Valley Forge National Historical Park, National Center for the American Revolution

Valley Forge National Historical Park, National Center for the American Revolution

Prepared by Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, Partnerships Office, National Capital Region

October 5, 2004

Introduction

On March 9 Director Mainella requested the National Capital Region to the NPS Washington Office with an internal review of the fundraising campaign for the National Center for the American Revolution at Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.

Recently NPS had a series of discussions between the National Leadership Council, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the Development Advisory Board, and some of our park and regional offices about the relationship between public and private partnerships, park projects and NPS funding. During these discussions it has become apparent that there are inconsistencies in the way we structure, manage, implement and monitor some of our partnership agreements, including fundraising agreements, plans and campaigns, the relationship between these efforts, our priorities for funding park projects, and communication with the Congress.

Specifically NCR was asked to examine the Valley Forge fundraising campaign, identify real and perceived problems and matters of concern, and identify options to respond to the problems and concerns. This information is intended to be shared with NPS managers to assist them in their decision-making.

The approach used for this fact-finding and analysis involved a review of relevant documents made available by headquarters, the regional office and the park; personal and telephone discussions with key leaders; and analysis of the information collected. It is important to note that the time schedule for this analysis was limited. Further research may reveal different facts and lead to additional or different conclusions.

Individuals that were contacted and provided information to this report include:

Randy Jones, Deputy Director
Don Murphy, Deputy Director
Chris Jarvi, Associate Director, Partnerships, etc.
Sue Masica, Associate Director, Park Planning, Facilities and Lands
Bruce Sheafer, Office of the Comptroller
Bob McIntosh, Associate Regional Director for Partnerships, NER
David Hollenberg, Associate Regional Director for Cultural, NER
Chris Niewold, WASO Partnership Office
Wendy O'Sullivan, WASO Partnership Office
Karyn Ferro, WASO Partnership Office
Barbara Polarine, Deputy Superintendent, VAFO
Deirdre Gibson, VAFO
Note: Superintendent Stewart was contacted but was not available to discuss this research.


Assumptions

The context for this research includes the following assumptions about the fundraising campaign.

NPS initiated legislation in 1997 for a new visitor center/ museum/ curatorial storage facility, at the sole expense of the Valley Forge Historical Society, for the National Center for the American Revolution.
Congress passed the Pennsylvania Battlefields Protection Act in 1999 and authorized a partnership between NPS and the National Center for the American Revolution. The law authorizes the Secretary and the Valley Forge Historical Society to enter into an agreement to construct and operate a museum within the boundaries of the park in cooperation with the Secretary. The law authorizes the Society to engage in activities appropriate for the operation of the museum, provided that revenues from the museum's facilities and services shall be used to offset the expense of the museum's operation.
The Superintendent, NER Regional Director, Associate Director for Partnerships, etc. and Director approved a Fundraising Agreement in 2000.
The partnership with the National Center for the American Revolution and the Valley Forge Historical Society is an important relationship that brings value to NPS management, stewardship and interpretation of the park.
VAFO managers and staff have worked long and hard to develop and sustain a partnership that has resulted in broad-based civic, monetary, and political support for park protection, interpretation and visitation that has never existed before.

