Michigan · Nonprofit
DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Michigan) receives grants from 120 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,241,275 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($2,081,250). 82 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $64M
- Funders on record
- 120
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $60M
What Detroit Zoological Society does
Mission
The mission of the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is to create meaningful connections between people, animals and the natural world so all can thrive. The vision of the DZS is to be a force for positive change in a world where animals and nature are valued, understood and protected by all people. The DZS operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
CONSERVATION, ANIMAL CARE, AND WELFARE: The Detroit Zoological Society demonstrates leadership in wildlife conservation, animal care, and animal welfare. The Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center had 1,909 individual animals representing 212 species in its care as of December 31, 2024. The Detroit Zoological Society is a leader in species conservation through its local, national and international field conservation programs, its support of partners' field conservation work and captive breeding of threatened and endangered species at the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center. The Detroit Zoological Society's Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics is a resource center for captive animal welfare knowledge, research and best practices; a convener and forum for exotic animal welfare science, practice and policy discussions; and a center conducting research and training, and recognizing advances in exotic animal welfare.
$11,922,958 spentof which $638,508 as grants21% of program spendingEDUCATION: The Detroit Zoological Society provides a broad audience with outstanding and unique educational opportunities that lead to the appreciation and stewardship of nature. Humane education, environmental literacy, responsible resource management, conservation, science literacy and stewardship are fundamental components of education programming. Programs utilize a variety of instructional strategies - including inquiry-based learning, storytelling, interactive technology and participatory science - to meet the various learning styles of individuals within the community. Regional school district partnerships enhance humane education and life science experiences in the classroom through onsite programs, community-based afterschool programs, internships, teacher training and curriculum support. The DZS education team also creates unique and engaging educational content for a variety of audiences online.
$4,450,349 spent$648,782 earned by the program8% of program spendingGUEST ENGAGEMENT: The Detroit Zoological Society continues to inspire the community with engaging, meaningful and memorable experiences at both the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center. Significant animal habitats/facilities at the Detroit Zoo include the Arctic Ring of Life habitat for polar bears and sea otters, the Devereaux Tiger Forest, the Great Apes of Harambee, the Polk Penguin Conservation Center, the Cotton Family Wolf Wilderness, the Australian Outback Adventure, and the National Amphibian Conservation Center. The Detroit Zoo welcomed more than 1.2 million visitors in 2024. In addition to animal experiences, other attractions at the Zoo include the 4-D Theater, Giraffe Encounter, Tauber Family Railroad, Science On a Sphere, and the Carousel. Visitors can also participate in Zoo-sponsored events including Greenfest, Sunset at the Zoo, Run Wild, Zoo Boo and Wild Lights. Attendance has remained consistent over the past 3 years, and the DZS continued to provide a safe and secure experience to all guests. At the Belle Isle Nature Center, visitors are able to get an insider's view of an active beehive and get an up-close view of Michigan wildlife, including native…
$37,520,076 spent$25,951,464 earned by the program66% of program spendingThe Detroit Zoological Society continues to demonstrate organizational excellence consistent with a commitment to outstanding environmental leadership. The Detroit Zoological Society maintains grounds at the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center totaling 130 acres and 80 buildings where staff members and volunteers are committed to lessening their environmental impact on the Earth. The Detroit Zoological Society has developed a unique, green roadmap called the Greenprint. This comprehensive strategic plan guides our operations and is the plan by which we refine and improve our facilities and daily practices, develop new policies and programs and improve green literacy in our community.
$3,012,442 spent$116,506 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $56,905,825.
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 $51M to $71M (+39%).
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 28% · 2018 28% · 2019 29% · 2020 44% · 2021 26% · 2022 27% · 2023 31% · 2024 32%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
51% of DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY’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.
Board chair
Anthony F Earley Jr
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 39 funders to 60 funders, grant income fell $1.9M → $1.8M.
13 of 120 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 41% 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: $5.3M from 14 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan). These are real filings, and they are not money DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY raised.
From the IRS filings of DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 120 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
DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
44% 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 DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 37% · 2019 15% · 2020 11% · 2021 32% · 2022 21% · 2023 34% — 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
56% of DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% 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
92% of DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY's revenue grew 39% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 235 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 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$599k
- Department of the Interior$415k
- Department of Commerce$50k
- Department of Agriculture$20k
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 DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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 Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
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 DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: 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 DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY?
- DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Michigan) receives grants from 120 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,241,275 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($2,081,250). 82 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 120 organizations giving $12,241,275 in grants to DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 82 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $2,081,250 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DETROIT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 120 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing