How much does Detroit Zoological Society give?

Detroit Zoological Society reported 16 itemized grants totaling $281,020, out of $638,508 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 18 and 29 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.

What does Detroit Zoological Society fund?

By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Animals (63%), Environment (37%).

Who are Detroit Zoological Society's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Gorilla Rehabilitation Conservation Education (Grace) Center Inc ($265k), Rewild ($232k), American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc ($223k).

Does Detroit Zoological Society fund new organizations?

In FY2023, 33% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Which funders back the same organizations as Detroit Zoological Society?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Columbus Zoological Park Association, Zoological Society of San Diego, Dallas Zoo Management Inc.

Where is Detroit Zoological Society based?

Detroit Zoological Society is based in MI.

Foundation Dossiers Mostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

Michigan · Public charity

Detroit Zoological Society

The mission of the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is to create meaningful connections between people, animals and the natural world so all can thrive. The vision of the DZS is to be a force for positive change in a world where animals and nature are valued, understood and protected by all people. The DZS operates the Detroit Zoo and…

$639k
Granted FY2024(still arriving): 16
Itemized grants FY2024: 18
Organizations funded FY2023: 33%
First-time grantees FY2023

Read the full brief

Itemized, FY2024: $281k; The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2024: $10,000
Largest grant, FY2024: $70,000
Organizations funded a year: 18 to 29; FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024: 12
Total assets, FY2024: $70M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 33% of the organizations Detroit Zoological Society funded were first-time grantees, receiving 28% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $70k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

AnimalsEducationEnvironmentOther

How this is measured

First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2024still arriving	15	$281k	13%
FY2023	18	$250k	33%
FY2022	19	$419k	37%
FY2021	22	$278k	9%
FY2020	18	$279k	22%
FY2019	21	$325k	5%
FY2018	23	$474k	22%
FY2017	29	$487k	n/a

100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Animals$1.8MEnvironment$1.0M

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Gorilla Rehabilitation Conservation Education (Grace) Center Inc	$265,000	8	10%
Rewild	$231,791	8	0%
American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc	$223,000	7	1%
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois	$145,624	1	n/a
Polar Oceans Research Group	$145,000	5	35%
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc	$140,000	3	1%
Wildlife Conservation Network	$97,500	6	n/a
Conapac	$85,000	4	n/a
The Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation	$85,000	8	1%
African Elephant Conservation Trust	$80,000	5	8%

Show all 56 grantees

All grantees of Detroit Zoological Society by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Gorilla Rehabilitation Conservation Education (Grace) Center Inc	$265,000	8	10%
Rewild	$231,791	8	0%
American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc	$223,000	7	1%
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois	$145,624	1	n/a
Polar Oceans Research Group	$145,000	5	35%
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc	$140,000	3	1%
Wildlife Conservation Network	$97,500	6	n/a
Conapac	$85,000	4	n/a
The Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation	$85,000	8	1%
African Elephant Conservation Trust	$80,000	5	8%
Red Panda Network	$70,000	7	2%
Giraffe Conservation Foundation USA	$70,000	7	1%
US Geological Survey	$66,000	3	n/a
Minnesota Zoo Foundation	$65,000	6	0%
Michigan Tech University	$61,446	5	n/a
National Park Service	$60,000	3	n/a
Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research Education and Conservation	$60,000	3	0%
Global Conservation Network	$50,000	5	1%
Regents of the University of Michigan	$50,000	4	n/a
The Saint Louis Zoo Association	$47,500	3	0%
Americans for Oxford Inc	$40,000	4	0%
University of Minnesota Foundation	$40,000	4	0%
ASU Foundation for A New American University dba ASU Foundation	$40,000	4	n/a
University of Washington Foundation	$35,000	3	0%
International Snow Leopard Trust	$35,000	3	1%
OnePlanet USA Inc	$35,000	2	6%
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc	$35,000	2	0%
The Ocean Foundation	$30,000	3	0%
Bat Conservation International	$30,000	3	0%
Oklahoma City Zoological Trust	$30,000	2	n/a
The Peregrine Fund Inc	$30,000	3	0%
Polar Bears International	$30,000	3	0%
Releaf Michigan Inc	$27,000	2	8%
Michigan State University	$20,135	2	n/a
MGVP INC Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project	$20,000	2	1%
Lincoln Park Zoological Society	$20,000	2	0%
American Forests	$18,020	1	0%
Wildlife Conservation Society	$12,500	1	0%
Michigan Tech Fund	$10,000	1	n/a
Ngogo Chimpanzee Project Inc	$10,000	1	n/a
Wildlife Conservation Global Inc	$10,000	1	1%
The Science and Conservation Center Inc	$10,000	1	2%
Detroit Bird Alliance	$10,000	1	4%
Save the Golden Lion Tamarin	$10,000	1	4%
Grand Valley State University	$10,000	1	n/a
The Wild Animal Sanctuary	$10,000	1	0%
St Louis Zoological Park	$10,000	1	n/a
University of Minnesota	$10,000	1	n/a
National Marine Mammal Foundation Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Serenity Oaks Equine Sanctuary	$10,000	1	15%
Zoo Conservation Outreach Group Inc	$10,000	1	5%
Arizona State University Foundation for a New American University	$10,000	1	0%
The Conservation Agency	$10,000	1	n/a
Caribbean Wildlife Alliance	$6,000	1	n/a
Denver Zoological Foundation	$6,000	1	0%
Macomb Community Action	$5,044	1	n/a

Detroit Zoological Society supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 38 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 38.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Columbus Zoological Park AssociationOH22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Columbus Zoological Park Association · Zoological Society of San Diego · Dallas Zoo Management Inc · Commonwealth Zoological Corporation D/B/A Zoo New England · Houston Zoo Inc · Jacksonville Zoological Society Inc · Reid Park Zoological Society · Utah Zoological Society · East Coast Zoological Society of Florida Inc · Nashville Zoo Inc · Living Desert The · Arizona Center for Nature Conservation

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.

Compare Detroit Zoological Society with peer funders

About Detroit Zoological Society

How much does Detroit Zoological Society give?: Detroit Zoological Society reported 16 itemized grants totaling $281,020, out of $638,508 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 18 and 29 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Detroit Zoological Society fund?: By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Animals (63%), Environment (37%).
Who are Detroit Zoological Society's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Gorilla Rehabilitation Conservation Education (Grace) Center Inc ($265k), Rewild ($232k), American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc ($223k).
Does Detroit Zoological Society fund new organizations?: In FY2023, 33% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as Detroit Zoological Society?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Columbus Zoological Park Association, Zoological Society of San Diego, Dallas Zoo Management Inc.
Where is Detroit Zoological Society based?: Detroit Zoological Society is based in MI.