Massachusetts · Nonprofit
COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND
COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND (Massachusetts) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $22,488,515 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($16,361,186). 59 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $34M
- Funders on record
- 95
- Grants received
- $22M
- Net assets
- $59M
What Commonwealth Zoological Corporation D/B/A Zoo New England does
Mission
To provide all administrative and other services and support required or contemplated by chapter 92b of the massachusetts general laws to the franklin park zoo and the walter d. Stone memorial zoo, to any other agency or entity referenced therein, and act independently in connection with zoological matters. Furthermore, zoo new england's mission is to inspire people to protect and sustain the natural world for future generations by creating fun and engaging experiences that integrate wildlife and conservation programs, research, and education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Guest servicesin fy 25, zoo new england's daytime attendance reached 711,392 visitors, a decrease of 44,662 visitors compared to 756,054 in fy 24. Stone zoo's daytime attendance reached 289,140 visitors, a decrease of 4,551 from 293,691 in fy 24. Total fy 25 attendance for zoolights (stone zoo' evening holiday light show, which operates primarily in the month of december) was 79,043 an decrease of 7,991 visitors compared to 87,034 in fy 24. Total fy 25 attendance for boston lights: a lantern experience (franklin park zoo' evening summer/fall lantern experience) was 211,208, an increase of 54,212 compared to 156,996 in fy 24. Total overall attendance inclusive of zoolights and boston lights in fy 25 was 1,001,643, an increase of 1,559 visitors compared to 1,000,084 in fy 24.
$6,245,637 spent$9,188,797 earned by the program27% of program spendingAnimal care & exhibits as of june 30, 2025, franklin park zoo features 78 public animal habitats and stone zoo features 55. Zoo new england is home to 1,069 animals representing 193 species.during fy 25, significant acquisitions at franklin park zoo included bird species such as blacknaped fruit dove, scaly-sided merganser, red-crested turaco, hadada ibis, boat-billed heron, sunbittern, kea, red siskin, and violet turaco, mammals including cotton-top tamarin, african wild dog, and nyala, and invertebrates such as the florida ivory millipede, emperor scorpion, blue baboon tarantula and sun beetle. At stone zoo, significant acquisitions included cotton-top tamarin, red-rumped agouti, north american river otter, spiny-tailed iguana and chuckwalla.notable births and hatches at franklin park zoo included scaly-sided merganser, yellow-billed stork, laughing kookaburra, wattled crane, hartmann's mountain zebra, and masai giraffe. At stone zoo, significant births included linne's two-toed sloth, eastern black-and-white colobus, and prehensile-tailed porcupine.
$7,079,389 spentof which $125,000 as grants30% of program spendingEducation chapter 92b of the acts of 1992 of the massachusetts general laws provides that the zoos will admit massachusetts school groups at no charge. Field trips to the zoo are an opportunity for students to learn more about science, wildlife and conservation. The education department began offering at-school educational programming for schools, which resulted in 78 at-school educational programs reaching over 1,904 participants.
$1,599,206 spent$411,106 earned by the program7% of program spendingExpenses incurred for facilities and grounds include salaries, fringe benefits, utilities, insurance and repairs and maintenance which enable zoo new england to operate in a comfortable, safe and protective environment for staff and visitors to the zoos.
$8,449,254 spent$1,470,876 earned by the program36% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $23,373,486.
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 2019 to 2020, from $30M to $41M (+37%).
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 38% · 2018 40% · 2019 37% · 2020 28% · 2021 34% · 2022 35% · 2023 39% · 2024 35% · 2025 35%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
64% of COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND’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. 0 of the last 9 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
John Linehan
President & CEO
Board chair
Colin Van Dyke
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 41 funders, grant income fell $2.2M → $958k.
16 of 95 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 95 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
COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
82% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 94% · 2018 90% · 2019 90% · 2020 94% · 2021 36% · 2022 34% · 2023 30% — diversifying over time.
“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
61% of COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
80% of COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $4.6M that is directly attributable, 81% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $18M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 134 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 134 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.1M on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$1.1M
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 COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND: 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 COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND?
- COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND (Massachusetts) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $22,488,515 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($16,361,186). 59 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND have?
- IRS filings report 95 organizations giving $22,488,515 in grants to COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND, 59 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $16,361,186 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COMMONWEALTH ZOOLOGICAL CORPORATION D/B/A ZOO NEW ENGLAND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 95 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