2020 ANNUAL REPORT
WHY SUPPORT YDCCF?
Simply put: You love to fish, and you love the places it takes you to. Every one of those places is special, and in order to keep them that way, as anglers we need to collectively work to protect them. YDCCF is uniquely positioned to do just that – and do so more effectively than any other organization. Through Yellow Dog’s vast network of guides, lodges and outfitters, we intimately know the communities and individuals in these places and are able to directly fund grassroots projects where your donation can maximize its impact.
2020 at a glance
The global pandemic affected fishing communities across the world. Virtually no one was spared, and the challenges we faced at YDCCF were huge. As so much of our funding comes directly from traveling anglers, when the world shut down, we had to figure out how to continue our mission. We were fortunate to have had our best fundraising year on record in 2019, so we tightened our belts and looked to find the right ways to allocate funding to those most in need.
The global guiding community was among the most affected by the international travel shut downs. No clients meant no income, so YDCCF stepped forward to allocate over $75,000 in funding to guides in Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas and elsewhere.
We also completed the transfer of funds ($250,000) to the Belizean Alternative Livelihoods program, ensuring that former commercial gillnet fishermen in Belize could transition to new forms of income with the passage of the countrywide gillnet ban.
Between June of 2019 and May of 2020, Australia experienced one of the worst brushfire seasons on record. The fly fishing community stepped forward to help through a coordinated social media campaign, Double Haul for Down Under, which raised over $25,000 for relief efforts. YDCCF was the mechanism for getting the funds to the NSW Fire Service where they could be put to use.
Finally, our work in Punta Allen on the Yucatan Peninsula continued with ongoing construction of new teacher’s quarters for the community school.
Gallatin Stream Teams volunteers collect water quality data on Bridger Creek. Since 2008, citizen scientists have been testing water quality on streams across the Lower Gallatin watershed. Stream Teams data are being used by the Gallatin Local Water Quality District, Gallatin Watershed Council, Montana DEQ, the City of Bozeman, and others to assess the health of the watershed.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT/STORY:
Gallatin Watershed Council
The Gallatin Watershed Council guides collaborative watershed stewardship in the Gallatin Valley for a healthy and productive landscape, supporting the sustainability and health of the Lower Gallatin Watershed through collaborative partnerships, community education, stream restoration efforts, and individual empowerment. Their work in the watershed community is based on consensus-building and finding common ground around natural resource concerns. YDCCF funded GWC in 2020 to increase the number of rural youth engaging in water education and water stewardship activities by expanding rural school participation in the Gallatin Watershed Stewards Program. The Gallatin Watershed Stewards Program incentivizes, challenges and inspires community members to make changes in their daily behaviors and to actively educate and motivate their neighbors to care for our waterways. By increasing opportunities for hands-on watershed learning, GWC deepens students' connection to their local water resources and provides opportunities for transforming this increased awareness to action and stewardship.
The Guiding crew at El Pescador Lodge, Belize
Pandemic Guide Support
Guides across the world faced unprecedented challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in early 2020. Through YDCCF’s network of lodge partners, we were able to move quickly to provide financial relief for guides who had lost their entire incomes due to international travel restrictions. Outside of our support of the Gillnet Ban in Belize (which we had raised a large amount of funds for in 2019), overall guide support in 2020 represented the largest portion of our foundational giving back to communities: over $75,000 to support guides in the Bahamas, Belize, Mexico and other destinations.
DONOR SPOTLIGHT: Flint McNaughton
A Passion for Service
Flint McNaughton has been a supporter of YDCCF dating back to our inception. He has been instrumental in helping the organization achieve many goals, the largest of which was the countrywide commercial gillnetting ban instituted in 2019 in Belize, which would not have happened without Flint’s financial support of the Belize Alternative Livelihoods project spearheaded by YDCFF as part of the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries.
Flint is a huge believer in giving back to the communities that he and his company serve. Through his extensive involvement with Boy Scouts of America and mentoring countless young professionals, he has helped shape young men and women into exemplary citizens. His leadership skills have guided The Harvest Center of Charlotte, NC to grow under its mission of empowering situationally homeless Americans in need of a second chance. He has travelled the globe with Serving in Mission as a servant leader in cross-cultural missions. In addition to his generous philanthropy to YDCCF, Flint has supported numerous others including The Asheville School, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Charlotte Rescue Mission, Charlotte Family Housing, Sports Friends, The National Christian Foundation, SunCap Community Relief Fund, SunCap College Scholarship Fund, The McNaughton Family Giving Fund. Flint is an Eagle Scout and a 2020 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Flint founded SunCap Property Group in 2009 and today serves as CEO and Founding Partner. SunCap develops institutional grade industrial and multifamily properties across the US with over 70 employees in five offices and annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.
Flint and his wife of thirty-three years, Julie, have three children – Erin Lewis (married to Matt Lewis), Chase and Hailey. In addition to his love of fly-fishing Flint is an avid golfer.
“I have been fortunate to have travelled the globe with Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and have seen first-hand the need that the Yellow Dog Community & Conservation Foundation fills. We have to actively commit to protecting the environments that are important to all of us and YDCCF is a great means to protect and enhance the communities and fisheries that I have come to hold dear.”
- Flint McNaughton, YDCCF Donor
2020: The Year in Numbers
Due to the pandemic, YDCCF’s fundraising was curtailed in 2020, especially from the Lodge Match program which had to be put on hiatus due to the impacts. We still raised over $243,000 in FY20.
REVENUE
EXPENSES
WHY GIVE?
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Our purpose is simple: give back to the places and people that give us so much as anglers. We created the Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Foundation (YDCCF) in 2016 as a means of providing direct support to communities, fisheries, and ecosystems where great angling is found. We fund projects large and small across the globe focusing on conservation, education and community growth and resilience.
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BROOKS SCOTT, YDCCF Executive Director