Skip to content

· Public charity

Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc

We protect nature and inspire people to care for our world.

$562k
Granted FY2024still arriving
5
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$80k
Largest
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.

Animals$1.3MEnvironment$236kEducation$23kYouth Development$10k
02FY2024 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 5 grants below total $153,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $561,555 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $408,555 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

  • $10k–50k4 grants · $73k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $80k
$23,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$245M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Lincoln Park Zoological Society$80,000
University of Colorado$25,000
Sycamore Land Trust$23,000
University of North Carolina at Greensboro$15,000
Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders$10,000
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 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 75% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NORTH AMERICAN STURGEON AND PADDLEFISH SOCIETY: $20k → 10%SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVANCY: $10k → 9%Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders: $10k → 10%NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN: $10k → 9%STONY BROOK FOUNDATION: $15k → 7%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $60k → 28%WORLD PARROT TRUST: $35k → 10%TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE: $18k → 12%RESERVA THE YOUTH LAD TRUST INC: $10k → 14%INTERNATIONAL ASSOC OF CROCODILE SPECAILISTS: $25k → 19%IOWA BIRD REHABILITATION: $13k → 10%SOUTHERN CONSERVATION PARTNERS: $13k → 13%University of Colorado: $25k → 12%SIDEKICK FOUNDATION: $18k → 5%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN INDIANA: $10k → 16%SEWARD ASSOC FOR ADVANCED MARINE SCIENCE: $5k → 11%WIDECAST: $50k → 12%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $80k → 14%CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $25k → 7%CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND: $25k → 9%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $60k → 28%WORLD PARROT TRUST: $30k → 10%DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTL: $10k → 13%SIDEKICK FOUNDATION: $17k → 5%INDIANA NATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION: $19k → 16%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $80k → 14%CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND: $15k → 9%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $60k → 28%WORLD PARROT TRUST: $26k → 10%SIDEKICK FOUNDATION INC: $9k → 5%INDIANA NATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION: $15k → 16%Lincoln Park Zoological Society: $80k → 14%CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND: $7k → 9%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $60k → 28%WORLD PARROT TRUST: $21k → 10%SIDEKICK FOUNDATION: $8k → 5%INDIANA NATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION: $12k → 16%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $80k → 14%CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND: $6k → 9%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $25k → 28%WORLD PARROT TRUST: $12k → 10%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $25k → 14%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $15k → 28%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $25k → 14%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $25k → 14%LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $25k → 14%CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $20k → 14%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

AK
MT
MN
IL
NY
IA
IN
CA
CO
VA
MD
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
GA
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $255k on the FY2024 return

Schedule F, as filed: 5 regions. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Central America and the Caribbean$84k · 33% · 3 grants

Stated purpose: CONSERVATION

Sub-Saharan Africa$74k · 29% · 2 grants

Stated purpose: CONSERVATION

South America$47k · 18% · 2 grants

Stated purpose: CONSERVATION

East Asia and the Pacific$25k · 10% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: CONSERVATION

North America (Canada and Mexico)$25k · 10% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: CONSERVATION

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 8 repeat orgs$400k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +147% since the first grant, against +83% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
18

Total granted

$1.2M
$327k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+147%
+83%

Still filing today

88%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 52% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $73k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsEnvironmentEducationPhilanthropyRecreation & SportsOther
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.

Backed again, and grew

  • LP
    LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $420k · revenue +30%
  • WC
    Wildlife Conservation Society
    6× · 2017–2022 · $280k · revenue +59%
  • REWILD
    5× · 2017–2023 · $140k · revenue +550%

Funded once

  • AA
    AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue +83%
  • WW
    WIDECAST Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue -77%
  • CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue +113%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
4
Wildlife Conservation Society

The wildlife conservation society (wcs) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.

Animals
5
International Conservation Caucus Network

To advance conservation governance through political will and to provide "on the ground" solutions to ensure sustained economic benefits while managing the earth's natural resource wealth for future generations.

Unclassified
6
Wild Earth Allies Inc

Our mission is to protect vital areas of our planet for wildlife and people through local conservation action. Our vision is a world where wildlife and people flourish in healthy ecosystems that sustain us all.

Environment
7
Wildlife Alliance Inc

Wildlife alliance is the leader in direct protection of forests and wildlife in tropical asia. our mission is to combat deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change, and poverty by partnering with local communities and governments.…

Animals
8
Panthera Corporation

Panthera's mission is the conservation of the world's 40 wild cat species, many of which are endangered or threatened. panthera develops, implements and oversees wild cat conservation strategies on a global scale.

Animals
9
Nature and Culture International

Nature and culture international conserves biologically diverse landscapes in latin america, in concert with local cultures, for the well-being of the planet.

Environment
10
Wildlife Sos

Protecting india's precious wildlife from poaching, habitat loss, and human exploitation since 1995.

Animals
11
Zoo Outreach Organisation

Wildlife conservation, research and education.

Environment
12
Wildlife Impact

Protect wildlife and ecosystems through research, evidence-based evaluation, capacity development and advocacy.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wildlife Conservation Network Inc; the most unlike its peers is Widecast Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

25 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. 25 of the 31 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/25
Grantees still filing
21/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $420,000 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETYWildlife Conservation Society: $280,000 · AnimalsWildlife Conservation SocietyREWILD: $140,000 · AnimalsREWILDWORLD PARROT TRUST USA INC: $124,455 · AnimalsWORLD PARROT TRUST USA INCINTERNATIONAL ELEPHANT FOUNDATION: $64,895 · AnimalsCheetah Conservation Fund: $53,050 · AnimalsAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INC: $50,000 · AnimalsWIDECAST Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network Inc: $50,000 · Animals+7 more: $95,530 · Animals+7 moreINDIANA NATIONAL RESOURCES: $33,945 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $25,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO: $15,000 · OtherINDIANA NATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION: $11,587 · OtherRESERVA THE YOUTH LAD TRUST INC: $10,000 · OtherDian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc: $10,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $7,800 · OtherCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 · EnvironmentSYCAMORE LAND TRUST INCORPORATED: $23,000 · EnvironmentCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $20,000 · EnvironmentSOUTHERN CONSERVATION PARTNERS INC: $12,500 · EnvironmentNATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN: $10,000 · EnvironmentMARA ELEPHANT PROJECT USA INC: $51,991 · PhilanthropyNORTH AMERICAN STURGEON & PADDLEFISH SOCIETY: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Education
Animals$1,277,930Other$123,332Environment$90,500Philanthropy$51,991Recreation & Sports$20,000Education$15,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $420,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $280,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetREWILD: $140,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD PARROT TRUST USA INC: $124,455 over 5y, 3.3% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ELEPHANT FOUNDATION: $64,895 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetCheetah Conservation Fund: $53,050 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetMARA ELEPHANT PROJECT USA INC: $51,991 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWIDECAST Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CROCODILE SPECIALISTS USA INC: $24,903 over 1y, 43% of budgetSYCAMORE LAND TRUST INCORPORATED: $23,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $18,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOKLAHOMA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSOUTHERN CONSERVATION PARTNERS INC: $12,500 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetIOWA BIRD REHABILITATION: $12,500 over 1y, 12% of budgetNATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSnow Leopard Conservancy: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEWARD ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCE: $5,127 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Zoological Society of CincinnatiOH13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Zoological Society of Cincinnati · Columbus Zoological Park Association · American Endowment Foundation · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    4report 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 31 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

    Play a game based on Indianapolis Zoological Society’s filings →

    More from the funding graph