Issues
NPS-NER and VAFO have not complied with Director's Order #21. Moreover, the park, region and the National Center for the American Revolution have not complied with the December 2000 Fundraising Agreement commitment to prepare a fundraising feasibility study; fundraising plan; donor recognition plan; and financial management plan. As a result, the fundraising campaign has been publicly launched without answers to specific questions about the project or agreements on the fundraising plan and operations issues.
Significant concerns exist in WASO and with the Development Advisory Board about the project and the existing fundraising agreement in terms of: the funding; the justification of the cost of the project; the size of the building; visitation projects; the future cost of operations (recent and long-standing concern) and the ability of the project to sustain itself; the likelihood of non-federal funds being available to construct the project; the proposed admission fee and the legality of the role of the private partner in fee collection; the exit strategy should this effort fail;
Despite the authority and responsibility to do so, NPS WASO has not had a system for monitoring the park fundraising agreements, plans and campaigns, since the VAFO Fundraising Agreement was approved, to insure they are in compliance with the policies, procedures and standards set forth in the Director's Order #21.
Both the WASO Partnership Office and the NER Partnership Coordinator position have undergone considerable turnover during the last two years. The park feels that neither office has been consistently available to respond to park requests or provide staff or printed technical assistance (i.e. DO #21 Reference Guide to Donations and Fundraising).
NPS has not complied, on VAFO or other park efforts--with one exception, with direction from Congress in the Appropriations Acts from the last four years regarding large-scale project commitments. Communication has occurred only after major commitments have been made.
Communication about fundraising efforts within NPS, at all levels of the agency, is sporadic, inconsistent and has hindered good decision-making and coordination between the budget, operations and partnership offices. For example, VAFO managers reported that they visited WASO a number of times to brief senior leadership and staff on the project and its context. Frequently, the intended audience for the briefings didn't show up, or they came late or left early. Park managers feel that their work has been hindered by the need to "manage up" and feel it is a bit unfair to be blamed for lack of coordination among WASO offices.
The Appropriations Committee learned of the fundraising campaign and possible NPS funding commitments from newspaper articles and from contacts that the Society made with Senator Santorum. The Committee requested a report on the project in spring 2003. The park and region prepared the report and requested and received comment from WASO. The final report was completed by VAFO in July 2003 and submitted to WASO. Despite many requests to WASO from VAFO throughout the fall and winter, it never was formally submitted to the committee.
The fundraising campaign was announced publicly before NPS-WASO approved a fundraising plan or NPS notified the Appropriations Committee. The announcement of the plan prior to the approval of the fundraising plan has created public pressure on Congress, and the agency, to fund the project.
The fundraising campaign and Pennsylvania Battlefields Act legislation was pushed quickly, in 1997, by the Society and NPS because of the Society's desire to "get out of their present location" and to save the land on which the Paoli Massacre occurred from being sold for development. The Society had a 5-year deadline to get out of their own building and they wanted "to want control over a their portion of our jointly managed new visitor center/ museum/ curatorial storage facility".
It appears that NPS has ceded power to our private partner early in the project. By the time the Appropriations Committee was informed, the project was conceptually planned, designed, costed-out, and state, local and private sector commitments have been made.
NPS does not appear to be managing the commitments that are made in Valley Forge and how this project will impact other park priorities.
The project was examined by the Construction Project Review Process in May of 2003 and the Development Advisory Board indicated that they were extremely concerned about the size and cost of the proposed facilities and site development and its potential effects on the cultural landscape. The Board does not recommend approval until the project team further defines the intended scope of the program and a business plan and develops a more realistic expectation of Federal funding given Congressional concerns and the priorities articulated in the NPS five-year construction plan. NPS, at all levels of the agency, is working to respond to the concerns of Congress.


Options

The mistakes that have been made in the management of this fundraising campaign cannot be fixed. Public funding commitments have been made and expectations created that cannot be reversed without serious damage to the creditability of NPS, Congress and relationships with local, Commonwealth and private partners. However, a number of options are available to mitigate these mistakes. The following options are suggested as a "package" of steps that can and should be taken to mitigate the fundraising campaign problems and concerns within the identified assumptions.

1. Request the Region to bring the VAFO fundraising campaign into compliance with DO-21 and reach agreement on fundamental questions related to the VAFO effort.
Amendments to the Cooperative Agreement;
Preparation of an NPS Fundraising Plan and Donor Recognition Plan.
Assessment of the feasibility of the federal fundraising effort. This needs to be done with the Society but by a third-party expert.
Request that this work be done within 45 days and reviewed and approved by WASO.
Make available to the park staff, from WASO and NER, staff and printed technical assistance to help in the revision and preparation of these documents.
Assemble a WASO and Denver Service Center(DSC)Technical and Policy Team to review the revised documents and expedite the approval process.

Request the Region to implement the recommendations of the May 6-7-
2003 Construction Project Review Process.
Further define the intended scope of the program and a business plan that develops a more realistic expectation of Federal funding given the FY 2003 Appropriations Act language and priorities in the NPS five-year construction plan.
Project planning should not progress ahead of the General Management Plan (GMP) and should continue to be coordinated with the GMP process.

3. Hold a two-day work session between NPS-VAFO, NPS-WASO, NPS-NER, NPS-DSC and the National Center for the American Revolution to identify, discuss, and agree upon the fundraising, visitation, facility design, operational, and funding issues and actions related to the Valley Forge "National Center for the American Revolution".
Work session can help revise and prepare necessary documents and reach agreement with key partners.
Involve key experts from near and afar in an interactive dialogue to answer questions, respond to concerns, resolve issues and reach agreement on issues identified in the review process.
Use a performance-based process similar to the DAB Facility Planning Model thought process to help shape the appropriate design of the building.
Hold the meeting at VAFO and use a facilitator.
Use the meeting to get to yes, strengthen the partnership during sometimes-difficult discussions, and recognize the contributions of the Society.
Meeting needs to be done sooner rather than later since NER and VAFO are proposing to begin schematic designs of the building.

4. Have the Director communicate with Tom Daly, President and CEO of the National Center for the American Revolution, to reaffirm our appreciation of their contributions and our desire to make this effort successful.
Reaffirm that NPS is not waffling.
Thank Tom Daly and respond to his request for a workshop/ work session.
Explain the importance of why the documents and decisions must be agreed to jointly and follow NPS guidance.

Reaffirm the NER and WASO points of contact and NPS process for
fundraising agreements, plans and campaigns and make sure that adequate trained staff are available to assist the park.
Reaffirm the responsibilities of the Associate Director for Partnerships, etc. and his role in the communications and decision-making process for this fundraising effort.
Create a WASO Partnership Office with adequate managers and trained staff that replicates other successful services (i.e. Warren Brown Park Planning Model).
Clarify the NER point of contact for fundraising and insure that adequate trained staff are available to assist park staff.