Guidance Related to the Implementation of Manual Section 1105: Donations, Solicitation, and Fundraising

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Grand Junction, Colorado 81506
https://www.blm.gov

February 15, 2022

In Reply Refer To:
1105 (HQ-410) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 03/01/2022
Information Bulletin No. 2022-024

To:                  All Headquarter Office and Field Office Officials

From:              Assistant Director, National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships

Subject:           Guidance Related to the Implementation of Manual Section 1105: Donations, Solicitation, and Fundraising

The purpose of this Information Bulletin (IB) is to provide step-down guidance to State and field offices for consistent implementation of Manual Section (MS) 1105: Donations, Solicitation, and Fundraising (November 2019). Specifically, this IB transmits instructions for accounting for monetary donations/contributed funding within the Collections and Billings System (CBS) and announces the availability of new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) donations, solicitation, and fundraising training available in DOI Talent.

On November 19, 2019, the BLM issued MS 1105, providing a national framework for conducting donation-related activities throughout the BLM and fulfilling the BLM’s mandate to step down the Department of the Interior’s donations policy (Departmental Manual Part 374, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct; Chapter 6). The policy addresses critical BLM-specific policy gaps, clarifies donation related issues, improves the BLM’s accountability, and fosters consistency while upholding the principle that integrity, impartiality, and public confidence in the BLM are vital considerations in acceptance of donations.

Since the policy’s release, additional guidance has been developed by the National Operations Center Division of Business Services to ensure BLM authorized employees appropriately account for monetary donations:

• Attachment 1 - Accounting Protocols for Monetary Donations documents appropriate protocols for the proper entry, depositing, and tracking of monetary donations in the BLM’s CBS and the Financial and Business Management System (FBMS).
• Attachment 2 - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Monetary Donations provides responses to questions associated with MS-1105 and accounting for monetary donations.
• Attachment 3 - Recreation Area Drop (Donation) Box Account Set Up Instructions provides specific step-by-step instructions for establishing the appropriate CBS account for physical drop boxes to receive donations on BLM-managed property.

BLM authorized employees, subject matter experts, program specialists, administrative officers, and budget analysts all have roles in implementing this policy when their unit is presented with a proposed donation. Employees must have sufficient training and organizational responsibility to complete their role in the donation evaluation, documentation, and accounting process. Online training titled, “Bureau of Land Management’s Donations, Solicitation and Fundraising Policy (Manual Section 1105) Overview” is now available for viewing and self-certification in DOI Talent (BLM-TC-6220-02). All employees with a role in this process will be responsible for completing this self-certification before engaging in donation, solicitation, and fundraising activities on behalf of the BLM.

Members of the public interested in obtaining more information about the BLM’s Donation, Solicitation, and Fundraising Policy can visit the BLM’s new external donation webpage at https://www.blm.gov/get-involved/donations.

For additional internal staff information, please visit the BLM’s internal Donations SharePoint or contact Matthew Magaletti, National Partnerships Program Lead, at 775-560-8092 or mmagalet@blm.gov.

Signed by:                                    Authenticated by:
Mark R. Lambrecht                      Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director                         Division of Regulatory Affairs and Directives,(HQ-630, National Conservation 
Lands and Community Partnerships

3 Attachments

1 - Accounting Protocols for Monetary Donations (5 pp)
2 - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Monetary Donations (5 pp)
3 - Recreation Area Drop (Donation) Box Account Set Up Instructions (2 pp)