Delaware · Nonprofit
DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC
DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC (Delaware) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,270,616 to it, the largest being LONGWOOD FOUNDATION INC ($550,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $3.4M
What Delaware Zoological Society Inc does
Mission
The delaware zoological society is a dedicated partner of the brandywine zoo and supports its mission to engage in, and inspire wildlife conservation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The brandywine zoo's vision is to inspire awe and action for wildlife and the zoo's education department's programming is central to that vision. The board of director held an all day off-site in august with the intention of reinvigorating our commitment to our vision for inspiring awe and action for wildlife. The discussions were robust and were generally agreed by all to serve its purpose. Overall guest satisfaction survey scores were a slightly lower than in 2024. Comments, however, remain very positive. Guest interaction with staff remains a key satisfier. Our brew at the zoo, sip & stroll "after hours" events continue to generate significant fundraising income and recorded the highest attendance to date as did our major day-time special events.
$488,796 spent$2,580 earned by the program81% of program spendingVisitor services: including admissions to the zoo, gift shop and food concession. In 2025, we welcomed over 61,000 guests (the highest number of visitors in the past 10 years). Visitor services revenue (admissions, gift shop and food concessions) surpassed budget projections by 7.5%
$111,263 spent$369,328 earned by the program18% of program spendingConservation grants to support the brandywine zoo's mission to protect species and their habitats in delaware and around the world.
$6,000 spentof which $6,000 as grants1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $606,059.
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 2023 to 2024, from $2.2M to $2.9M (+31%).
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: 2020 13% · 2021 9% · 2023 20% · 2024 4% · 2025 23%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
60% of DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (74% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Mark Shafer
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $33k → $88k.
3 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 81%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 97% · 2019 98% · 2020 59% · 2021 55% · 2022 67% · 2023 60% — 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
44% of DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
59% of DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC's grant income comes from Delaware funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $42k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 813 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 813 animals nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.2M on record — $50k federal, $1.2M state.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$50k
- GRANTS IN AID$920k
- GRANTS$268k
- STUDENT BODY ACTIVITY$6k
- INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPLIES$435
- CLOTHING & LINENS$161
- MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES$150
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 DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 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 Delaware
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 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 DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC?
- DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC (Delaware) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,270,616 to it, the largest being LONGWOOD FOUNDATION INC ($550,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $1,270,616 in grants to DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC?
- LONGWOOD FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $550,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Delaware. 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 Delaware Zoological Society →
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 19 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