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California · Nonprofit

Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation

Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation (California) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,622,525 to it, the largest being ALLEN FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES ($1,168,644). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$30M
Funders on record
23
Grants received
$1.6M
Net assets
$138M
14/23 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 3%
01What it does

What Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation does

Mission

Fresno Chaffee Zoo inspires people to care for animals, create connections, build community and save wildlife.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Fresno chaffee zoo is home to over 1,100 animals that represent approximately 220 species from around the world. Visitors are able to observe animals up close, providing a more personal experience. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, such as feeding a giraffe, touching a shark, or feeding a stingray can be experienced every day of the year.

    $28,523,043 spent$10,417,592 earned by the program
    88% of program spending
  2. Fresno chaffee zoo takes great pride in the breadth of the educational programs offered, which reach children and adults of all ages. Community programs, such as docents, volunteers, day camp and overnight campouts, help the zoo achieve the goal of educating the public on the importance of learning how to take care of the earth's precious resources, whether it be plant or animal, across the globe or in one's own backyard.

    $4,004,039 spent$1,224,378 earned by the program
    12% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $32,527,082.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($17M) Expenses 100 ($17M) Net assets 100 ($80M)2018 Revenue 115 ($20M) Expenses 104 ($18M) Net assets 101 ($80M)2019 Revenue 119 ($20M) Expenses 114 ($20M) Net assets 103 ($82M)2020 Revenue 152 ($26M) Expenses 106 ($18M) Net assets 114 ($91M)2021 Revenue 303 ($52M) Expenses 125 ($22M) Net assets 153 ($122M)2022 Revenue 224 ($39M) Expenses 152 ($26M) Net assets 169 ($135M)2023 Revenue 235 ($40M) Expenses 189 ($33M) Net assets 183 ($146M)2024 Revenue 172 ($30M) Expenses 218 ($38M) Net assets 173 ($138M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (172)Expenses (218)Net assets (173)Peer revenue range

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 $101M to $133M (+31%).

$81M
$84M
$86M
$101M
$133M
$143M
$153M
$147M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 45% · 2018 48% · 2019 43% · 2020 64% · 2021 70% · 2022 61% · 2023 55% · 2024 35%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

46% of Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 238 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$172k
’17
$1.6M
’18
$622k
’19
$7.7M
’20
$30M
’21
$12M
’22
$7.6M
’23
−$8.2M
’24
0.2
months of
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

Jon Dohlin

CEO & Zoo Dir

Board chair

Kyle Kirkland

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1212141719221923
Joined·+1+6+4+5+6+2+6
No longer listed·1413352
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $57k → $1.2M.

7 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation’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

Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 72% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

72%
largest funder
87%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 88% · 2018 90% · 2019 55% · 2020 86% · 2021 49% · 2022 23% · 2023 97% — growing more concentrated.

“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

50% of Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation draws 81% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 7 states in all.

WA
NY
NV
CA
MO
VA
NC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $91k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation's funding base is broadening — from 5 funders to 8 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−28% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve0.2mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)8% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 235 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Government funding Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.4M on record.

Federal$1.4M
grants $1.4Mcontracts $50k
22
23
24
25
Top agencies
  • Department of the Interior$1.4M

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 Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

86% of spending goes to programs.

Program 86%Management 10%Fundraising 4%

Governance

11
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

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

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation: 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.

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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 Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation?
Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation (California) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,622,525 to it, the largest being ALLEN FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES ($1,168,644). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation have?
IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $1,622,525 in grants to Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation?
ALLEN FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES is the largest funder on record, with $1,168,644 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Fresnos Chaffee Zoo Corporation 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 23 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