How much does Zoological Society of San Diego give?

Zoological Society of San Diego reported 24 itemized grants totaling $1,632,824, out of $5,703,872 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 16 and 26 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.

What does Zoological Society of San Diego fund?

By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Animals (71%), Environment (23%), Education (2%).

Who are Zoological Society of San Diego's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Audubon Nature Institute Inc ($3.1M), Center for Plant Conservation Inc ($977k), University of California Davis ($428k).

Does Zoological Society of San Diego fund new organizations?

In FY2023, 35% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Which funders back the same organizations as Zoological Society of San Diego?

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

Where is Zoological Society of San Diego based?

Zoological Society of San Diego is based in CA.

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

California · Public charity

Zoological Society of San Diego

San diego zoo wildlife alliance is committed to saving species worldwide by uniting our expertise in wildlife care and conservation science with our dedication to inspiring passion for nature.

$5.7M
Granted FY2024(still arriving): 24
Itemized grants FY2024: 26
Organizations funded FY2023: 35%
First-time grantees FY2023

Read the full brief

Itemized, FY2024: $1.6M; The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2024: $20,000
Largest grant, FY2024: $500,000
Organizations funded a year: 16 to 26; FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024: 11
Total assets, FY2024: $1.0B

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 35% of the organizations Zoological Society of San Diego funded were first-time grantees, receiving 12% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $140k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

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

AnimalsEducationEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureInternationalOther

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	23	$1.1M	26%
FY2023	26	$1.2M	35%
FY2022	16	$1.3M	25%
FY2021	22	$1.1M	41%
FY2020	18	$1.2M	33%
FY2019	22	$990k	41%
FY2018	21	$993k	62%
FY2017	16	$317k	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$7.6MEnvironment$2.5MEducation$201kArts & Culture$126kScience & Tech$100kHealth$55kPhilanthropy$29kEmployment$14kOther$0

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
Audubon Nature Institute Inc	$3,089,984	6	4%
Center for Plant Conservation Inc	$977,392	3	24%
University of California Davis	$428,092	4	n/a
Regents of the University of California at San Diego	$417,207	3	n/a
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc	$414,783	6	0%
Rewild	$320,000	6	0%
Polar Bears International	$177,500	2	4%
American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc	$160,230	7	0%
Smithsonian Institution	$144,646	4	0%
San Diego Society of Natural History	$136,000	2	1%

Show all 72 grantees

All grantees of Zoological Society of San Diego by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Audubon Nature Institute Inc	$3,089,984	6	4%
Center for Plant Conservation Inc	$977,392	3	24%
University of California Davis	$428,092	4	n/a
Regents of the University of California at San Diego	$417,207	3	n/a
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc	$414,783	6	0%
Rewild	$320,000	6	0%
Polar Bears International	$177,500	2	4%
American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc	$160,230	7	0%
Smithsonian Institution	$144,646	4	0%
San Diego Society of Natural History	$136,000	2	1%
The Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation	$132,500	6	2%
The Saint Louis Zoo Association	$130,000	5	0%
Point Loma Nazarene University	$128,200	5	0%
International Elephant Foundation	$121,000	5	3%
Natural State Ltd	$100,000	1	1%
Regents of the University of California	$85,000	2	n/a
Global Conservation Network	$82,500	4	6%
Chicago Zoological Society	$70,000	3	0%
The Peregrine Fund Inc	$70,000	4	0%
The International Iguana Foundation	$60,000	6	9%
Red Panda Network	$55,750	5	3%
Csu Fullerton Auxiliary Services Corporation	$52,500	3	0%
City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks	$49,000	3	n/a
Revive & Restore	$48,500	1	1%
Baylor College of Medicine	$40,000	1	0%
Giraffe Conservation Foundation USA	$38,950	3	1%
Sahara Conservation Fund	$30,000	2	1%
Species360	$30,000	2	0%
Saint Louis Zoo Association	$30,000	1	n/a
William & Mary	$29,549	2	n/a
Association of Fundraising Professionals San Diego Chapter	$29,000	4	6%
Portland State University	$28,000	2	n/a
North San Diego Business Chamber	$26,500	2	2%
Defenders of Wildlife	$25,000	1	0%
Elephant Cooperation	$25,000	1	2%
Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation	$25,000	1	0%
Dallas Zoo Management Inc	$23,500	3	0%
Carnivores Livelihoods and Landscapes	$21,750	3	17%
Int'L Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources - US	$21,412	1	3%
Portland State University Foundation	$20,600	1	0%
Xerces Society Inc	$20,000	2	0%
Wildlife Conservation Global Inc	$20,000	3	1%
Academy of Our Lady of Peace	$18,000	1	n/a
Woodland Park Zoological Society	$17,500	2	0%
The New Bedford Oceanarium Corporation	$15,533	1	n/a
The International Rhino Foundation	$15,000	1	0%
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute	$15,000	1	0%
International Snow Leopard Trust	$15,000	2	0%
Erie Zoological Society	$14,000	2	0%
Pan African Sanctuary Alliance Inc	$14,000	1	1%
Wildlife Sos	$13,100	1	0%
Uc San Diego Foundation	$13,000	1	0%
Oregon State University	$11,800	1	n/a
Primates Peru	$10,000	1	3%
Sahara Conservation Fund	$10,000	1	n/a
Forever Balboa Park	$10,000	1	1%
Wildlife Conservation Society	$10,000	1	0%
The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence	$10,000	1	0%
Houston Zoo Inc	$10,000	1	0%
International Zoo Educators Association Inc	$10,000	1	n/a
Arizona Center for Nature Conservation	$10,000	1	0%
Monarch Joint Venture	$10,000	1	0%
Florida International University Foundation Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary	$9,404	1	3%
Valley Zoological Society	$8,729	1	0%
The Uc Davis Foundation	$8,700	1	0%
Colorado State University Foundation	$7,531	1	0%
US Geological Survey	$6,800	1	n/a
State of Hawaii Department of Education	$6,000	1	n/a
Lincoln Park Zoological Society	$6,000	1	0%
Wild Orca	$5,310	1	1%
Wild Horizons Wildlife Orphanage and Sanctuary	$5,000	1	2%

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Zoological Society of San Diego supplied at peak.

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 58.

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 AssociationOH26.3× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Columbus Zoological Park Association · Utah Zoological Society · Dallas Zoo Management Inc · Living Desert The · Detroit Zoological Society · East Coast Zoological Society of Florida Inc · Jacksonville Zoological Society Inc · American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc · Fort Wayne Zoological Society Inc · Houston Zoo Inc · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · Riverbanks Society

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 Zoological Society of San Diego with peer funders

About Zoological Society of San Diego

How much does Zoological Society of San Diego give?: Zoological Society of San Diego reported 24 itemized grants totaling $1,632,824, out of $5,703,872 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 16 and 26 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Zoological Society of San Diego fund?: By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Animals (71%), Environment (23%), Education (2%).
Who are Zoological Society of San Diego's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Audubon Nature Institute Inc ($3.1M), Center for Plant Conservation Inc ($977k), University of California Davis ($428k).
Does Zoological Society of San Diego fund new organizations?: In FY2023, 35% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as Zoological Society of San Diego?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Columbus Zoological Park Association, Utah Zoological Society, Dallas Zoo Management Inc.
Where is Zoological Society of San Diego based?: Zoological Society of San Diego is based in CA.