Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
Erie Zoological Society
Erie Zoological Society (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,541,854 to it, the largest being ERIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($2,626,426). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.1M
- Funders on record
- 25
- Grants received
- $3.5M
- Net assets
- $15M
What Erie Zoological Society does
Mission
The mission of the Erie Zoological Society is to: foster an appreciation of the natural world and the animals and plants that share it; establish educational recreational opportunities for all the people of Northwestern Pennsylvania; nurture the thrill of discovery and promote scientific study for people of all ages; provide the highest level of care for all of the animals, plants and items under our stewardship; encourage the conservation of all species through captive breeding, natural exhibits and wildlife exploration. In doing these, The Zoological Park and Botanical Garden of Northwestern Pennsylvania will be an important quality of life asset for the entire tri-state area.All of the Society's programming directly relates to our mission. For example, the Zoo's education programs, on and off-grounds, teach adults and children about animals, plants, nature, and the planet we share. Ice skating classes held at the Flo Fabrizio Ice Center, which the Society operates, helps provide recreation for all ages while encouraging year round fitness.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Zoo's purpose is to nurture an appreciaiton for conservation through meaningful educational experiences. The Zoo first joined the International Species Inventory System in 1975 and began supporting its first Species Survival Plan in 1985. 38 years later, the Zoo is proud to actively participate in over 20 Species Survival Plans by partnering with like-minded zoos and aquariums to foster healthy animal breeding programs grounded in animal well-being, science and research. These partnerships continue the first pillar of the Zoo's mission by proactively supporting the conservation of endangered species. Meaningful educational experiences comprise the second pillar of the Zoo's mission through multiple education-based opportunites including on-site programming (including classes and school-age camp programs, internships, animal meet-&-greets, behind-the-scene tours, keeper presentations and animal training presentations), signage, outreach programming (including schools, libraries and other regional organizations) and virtual experiences utilizing the ZOOM platform to foster further mission reach.
$3,559,146 spent$1,985,196 earned by the program83% of program spendingEducation - Our education programs are offered on grounds for 6 month olds up to adults as well as off grounds to pre K to high school students. Our in house programming offers a variety of classes from our Zootots programs to our Teacher's Workshops which are eligible for Act 48 credits. We also offer classes that can be taken while on a group trip here at the Zoo. Each class is tailored especially for the age level by teaching different categories related to the same topic. Our outreach programs are offered in much the same way, having different topics for a specific age level. Both group classes and outreach are designed to meet certain PA Standards for Science and Technology, PA Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, or PA Standards for Environment and Ecology. In doing this we are able to ensure the content of our classes are in line with our State's standards. All classes offered by the Zoo are designed to spread our message of conservation and to educate the public about both our animals and animals in the wild as well as teach important science topics.
$371,133 spent$317,505 earned by the program9% of program spendingRink - Our Flo Fabrizio Ice Center is used by Erie Youth Hockey and the Westminster Skating Club as a practice facility to teach youngsters to skate.
$367,853 spent$230,940 earned by the program9% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,298,132.
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 2018 to 2019, from $10M to $13M (+29%).
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 15% · 2018 6% · 2019 4% · 2020 4% · 2021 9% · 2022 7% · 2023 17% · 2024 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
42% of Erie Zoological Society’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (74% 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
Melissa E Kojancie
CEO
Board chair
Jeffrey E Beach
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $484k → $505k.
6 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 81% 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 Erie Zoological Society’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
Erie Zoological Society leans on a few funders — its largest provides 74% of grant income and the top three 84%; 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 Erie Zoological Society.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 95% · 2018 69% · 2019 61% · 2020 72% · 2021 70% · 2022 78% · 2023 85% — 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
31% of Erie Zoological Society's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
81% of Erie Zoological Society'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 $667k that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
Erie Zoological Society's revenue grew 30% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,559 animals nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding Erie Zoological Society receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8k on record.
- Department of Veterans Affairs$8k
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 Erie 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 Erie 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 Erie Zoological Society?
- Erie Zoological Society (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,541,854 to it, the largest being ERIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($2,626,426). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Erie Zoological Society have?
- IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $3,541,854 in grants to Erie Zoological Society, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Erie Zoological Society?
- ERIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,626,426 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Erie Zoological Society find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 Erie Zoological Society →
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 25 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