Comments on NSF Use of Donated Funds

The National Science Foundation (NSF) requested a decision on whether it could use donated funds to pay for conference and entertainment expenses incident to scientific endeavors. GAO held that: (1) all the expenses in question were classified as entertainment expenses; (2) NSF authority to accept and expend donated funds was broad enough to permit NSF to use such funds to pay entertainment expenses, since such expenses were necessary to carry out its authorized functions effectively; and (3) NSF must determine whether each entertainment expense was justified in furthering its general purposes.