Alabama · Nonprofit
Birmingham Zoo Inc
Birmingham Zoo Inc (Alabama) receives grants from 80 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,345,329 to it, the largest being LUCILLE S BEESON CHAR TR BOND MGMT ($2,785,727). 61 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $14M
- Funders on record
- 80
- Grants received
- $8.3M
- Net assets
- $50M
What Birmingham Zoo Inc does
Mission
The Birmingham Zoo's purpose is to exhibit animals for the education of visitors, to promote and conduct conservation programs and research studies, and sponsor educational activities for the community.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Management of facility operations of the Birmingham Zoo, sponsorship of educational, environmental, and conservation programs, and promotion of the zoo and animal and horticultural life through exhibits, programs and activities, enlightening visitors about the plight of endangered animals and the support needed for global wildlife conservation efforts. The Birmingham Zoo is accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums, relationship with the Birmingham chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, this partnership furthers conservation awareness and the education and appreciation for animal care specifically, the organization helps maintain the species survival programs - a worldwide cooperative breeding and conservation program.
$12,052,515 spent$5,374,876 earned by the program99% of program spendingBirmingham Zoo's Educational Programs -Students visiting Zoo on field trips was 32,570 and 35 out of 67 Alabama counties and 12 states outside of Alabama served by educational programs. The number of individuals served in ALL programming is below.o Behind the Scenes Tour Participants - 91o Twilight Tour Participants -152o Zoo Snooze Participants -227o Endangered Species Day 1,154o Digital Discovery Program Participants 1,067o Digital Field Experience Program Participants 771o ZooSchool Participants 659o Field Trip Program Participants 1,617o Zoo Events Participants (CCC Day, eRecycling Day) 770o Homeschool Class Participation 749 o Zoo to You Outreach Participants 1,734o Summer Zoo Camp Participants 839o Break Camp Participants 191o Teacher Professional Development Participants 41 o Teacher Night Participants 69
$67,316 spent$362,047 earned by the program1% of program spendingPublication and distribution of animal tracks and other periodic publications.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,119,831.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $42M to $48M (+15%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 12% · 2018 20% · 2019 21% · 2020 28% · 2021 39% · 2022 9% · 2023 9% · 2024 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
55% of Birmingham Zoo Inc’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Chris Pfefferkorn
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 18 funders to 43 funders, grant income rose $257k → $1.3M.
9 of 80 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.4M from 4 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham). These are real filings, and they are not money Birmingham Zoo Inc raised.
From the IRS filings of Birmingham Zoo Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 80 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Birmingham Zoo Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 33% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 27% · 2018 39% · 2019 19% · 2020 28% · 2021 45% · 2022 40% · 2023 35% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
59% of Birmingham Zoo Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 76% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
88% of Birmingham Zoo Inc's grant income comes from Alabama funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $607k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Birmingham Zoo Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 235 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 235 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding Birmingham Zoo Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $91k on record.
- Environmental Protection Agency$91k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Birmingham Zoo Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Alabama
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Birmingham Zoo Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Birmingham Zoo Inc?
- Birmingham Zoo Inc (Alabama) receives grants from 80 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,345,329 to it, the largest being LUCILLE S BEESON CHAR TR BOND MGMT ($2,785,727). 61 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Birmingham Zoo Inc have?
- IRS filings report 80 organizations giving $8,345,329 in grants to Birmingham Zoo Inc, 61 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Birmingham Zoo Inc?
- LUCILLE S BEESON CHAR TR BOND MGMT is the largest funder on record, with $2,785,727 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Birmingham Zoo Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Alabama. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Birmingham Zoo →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 80 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing