Grants for zoos

99 zoos and acquariums received at least $22.5 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 593 grants made from 436 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 436 foundations, 89% made just a single grant to zoos, and 2% made grants to four or more zoos. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$22,478,821
Total grant dollars given to zoos
593
Number of grants made annually to zoos
436
Number of grantmakers funding zoos
$1,000
Median grant size to zoos

Foundations that support zoos and acquariums

Out of all grants made to zoos, 80% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 95% of the dollar-value of grants to zoos. Foundations funding zoos also made grants to art museums, multiservice human service organizations, colleges, food banks, and universities.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
350
Medium
 
44
Large
 
42
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
12
Private
 
390
Corporate
 
20
Other
 
14

Grants made

Grants made to zoosNumber of grantmakers
1
 
389
2-3
 
34
4-10
 
10
11+
 
3

Top 10 foundations supporting zoos and acquariums

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to zoosNumber of grants made to zoosMedian grant size
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%32$1,000
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%25$350
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.0%13$1,000
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%10$1,500
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.0%8$1,350
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.1%8$282
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.0%6$200
Charity Partners FoundationMANational0.5%6$198
Synchrony FoundationCTNational0.0%6$100
Baird FoundationWINational0.0%5$500

Zoos and acquariums grantees

Zoos with more than $5 million in total revenues received 99% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 92% of all zoos.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
590
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
3

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$2,500
$100k-$500k
 
$3,000
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,400
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
149
Tennessee
 
59
Illinois
 
45
Texas
 
29
Other
 
311

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Salinas
 
53
Nashville
 
47
Chicago
 
45
San Francisco
 
29
Other
 
403

Top 25 grants made to zoos

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Monterey Bay Aquarium$10,000,000$5 Million for Conservation and Science Prorgams, $5 Million for Conservation Research ProgramsThe Chicago Community Trust
Monterey Bay Aquarium$6,410,000MbaqDavid and Lucile Packard Foundation
Nashville Zoo$4,970,658Support Toward the Zoo'S $195 Million "grow Wild" Capital Campaign.The Frist Foundation
Virginia Zoological Society (VZP)$5,000SponsorshipMonarch Charities
Saint Louis Zoo Association$5,000ConservationThe Columbus Foundation
Columbus Zoological Park Association$5,000ConservationThe Columbus Foundation
Columbus Zoological Park Association$5,000ConservationThe Columbus Foundation
Columbus Zoological Park Association$5,000ConservationThe Columbus Foundation
New Zoological Society$5,000Program SupportMorley - Murphy Foundation
Living Desert$5,000In Furtherance of Organization's WorkThe Castle Foundation
Zoo Atlanta$5,000Unrestricted GeneralMary W Covey Foundation
Virginia Zoological Society (VZP)$5,000General FundShearwater Foundation
Austin Zoo$5,000Accessibility Projectzoo Public Building,The Henry Foundation
Woodland Park Zoo$5,000Feeding and Care of Visayan Warty PigsLily Pointe Foundation
Aquarium of the Pacific$5,000To Support and Further Its Exempt PurposeRaymond and Barbara Alpert Foundation
Sacramento Zoological Society$5,000Exhibit Modifications To Accommodate New SpeciesThornton S. Glide Jr. and Katrina D. Glide Foundation
Seneca Park Zoo$5,000Unrestricted GiftThe Riedman Foundation
Shedd Aquarium$5,000GeneralA. G. Cox Charity Trust
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore$5,000All for General PurposesEliasberg Family Foundation
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore$5,000All for General PurposesEliasberg Family Foundation
Monterey Bay Aquarium$5,000EducationStorm Castle Foundation Silver Lake
Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk$5,000Charitable Exempt PurposeThe William H Pitt Foundation
Houston Zoo$5,000General SupportHarvey R Houck Jr and Patricia W Houck Foundation
Savenatureorg$5,000General SupportThe Nathan Cummings Foundation
Utah Zoological Society$5,000Support To Help Animals HabitatsLawrence & Janet Dee Foundation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Zoos" category for this page is determined by the "D50: Zoo, Zoological Society" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.