National Park Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 521086761
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Phone
- (202) 796-2500
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $173,752,964
- Expenses
- $164,147,285
- Assets
- $579,074,915
- Liabilities
- $29,006,166
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
42 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JEFF REINBOLD (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (AS OF 02/25))
- WILLIAM SHAFROTH (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 01/25))
Highest reported compensation
- WILLIAM SHAFROTH (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 01/25)): $917,368 total reported compensation
- RUTH PRESCOTT (CHIEF OF STAFF): $404,069 total reported compensation
- DAWN RODNEY (CHIEF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICER): $356,714 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The National Park Foundation is the official charitable partner of the National Park Service, working to protect and preserve America's national parks, connect people to these treasured landscapes, and engage the next generation of park stewards.
What it reported doing in 2024
See schedule o
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 84% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 85
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 67
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.3%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 74.4%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 79.7%; rating input score 80; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.53; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 76.3% of revenue deployed · 74.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $122.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $917K · 42 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $16.7M reported
- Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 299 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 287 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.