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 the park projects that otherwise would go unfunded.
Washington’s National Park Fund is committed to investing the three national parks’ endowments in funds that are consistent with our vision for these parks: to ignite a deep sense of wonder and awe in the hearts of all who experience them. In service to that, our portfolio includes funds that incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in their decision-making process. Currently, the vast majority – nearly 80% – of each endowment portfolio is invested in ESG funds.
These guidelines govern the acceptance of gifts made to Washington’s National Park Fund for the benefit of any of its operations, programs, or services.
Download the Guidelines
Have questions about our national park endowments and what they support? Check out this list of the FAQs we hear most often.
Download the FAQs
In December 2010, Washington’s National Park Fund received an estate gift of $350,000 from the Eleanor Wilson Trust. $250,000 was awarded to Mount Rainier National Park for the volunteer program over five years. The remaining $100,000 was restricted for the establishment of WNPF’s first endowment: the Mount Rainier National Park Endowment.
In 2013, the Board of Directors established endowment funds for North Cascades and Olympic National Parks. That same year, the board invested $50,000 into each of the three park endowments. The funds were invested with Vanguard until 2018 when WNPF “brought the funds home” by investing them locally with Laird Norton Wealth Management.
Later in 2018, WNPF received its first million-dollar gift from the Bette Wallace Trust (affectionately known internally as “Aunt Bette”). $200,000 was invested into each park’s endowment. Now, the combined total of the three endowments stands at over $1 million, and WNPF has begun investing 3% of the stock market investment gains back into the parks during our year-end distribution.
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.
Susan Nebel Director of Philanthropy (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 📷