United States Department of the Interior
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR
Washington, D.C. 20240
MAY 21 1996
Memorandum
To: Assistant Secretaries
Agency and Bureau Heads
From: Assistant Secretary, Policy, Management & Budget (Signed)
Solicitor (Signed)
Subject: Donation Activity Guidelines
Attached are Department guidelines to cover donation activities. You may
recall that these were drafted largely in the Solicitor's office with the
help of the Departmental Ethics Officer, and circulated a few months ago
to you for comment. This final draft contains a few clarifications in
response to your comments
Attachment
May 21, 1996
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
DONATION ACTIVITY GUIDELINES
These guidelines address what is appropriate activity regarding the solicitation and acceptance of donations by employees of those agencies within the Department of the Interior which have gift acceptance authority. It builds in part on the legal advice contained in the Solicitor's memorandum dated July 19, 1995, on National Park Service fundraising.
Congress has authorized some of the Department's constituent agencies - - such as the National Park Service (NPS), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) - - to accept donations, either to further the mission of the agency generally or for more limited purposes. Congress has not expressly provided these agencies with the authority to solicit gifts. Absent such additional authority, the agencies' role with respect to donations is generally restricted to educating the public about the existence of the gift acceptance authority and the specific gift needs of the bureau
To assist the NPS and FWS in their missions, Congress has chartered the National Park Foundation (NPF) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and authorized these Foundations not only to accept, but also to solicit, donations.
While Departmental agencies do not have separate authority to solicit donations, they are authorized to help facilitate the activities of the Foundations. For this reason, the Solicitor has concluded that Departmental employees may, as part of their official duties, facilitate in a limited way the solicitation of donations to the Foundations.
The purpose of these guidelines is to describe what are appropriate activities of Departmental agencies and employees: (a) in support of the fundraising efforts for the benefit of the NPF and NFWF ("cooperative Foundation programs"); and (b) in connection with donations from non-federal sources directly to Departmental agencies authorized to receive donations ("direct donations"). These guidelines are framed within applicable statutory, ethical and conduct limitations.
For purposes of these guidelines, "solicit" or "solicitation" means any action that the party approached may construe as a serious request for money or in-kind services or goods.
A. General Guidelines Applicable To All Donation Activities
1. Neither Departmental agencies, nor employees on behalf of their agencies, may accept donatons directly from prohibited sources described in Part D below.
2. Neither Departmental agencies, nor employees on behalf of their agencies, may solicit donations from any source, except as part of an approved cooperative Foundation program and otherwise consistent with these guidelines.
3. Donation activities of Departmental employees must
(a) be incidental to the carrying out of official duties;
(b) involve only a minimal expenditure of Departmental funds (even funds donated to the Department); and
(c) Not involve travel away from the post solely for the donation solicitation effort of the cooperative Foundation program.
B. Cooperative Foundation Programs
1. Departmental agencies and employees may engage in donation solicitation activities only as part of a cooperative Foundation program. The Secretary, Chief of Staff, an Assistant Secretary or the appropriate agency director may commit to a cooperative Foundation program. In order to proceed with the program, the Foundation and the Department must have a written agreement that conforms to these Guidelines.
2. Departmental employees may not facilitate donations in the name of a Foundation except in accordance with the terms of the cooperative Foundation program.
3. Foundation solicitation activities that involve Departmental employees must make clear to those solicited that Departmental employees are assisting in the soliciting of money, in-kind services or property in conjunction with an approved program with the (named) Foundation.
C. Direct Donations
1. Apart from approved cooperative Foundation programs, Departmental employees should not actively approach persons or entities requesting donations. Employees of Departmental agencies authorized to accept donations may inform the public that the agency may accept donations for its programs. As part of this informational activity, the agency may develop "wish lists" of particular programs or activities that it could undertake with donated funds, and an employee may mention such a "wish list" in a speech or article and state that the agency may accept donations for these purposes.
2. These guidelines are not intended to foreclose donation agreements between the agencies and nonfederal entities addressing the procedures by which donations will be accepted and administered. For example, the NPS had an agreement with the Coleman Co. pursuant to which , for a period of time, Coleman donated money to the NPS each time a particular item was sold by Coleman. Another NPS agreement with the National Education Association set guidelines for the Association's fundraising campaign to fund an exhibit within the Lincoln Memorial. These arrangements continue to be proper under these guidelines.
