Answer: Appropriate travel, and subsequent reimbursement, is one of the four main areas of foundation management the IG takes very seriously. The others are making sure that 1) every NPC expense has a valid, documented research or education justification; 2) VA employees hired to do corporation work are not getting dual compensation for their VA work; and 3) NPC costs for meals are associated with legitimate business meetings.

The main tests to consider in regard to travel and other reimbursements are:

1) Is there a research or education justification for the expense and is it documented?

2) Does the expense benefit research or the researcher? If the expense can be construed as a personal benefit to the researcher, it needs to be looked at more carefully and may need additional justification or may need to be disallowed.

3) Is the expense reasonable, not lavish? Foundations are not restricted to the federal per diems or travel limitations. However, VA, the IG and the IRS use the test of reasonableness.