Why It Matters

It’s your money

According to the Executive Director’s 2025–2026 Annual Report (spring 2026), the Society holds about $14.8 million in total assets, including about $11.9 million in endowment and investment accounts. Most of that money came from NSS members who left it to the Society in their wills or estates. The rest comes from dues and donations. It pays for cave preserves, cave rescue, publications, conservation, and the programs members rely on. How it is protected affects all of it.

It’s other cavers’ legacy

Much of the Society’s growth since 2021 came from a few large gifts left by members. The people who left them can’t check how their gifts are being used. Members are the only ones who can.

The safeguards have gaps

Nothing in the Bylaws keeps the person who directs spending from also controlling the accounts. After the July 2026 Board meeting, the rulebook posted for members was out of date for about 11 weeks, and 24 Acts, most of them rules for named and restricted funds, were dropped from it without explanation. In 2026, minutes from six Board meetings were posted months past the Board’s own 30-day deadline.

None of this means anyone has done wrong. It means members can’t easily see what is being decided in their name.

It happened before

An embezzlement ran for more than two years before it was caught. Strong safeguards make that harder to do and quicker to find.

You have a say

Members elect the Board of Governors, and the Bylaws let members put changes to the Society’s rules on the ballot by petition. We are proposing three for the 2027 ballot: separate financial authority, post minutes on time and give notice of rule changes, and background checks for people who handle the Society’s money.