3. These guidelines are not intended to preclude outreach and partnership agreements between agencies and cooperating associations or organizations that conduct programs on agency property and further the programs and activities of the agency. For example, NPS has several agreements with nonprofit cooperating associations authorizing the associations to sell books and other educational materials inside sales rooms assigned to associations within park buildings. NPS may accept periodic donations from the cooperating associations.
4. Nothing in these guidelines is intended to prohibit the Department or its employees from applying for competitive grants, except that no such grant application should be made to a prohibitied source described below.
D. Prohibited Sources
1. Departmental agencies, or employees on behalf of their agencies, should not accept (or solicit or accept under a cooperative Foundation program) donations from persons and entities who:
(a) Have litigation pending with, or have or are seeking to obtain a contract, lease, grant or other business, benefit or assistance from the agency that would receive the donation.
. (b) Conduct operations or activities that are regulated by the agency that would receive the donation.
(c) Appear to be offering a gift with the expectation of obtaining advantage or preference in dealing with the Department or any of its agencies.
2. Other entities, such as the NPF or NFWF, may solicit and accept donations from such prohibited sources, even if some or all of the donation is eventually donated to the agency, so long as no Departmental employee is involved in the solicitation or acceptance of the donation to the other entity, and it does not come directly to the agency.
3. Departmental agencies and employees should exercise caution regarding the acceptance (or solicitation or acceptance under a cooperative Foundation program) of donations from a person or entity where the acceptance or solicitation could reflect adversely on the Department or any of its agencies.
4. Examples:
(a) XYZ Company is a party in a lawsuit against NPS involving National Park A. XYZ offers to contribute $2 million to a trail restoration project being carried out by the NPS in National Park B. The NPS may not accept the donation. XYZ may, however, make a donation to the National Park Foundation which in turn may make some or all of that donation available to the NPS, but no Departmental employee may be involved in solicitation or acceptance of the donation by the Foundation.
(b) MNO Company is a concessioner in a national park with the right to serve food to park visitors. MNO Company volunteers on infrequent occasions to provide refreshments at park-sponsored events to support park activities. MNO's assistance should be considered co-sponsorship rather than a donation to the National Park Service.
(c) DEF Company, a concessioner in the National Park System, offers to donate funds to a wildlife research project conducted by the Fish & Wildlife Service. The FWS may accept (and under a cooperative Foundation program, may assist in the Foundation's solicitation and acceptance of) donations from DEF for this purpose.
(d) ABC Company holds mineral leases from the Department of the Interior. Its operations are regulated and monitored by BLM. None of ABC Company's operations involve NPS lands or programs. The NPS may accept (and under a cooperative Foundation program, may assist in the Foundation's solicitation and acceptance of) donations for NPS programs and activities.
(e) JKL Construction has submitted a bid to the BIA to construct a school on an Indian reservation. While this matter is pending, BIA may not accept (or under a cooperative Foundation program, assist in the Foundation's solicitation and acceptance of) donations from JKL Construction.
(f) PQR Tobacco Company has offered to make a donation to FWS. FWS may choose not to accept this donation because it may reflect adversely on the Department.
(g) STU Company is in settlement discussions with the FWS over litigation involving natural resources damages of tens of millions of dollars arising out of an oil spill. STU Company offers the National Park Service a large donation. NPS may choose not to accept this donation because of the appearance that STU is seeking an advantage or preference from the Department.
E. General
1. Departmental agencies may develop policies regarding donation activities that are more but not less restrictive than these guidelines.
2. Departmental agencies authorized to receive donations should have in place the necessary procedures and systems to ensure a complete and proper accounting for donated funds and other in-kind gifts.
3. For further guidance regarding the application or implementation of these guidelines, Departmental employees should consult with the Solicitor's Office.(including Regional or Field Offices) or the Department Ethics Office. Any written agreements with non-Departmental entities relating to donation activities should be approved by the Solicitor's Office and the Department Ethics Office.
4. These guidelines do not alter or affect the application of the standards of ethical conduct for employees of the executive branch.
5. Any specific legislation that establishes guidance for the activities addressed in these guidelines takes precedence over these guidelines.