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Every trip we write about here depends on something a lot of campers never think about: the parks actually being there, maintained, and open. That does not happen by accident, and it does not happen on entrance fees alone. It happens in large part because of the National Park Foundation, and it is worth understanding what they actually do.
Who They Are
The National Park Foundation is the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, chartered by Congress in 1967. Their job is to channel private donations toward the needs the federal park budget cannot fully cover — trail restoration, habitat protection, educational programs, historic preservation, and the countless smaller projects that keep a park system this large actually functioning.
What That Actually Looks Like
The scale is bigger than most visitors realize. The Foundation supports work across more than 400 national park sites nationwide, and in fiscal year 2023 alone it provided $115 million in grants and programmatic support directly to the parks. That is trail crews, native species recovery work, accessibility upgrades, and preservation projects at historic sites — the unglamorous maintenance that lets a place like Zion or Acadia keep looking the way it did the year before, and the year before that.
Why This Matters to Us Specifically
Nature & Chill exists because people want a comfortable, well-run home base near beautiful public land. Every glamping site and campground we recommend is only as good as the park or forest sitting next to it. When trails erode, visitor centers fall into disrepair, or a historic site loses funding for basic upkeep, that is not an abstract problem — it is the exact experience we are trying to help people plan around. Supporting the organization that keeps those places intact is a pretty direct extension of what this whole site is about.
How to Get Involved
You do not need to be a major donor to make a difference here. The Foundation accepts one-time and recurring gifts of any size, and their site makes it easy to direct a donation toward a specific park or cause you care about — whether that is wildlife conservation, a particular park you have visited and loved, or general operating support. If a trip we helped you plan meant something to you, consider paying a small piece of that forward.
Learn more or make a donation at nationalparks.org.