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Cleveland Zoological Society at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Cleveland Zoological Society

CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY is the nonprofit partner of cleveland metroparks zoo, committed to raising awareness of the zoo as a community priority; securing private donations; and running a membership program that provides operating and conservation funding.

$13M
Granted FY2024still arriving
13
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$9.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$32MEnvironment$13MEducation$1.9MAnimals$1.8MPublic Safety & Disaster$200k
02FY2024 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 13 grants below total $13,050,872, the rows itemized in this filing. The $13,461,191 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $410,319 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $7k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $94k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $576k
  • $250k+3 grants · $12M
$60,125
Median grant
8
States reached
$42M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT$9,000,000
CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT$2,966,739
CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT$407,194
CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT$205,400
CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT$164,148
DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL$85,966
CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT$60,125
GIRAFFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION USA$60,000
ENV WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST$30,000
ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS & AQUARIUMS$28,000
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY$21,300
NORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$15,000
WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY DBA WOODLAND PARK ZOO$7,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $21k → 28%GIRAFFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION USA: $60k → 13%NORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $15k → 14%DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL: $86k → 13%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $9.0M → 17%WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY DBA WOODLAND PARK ZOO: $7k → 9%ENV WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST: $30k → 6%ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS & AQUARIUMS: $28k → 8%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $4.3M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $4.3M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $3.5M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $3.2M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $3.0M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $3.0M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $2.9M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $2.8M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $2.1M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $2.1M → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $875k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $830k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $701k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $545k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $504k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $491k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $479k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $434k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $407k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $390k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $330k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $286k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $281k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $267k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $263k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $232k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $209k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $205k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $200k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $177k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $170k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $166k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $164k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $125k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $83k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $60k → 17%CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $23k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
NY
OH
VA
MD
NC
GA
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its field
04the grantee network

7 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 7 of the 8 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
7/7
Grantees still filing
5/7
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT: $49,010,279 · OtherCLEVELAND METROPOLITAN PARK DISTRICT+1 more: $85,966 · OtherAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INC: $28,000 · AnimalsWildlife Conservation Society: $21,300 · AnimalsNORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC: $15,000 · AnimalsWOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $7,000 · AnimalsGIRAFFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION USA: $60,000 · InternationalENV WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST: $30,000 · Environment
Other$49,096,245Animals$71,300International$60,000Environment$30,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc: $85,966 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGIRAFFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION USA: $60,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetENV WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST: $30,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INC: $28,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $21,300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA11.3× affinity5 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Cleveland Zoological Society funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cleveland Zoological Society. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Giraffe Conservation Foundation Usa: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 8 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home