Washington's National Park Fund
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Washington's National Park Fund exists to help Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks provide enjoyment, education, and inspiration to this and future generations. We provide funding for programs in four focus areas: 1) Science and Research, 2) Visitor Experiences, 3) Volunteerism and Stewardship, and 4) Youth and Family. Many - if not most - of these programs would not happen if it were not for the funding WNPF provides to the parks.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Mount Rainier National Park Projects
Priority park projects focus on creating future stewards by bringing young people and new visitors into the park, supporting science and research projects, restoring meadows, campgrounds and trails, supporting search and rescue, and building the park's volunteer program.
North Cascades National Park Projects
Priority park projects focus on creating future stewards by bringing young people and new visitors into the park, supporting science and research projects, providing a food sustainability project in partnership with local tribal partners, restoring meadows, campgrounds and trails, supporting search and rescue, and building the park's volunteer program.
Olympic National Park Projects
Priority park projects focus on creating future stewards by bringing young people and new visitors into the park, providing internship programs for tribal youth and other students of color, supporting science and research projects, restoring meadows, campgrounds and trails, supporting search and rescue, and building the park's volunteer program.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total grants to parks
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Funding priorities are determined by each Superintendent at each park, which the Fund then fundraises for.
Grants to Mount Rainier National Park
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Mount Rainier National Park Projects
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These grants funded projects in four focus areas in the park: Science & Research, Visitor Experiences, Volunteerism & Stewardship, and Youth & Family Programs.
Grants to North Cascades National Park
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
North Cascades National Park Projects
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These grants funded projects in four focus areas in the park: Science & Research, Visitor Experiences, Volunteerism & Stewardship, and Youth & Family Programs.
Grants to Olympic National Park
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Olympic National Park Projects
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These grants funded projects in four focus areas in the park: Science & Research, Visitor Experiences, Volunteerism & Stewardship, and Youth & Family Programs.
Total support to parks
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Includes overall support to the three national parks through direct funding and project support.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Washington's National Park Fund's primary goal is to secure as much funding for specific park projects as possible throughout the year. We work closely with park leadership to determine priority projects for each park. Then we go to work publicizing those projects and fundraising to make each one a reality. Every year we are able to raise more and most importantly, give more to the parks for projects like measuring glacial decline, transporting schoolchildren into the parks, supporting volunteer programs, restoring populations of native animals, and rehabbing historic structures and trails. While the parks have more needs than we are able to fund, our impact is significant and greatly appreciated by park rangers, scientists, volunteers, and superintendents.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Washington's National Park Fund (WNPF) employs many different strategies to raise the money for park projects. Revenue from Washington's national park license plate program comes to WNPF quarterly. We host our Spring Dinner and Auction every April. We support fundraising climbs of a mountain in every park - Mount Rainier, Mount Shuksan and Mount Olympus. Proceeds from RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day) come to us for trail and search-and-rescue work in Mount Rainier National Park. Proceeds from Ride the Hurricane fund projects in Olympic National Park. Many more community events raise awareness and money for the parks. We are also currently involved in a big push to raise awareness of our organization. Our goal is that every citizen of Washington State, and every visitor to our beautiful national parks, is aware of WNPF and how they can help the parks by giving to this charity. Of course, we have a loyal donor base of both individuals and corporations that help us reach our goals for the parks.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Washington's National Park Fund operates with an extremely capable staff of five professional fundraisers, led by Chief Executive Officer, Laurie Ward. We employee a Community Engagement Manager, a Marketing/Communications and Annual Fund Manager, a Prospect & Foundation Manager, and a Donor Engagement Manager. We also have an extremely engaged board of 22 individuals who are passionate about our national parks. These individuals work closely with our advisors, park superintendents and lead staff from each park. All board members have been trained in a "Culture of Philanthropy" and are now reaching out to both their own networks and to new friends to cultivate new excitement for our mission and to solicit support for the parks. Board and staff are having amazing successes, with increased giving every year and ambitious goals for the future.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Each year, Washington's National Park Fund raises more money and gives more to Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks. We continue to experience a steady increase in giving to the parks over the last five years, going from $285,000 in 2010 to $1,554,059 in 2018. For the just ended fiscal year, we increased our giving to the parks and received two substantial estate gifts. This steady growth has been made possible by a growing staff of experienced individuals coupled with a increasingly sophisticated board. Everyone involved with Washington's National Park Fund is devoted to philanthropy and willing to take on the enjoyable work of calling, meeting and hiking with donors, leading by example by making large gifts, and always being 100% all-in for fund events. We have devoted extra resources to training our board, and increasing our capacity in both staff and infrastructure in order to raise the extra dollars for our three parks.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Everything we do is park-led which can make it difficult to implement feedback - but we try!
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Washington's National Park Fund
Board of directorsas of 11/13/2023
Mr. Fred Hammerquist
Retired
Term: 2020 - 2022
Sarah Creachbaum
Olympic National Park
Don Striker
North Cascades National Park
Denise Wulfekuhle
Community Volunteer
Fred Hammerquist
Hammerquist Studios
Mitch Pittman
KOMO-TV
Jen Semsak
SanMar Corporation
Dave Meyer
Community Volunteer
Jillian Kosic
Amazon
John J. Meyer
University of Washington
Greg Dudgeon
Mount Rainier National Park
Marjorie Walter
Kipling Law Group
Kirk Myers
Alaska Airlines
Jary Krauser
StratusG
Tom Dugan
DeLille Cellars
Beth Glosten
Retired MD
Tony Hoskins
POP
Kelly Lake
Beecher's Foundation
Vineet Parkhe
DNV GL Energy USA
Karen Povey
Retired
Antonio Rufin
Retired, Boeing
Bruce Tecklenburg
Retired, Boeing
Joel Vandenbrink
Empire Can Handling
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/13/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.