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- Grants directory
- Zoos
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
Foundation size
| Foundation size | Number of grantmakers |
|---|
| Small | |
| Medium | |
| Large | |
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.
Grants made
| Grants made to zoos | Number of grantmakers |
|---|
| 1 | |
| 2-3 | |
| 4-10 | |
| 11+ | |
Top 10 foundations supporting zoos and acquariums
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 grant | Number of grants |
|---|
| <$10k | |
| $10k-$25k | |
| $25k-$100k | |
| $100k+ | |
Grant amount by grantee size
| Grantee annual revenue | Median grant size |
|---|
| <$100k | |
| $100k-$500k | |
| $500k-$1M | |
| $1M-$5M | |
| >$5M | |
Top 25 grants made to zoos
| Grantee | Grant size | Purpose | Grantmaker |
|---|
| Monterey Bay Aquarium | $10,000,000 | $5 Million for Conservation and Science Prorgams, $5 Million for Conservation Research Programs | The Chicago Community Trust |
| Monterey Bay Aquarium | $6,410,000 | Mbaq | David and Lucile Packard Foundation |
| Nashville Zoo | $4,970,658 | Support Toward the Zoo'S $195 Million "grow Wild" Capital Campaign. | The Frist Foundation |
| Virginia Zoological Society (VZP) | $5,000 | Sponsorship | Monarch Charities |
| Saint Louis Zoo Association | $5,000 | Conservation | The Columbus Foundation |
| Columbus Zoological Park Association | $5,000 | Conservation | The Columbus Foundation |
| Columbus Zoological Park Association | $5,000 | Conservation | The Columbus Foundation |
| Columbus Zoological Park Association | $5,000 | Conservation | The Columbus Foundation |
| New Zoological Society | $5,000 | Program Support | Morley - Murphy Foundation |
| Living Desert | $5,000 | In Furtherance of Organization's Work | The Castle Foundation |
| Zoo Atlanta | $5,000 | Unrestricted General | Mary W Covey Foundation |
| Virginia Zoological Society (VZP) | $5,000 | General Fund | Shearwater Foundation |
| Austin Zoo | $5,000 | Accessibility Projectzoo Public Building, | The Henry Foundation |
| Woodland Park Zoo | $5,000 | Feeding and Care of Visayan Warty Pigs | Lily Pointe Foundation |
| Aquarium of the Pacific | $5,000 | To Support and Further Its Exempt Purpose | Raymond and Barbara Alpert Foundation |
| Sacramento Zoological Society | $5,000 | Exhibit Modifications To Accommodate New Species | Thornton S. Glide Jr. and Katrina D. Glide Foundation |
| Seneca Park Zoo | $5,000 | Unrestricted Gift | The Riedman Foundation |
| Shedd Aquarium | $5,000 | General | A. G. Cox Charity Trust |
| The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore | $5,000 | All for General Purposes | Eliasberg Family Foundation |
| The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore | $5,000 | All for General Purposes | Eliasberg Family Foundation |
| Monterey Bay Aquarium | $5,000 | Education | Storm Castle Foundation Silver Lake |
| Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk | $5,000 | Charitable Exempt Purpose | The William H Pitt Foundation |
| Houston Zoo | $5,000 | General Support | Harvey R Houck Jr and Patricia W Houck Foundation |
| Savenatureorg | $5,000 | General Support | The Nathan Cummings Foundation |
| Utah Zoological Society | $5,000 | Support To Help Animals Habitats | Lawrence & 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.