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IKANO News
Title:
Ducks Unlimited goes high-tech as Internet service
Date:July 1st, 2004
URL: Statesman Journal
Author: Staff Section: Sports
Subscription costs will benefit the nonprofit groupWired ducks Check it out: Ducks Unlimited's Web site with signups for the conservation group's new, licensed Internet service provider. Address: www.ducksnet.com Cost: $9.95 a month for dial-up online Internet connection (45 phone connections throughout Oregon, thousands nationwide and in Canada). Coming soon: DSL high-speed connections, at a higher monthly fee yet to be determined. Early adopters: Incentives for new signups include a one-month free trial, a free Ducksnet T-shirt and a Ducksnet e-mail address with the format yourname@ducksnet.com BY HENRY MILLER Statesman Journal This venture could turn one little corner of the Internet into the World Wide Web..foot.
Through a licensing agreement with a national Internet service provider, Ducks Unlimited is testing a new pond for fund raising. For $9.95 a month - with a new-subscribers offer of one free month, along with a T-shirt and other goodies - members get unlimited dial-up Internet service and an e-mail with the cool-sounding return address suffix of @ducknet.com. According to the home page, high-speed DSL connections are coming soon at a higher fee rate. The payoff is that Ducks Unlimited, the world's largest nonprofit waterfowl conservation organization, gets a chunk of the money. But no, if you were going to ask, subscribers don't get to deduct any of the cost of their subscriptions on their taxes because it is a nonprofit. "My Internet provider is MSN, and I'd change in a minute," said Don Curry of Monmouth, the area chairman for Ducks Unlimited, commonly known as DU. Then he laughed. "In fact, I'd change right now if somebody could show me how to save my `favorites' list," Curry said. The Internet service, dubbed ducksnet, could even have a certain cachet for University of O! regon graduates. "I didn't even think about that, but yes, it d oes," said Eric Keszler, the director of communications at DU headquarters in Memphis, Tenn.
But being an onine "duck" isn't all that off-putting, even for alums from archrival Oregon State, said Curry. "I don't really think it makes all that much difference," he said. "I don' think that people understand that you're committed to helping wetlands." "I'm the chairman of the Keizer Chapter, and I say `Go for it,' " said Sandy Sanderson of Salem when told about the service. Ducks Unlimited officials signed a licensing agreement with IKANO Communications of Salt Lake City to provide the online service and customer support.
In return, the Internet service provider divides the income - minus expenses - with Ducks Unlimited in a royalty arrangement. IKANO's offerings include thousands of local access numbers in the U.S. and Canada - 45 of them in Oregon - as well as a strong track record, said Philip Milburn, the director of corporate relati! ons and brand management. "It is the first time that DU has offered a branded Internet service," he said. With the service provider acting as the Internet flagship for the organization - and its name and reputation on the line - DU officials looked long and hard before picking IKANO, he added.
Specializing in so-called "private label" branded Internet service, it handled all of the online traffic for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. "In terms of challenges, the Olympics is probably one of the biggest out there," said Milburn. "So if they passed that test, they can pass any test. "But more importantly, they've got a lot of other large clients they provide service for." The deal-clincher was the company's rating for customer service, he added. "When we entrust our members to another company, with the
DU name on it, we want to make sure that our members are looked out for," Milburn said. When asked how much goes to DU from each subscription, he said "we can't disclose the precise numbers." The way it works is that after costs such as providing the network, customer service and marketing, IKANO and DU split the net proceeds. "And I would characterize that split as a generous split to benefit DU," Milburn said. And as with the better known Ducks Unlimited fund-raisers - the annual winter round of banquets and auctions - almost all goes into waterfowl projects. "Of every dollar raised by Ducks Unlimited, 85 percent goes toward conservation," Milburn said. "The proceeds from ducksnet.com, 85 percent is devoted to the mission of the organization." The worldwide pool of about 700,000 members will be the starting point for subscribers, he added. But you don't need to be a member to sign on.
When asked if there were potential legal challenges from the big boys such as AOL and MSN because of Ducks Unlimited's advantages as a non-profit, Milburn said that was thoroughly researched. "The way it's structured! is that we license our name and our trademarks for IKANO to apply to the service and apply to the home page and marketing," he said. "So in a sense we're in a licensing situation, which is completely within the constraints and boundaries of non-profit operations." It's similar to non-profits contracting for sales and marketing for items such as hats, jackets or other merchandise. A bigger concern is that if ducksnet takes off, other national non-profits might jump into the Internet duck pond, sparking an Internet tug-of-war for subscribers. The appeal is obvious. "Anybody, any company, any organization, any cause, could do this," Milburn said. "And I think there's so many generic dial-up services out there, but what meaning do they have to the subscriber? "There are a lot of subscribers at AOL and NetZero and other companies, but in this case, with this service, it accomplishes a number of things. "No. 1, it delivers revenue to the! mission of Ducks Unlimited in the name of that member. And No. 2, it provides community, a DU-branded community, and that's what Ducks Unlimited's all about." Copyright (c) Statesman Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
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