The National Park Service Misused Philanthropic Partner Donations

In this evaluation, we found that the National Park Service (NPS) did not use philanthropic partner donations in compliance with policies, regulations, and laws. Philanthropic partners are organizations that assist parks by providing services and financial support.The NPS is authorized to work with philanthropic partners to help further the NPS’ mission. Partners provide financial support to parks in two ways: the partner either donates the funds directly to the park, for the park to manage, or maintains the funds in an account and spends them at the park’s request. One of the ways that partners donate funds to parks is in the form of “superintendent’s funds.”We visited 30 parks and found that 26 of them made, or requested their partners to make, purchases for food and beverages totaling $282,472, and for personal gifts totaling $12,553. We questioned all food, beverage, and gift expenses as the form and level of detail of supporting documentation was insufficient: it varied by park and partner, and did not consistently have written justifications for how the expenses were necessary to accomplish the mission of the NPS. Food and beverage purchases from superintendent’s funds, in particular, did not meet requirements that donated funds be treated like appropriated funds and that purchases made with donated funds be for official agency purposes.The NPS misused donations because it (1) did not oversee the use of donated funds, (2) did not compile and report total donated funds, (3) did not have an accurate directory of philanthropic partners and amounts donated, and (4) did not have policy for the use of superintendent’s funds.Because the NPS did not ensure donations were appropriate, its parks did not receive the full benefit of partner donations. In addition, by not ensuring proper use of donations though oversight, tracking, and policy, the NPS increased its risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. By strengthening controls and oversight, the NPS can help keep the public’s trust in its philanthropic partnerships and their critical role in preserving history and enhancing visitor experiences.We made eight recommendations that, if implemented, will help prevent future misuse of donations and improve oversight, reporting, and policies. The NPS responded to our draft report on February 14, 2019. Based on its response, we consider Recommendations 1, 7, and 8 resolved and implemented, Recommendations 2 and 3 unresolved and not implemented, and Recommendations 4 – 6 resolved but not implemented. We will refer Recommendations 2 – 6 to the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget for resolution and to track implementation.