California · Nonprofit
CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA
CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA (California) receives grants from 131 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,469,837 to it, the largest being THE MEADOWVIEW FOUNDATION ($4,600,000). 78 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $35M
- Funders on record
- 131
- Grants received
- $17M
- Net assets
- $86M
What Conservation Society of California does
Mission
Through management of oakland zoo, the Conservation Society of California deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Oakland zoo is proud of its continued success in animal care and welfare, learning and engagement, and conservation initiatives. The zoo is home to over 700 animals that our staff provide industry leading care for to ensure their physical and social wellbeing. Conservation is core to our mission, and the zoo continues to focus its efforts on ten species including african elephants, chimpanzees, bison, african lions, california condors, and more. Our veterinary and animal care teams continue our local wildlife rescue work with oakland's city bird, the black crowned night heron, and we rescued our 30th mountain lion in 2025. Continued on schedule o.we are the first zoo in the united states to receive funding for a dedicated position to address animal welfare rescue and the wildlife trade, which is devasting species and habitats internationally. Last year we expanded our onsite guest education providing animal highlight programs to 30,000 guests and enhancing our docent offerings to increase knowledge of biodiversity. And we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the conservation education center we helped to open in uganda, which has now provided services for over 5,000 local…
$28,627,038 spentof which $485,610 as grants$22,410,449 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $28,627,038.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2018 to 2019, from $101M to $96M (−5%).
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: 2018 9% · 2019 9% · 2020 9% · 2021 9% · 2022 22% · 2023 11% · 2024 8% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
29% of CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Nikhil Dehejia
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 19 funders to 53 funders, grant income rose $1.4M → $2.6M.
28 of 131 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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 CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 131 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
CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% 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
47% 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 CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 32% · 2019 43% · 2020 38% · 2021 46% · 2022 35% · 2023 31% — 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
40% of CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
91% of CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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
CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA is better cushioned 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 CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $781k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$450k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$248k
- Department of the Interior$83k
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 CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
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 CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA: 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 CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA?
- CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA (California) receives grants from 131 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,469,837 to it, the largest being THE MEADOWVIEW FOUNDATION ($4,600,000). 78 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA have?
- IRS filings report 131 organizations giving $17,469,837 in grants to CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA, 78 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA?
- THE MEADOWVIEW FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,600,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 2018–2025), and the filings of 131 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