When you invest in endowments, you demonstrate your belief in the long-term viability and strength of the endowment’s beneficiary. By investing in one of our national park endowments, you are making an investment in an entity that has staying power and will be there well into the future – quite possibly forever.
Our long-term vision for Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks is to establish several million-dollar endowments for each park, each dedicated to their ongoing priorities – including trails, volunteerism, youth programs, science and research, search and rescue, and historical preservation.
Gifts given to one of Washington’s National Park Fund’s three park endowments – or to a mix of the three – are invested for the long haul. Investment income earned on our park endowments is awarded to park projects that otherwise would go unfunded.
These guidelines govern the acceptance of gifts made to WNPF for the benefit of its operations, programs, or services.
View the Guidelines
Have questions about how our national park endowments work and what they support? Check out our frequently asked questions.
View the FAQs
In 2010, Washington’s National Park Fund received an estate gift of $350,000 from the Eleanor Wilson Trust, $100,000 of which was designated to establish a Mount Rainier National Park Endowment. WNPF’s Board of Directors established endowment funds for North Cascades and Olympic National Parks in 2013. A few years later, WNPF received its first million-dollar gift from the Bette Wallace Trust, affectionately known as “Aunt Bette,” from which $200,000 was invested into each park’s endowment.
Today, the three endowments total nearly $2 million, and WNPF invests a portion of the stock market investment gains back into the parks each year.
Special thanks to Linda Glein for being the driving force behind advancing our three growing national park endowments!
Ready to get started? Get in touch.
Andrea Christensen Director of Donor Engagement (206) 623-2063 fund@wnpf.org
Cover photo: Winter in North Cascades National Park (photo by Mitch Pittman, with aerial support provided by LightHawk, a partner of WNPF); footer photo (below): Olympic National Park by John Chao 📷