Appropriateness of corporate donor recognition in national parks, as perceived by visitors

The National Park Service first formulated Director's Order #21: Donations and Fundraising (DO #21) in 1998. This policy details the management of, and the level of recognition allowed for, donations and fundraising in national parks. During subsequent revisions of this policy in 2006 and 2008, parts of the policy, specifically how donors are recognized, spurred the ire of outside groups. An online, image-based survey was provided to visitors to Yosemite National Park to clarify the issues. This survey focused on the levels of recognition allowed within the 2006 version of DO #21. Until now, most of the existing research found to-date is from three previous studies, two published by Mowen (2002, 2007), and one unpublished survey (commissioned by the National Parks Conservation Association) from Zogby International (2005). Key findings of this survey support many of the guidelines laid out within DO #21. Results suggest parks—and park partners—proceed with caution (e.g. sensitive topic) when recognizing corporate donors in national parks. Overall, “green” companies were deemed more appropriate than others, smaller visual recognition was deemed more appropriate than larger, and no corporate recognition was found to be most appropriate. Recommendations for future research are provided.