed cash flow. The hook is a 1:150 chance to win one of three cash prizes drawn at the banquet. First prize wins $5,000, second prize wins $1,500 and third prize wins $1,000. By drawing the three winning tickets at the event, you might get a winning attendee to invest his or her winnings back into your auctions or raffles. Obviously, you want to draw these tickets before the start of the live auction. GEORGIA DU NEEDS YOUR HELP! We need help in the following communities, so if you know someone in these communities or can help yourself, please contact GADU State Recruiting Chairman Drew McCall at jamccall@valdosta.edu to volunteer or refer a prospective volunteer for the ducks. Cordele, Cornelia, Douglas, Greensboro, Griffin, Tifton and Thomaston
MAJOR SPONSORS, MAJOR DUCKS Conservation for Generations CONVENTION 2014 ST. LOUIS Mark your calendars now, and join us for the 77th Ducks Unlimited National Convention in St. Louis Mo., May 28 - June 1, 2014. Duck Central will be the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the arch. For further information visit the web links below. http://www.ducks.org/events/national- Convention http://www.ducks.org/resources/media/ Events/National%20Convention/2014/ StLouis-Brochure_singles.pdf http://www.ducks.org/events/nationalconvention/2014-national-conventionother-st-louis-attractions?poe=mostrecent http://www.ducks.org/events/nationalconvention/2014-national-conventiontours?poe=mostrecent THE BIG RIVERS INITIATIVE Ducks Unlimited recently took another important step to protect the last remaining vestiges of undeveloped wetland habitat remaining in Central Illinois. Stewart Lake is a remote and largely inaccessible natural backwater lake along the Illinois River near Browning, Ill. It is part of a complex of backwater lakes, wetlands, sloughs, and forested islands that cover nearly 30 square miles at the confluence of the Sangamon and Illinois Rivers. According to Eric Schenck, DU s manager of conservation programs, the purchase of 744 acres at Stewart Lake is part of a larger 5-year conservation strategy to protect 3,000 acres of Illinois River wetland habitat under DU s new Big Rivers Initiative. Stewart Lake is a fantastic example of what the Illinois River Valley probably looked like a hundred years ago, said Schenck during an announcement of DU s purchase at the wetland organization s annual state convention in East Peoria, Ill. Stewart Lake has a wildernesslike character about it and is one of about two dozen important wetland sites along the Illinois River that migrating waterfowl depend upon year after year. Outgoing state chairman Galen Johnson from Pawnee, Ill., thanked DU members, donors and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation for the $834,000 that was needed to make the acquisition of Stewart Lake possible. DU is fortunate to have this kind of support that allows us to protect best of the best wetland habitat remaining in Illinois, Johnson added. Make your commitment to SAVE THE BEST for Georgia ducks. Contact Matt Dubnik at mdubnik@fullmedia. com to invest in the future of Georgia s ducks and save the prairie breeding areas. It is a conservation fact that more money in the ground means more birds in the skies!
GEORGIA DU STATE CONVENTION JULY 18-20, 2014 AT SEA PALMS RESORT ST. SIMONS ISLAND< GEORGIA
MONTHLY PAY OPTION YOUR BRONZE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY Were you aware that you can fulfill any sponsorship with a monthly pay option? This means any sponsorship level such as a $250 bronze sponsorship, a $500 silver sponsorship or a $1,000 gold sponsorship can be paid via MPO. In fact, you can even use MPO to fund your life sponsorship or other major donor gift to spread out the payments on a monthly basis. The way it works is simplicity itself in that it allows Ducks Unlimited to debit you around the 15th of each month. The debit can be charged to a credit card, which is also a great way to rack up rewards points, or it can be debited from a checking account. IMAGINE SAVING AN ACRE AS A BRONZE SPONSOR FOR LESS THAN ONE DOLLAR PER DAY! Bronze Sponsor = $20.84 per month Silver Sponsor = $41.67 per month Gold Sponsor = $83.34 per month Life Sponsor = $166.67 per month over five years This will allow you to help those ducks that wing their way in front of your blind. In Georgia, our priority is the Prairie Pothole Region, since approximately 50 percent of our ducks breed on the Great Plains. Here is a great idea for your next banquet or sponsor function, the Sponsor Thermometer A Sponsor can have his or her name applied to a line on the thermometer once for every $250 of sponsorship (Bronze = 1 line, Silver = 2 lines and Gold = 4 lines). You then give something away for every five lines. The ideal situation here is for 100 percent of the merchandise to be underwritten or donated, but the total absolute cost for the committee on merchandise should never exceed $200 for every 10 sponsors since this is NOT designed to be a trading-dollars-for-dollars program. When used correctly, this program will add valuable dollars to the bottom line of your event and add crucial acres of habitat on the ground. For more information, contact GADU Sponsor Chairman Frayne Bentley at (404) 372-9864 or Frayne1959@att.net
AN EASY GEORGIA DU ACTION STRATEGY FOR 2014-2015 SEALED BID AUCTION FUNDRAISING - THIS IS THE ONE SEASON THAT NEVER CLOSES! The Sealed Bid Auction Program is another fundraising tool available to Ducks Unlimited chapters. While DU hosts approximately 5,000 dinner and outdoor events every year, the SBA program provides volunteers with an opportunity to raise grassroots funds year round. With the ability to reach a broad audience, participation is sure to benefit your local chapter. Businesses that choose to participate can demonstrate to the public their commitment to environmental conservation and proudly show their DU support. For information about bringing SBA to your community, please contact your regional director or Ducks Unlimited national headquarters today.