Michigan · Nonprofit
THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY
THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY (Michigan) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $241,294 to it, the largest being PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND ($74,173). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $907k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $241k
- Net assets
- $386k
What The Creature Conservancy does
Mission
Conservation through education: to work within our community to create personal connections between people, animals and their shared environment. By bringing humans and animals together in educational settings, we hope to cultivate a greater appreciation for the animals with which we share this planet. We also help specific animals in need through rescue activities. Our work is guided by the belief that we are a better species when we connect with other species on a personal level.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Animal care & exhibits - as of 12/31/2023 The Creature Conservancy had over 25 permanent animal exhibits. In 2023 the wolf enclosure was started. As well as continuous maintenance and upgrades to existing exhibits. The Creature Conservancy has over 220 vertebrates of over 85 species and many more invertebrates for display in their public exhibits and use in their educational programs. Staff and volunteers help to care for and feed these animals every day of the year. Some visitor favorites are the cougar, sloths, and alligators.
$479,588 spent60% of program spendingEducation & community relations - in 2023 we continued our community outreach over social media. We conducted hundreds of animal programs and/or tours for schools groups,corporate groups, and private groups. Over 500 memberships were sold. Over 450 children enrolled in our summer camps. Over 1,900 people attended special animal events such as halloween spooky species, valentine's creature courtship, and harry potter trivia events. Our outdoor animal exhibits are open to the public daily. Over 18,000 visitors came to our public open hours on saturdays and sundays enjoying our indoor and outdoor exhibits with special presentations on the featured animal ambassadors for the month.
$318,798 spent$664,982 earned by the program40% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $798,386.
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 $623k to $753k (+21%).
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 6% · 2021 33%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
19% of THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (86% 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $500 → $40k.
6 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 84% 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 THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY’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
THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
84% 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 THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2020 81% · 2021 96% · 2022 63% · 2023 68% — 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
25% of THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
84% of THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY'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 $38k that is directly attributable, 85% of it comes from funders outside Michigan, across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $204k 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
THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 6,435 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,435 animals nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY
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
99% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY: 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 THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY?
- THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY (Michigan) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $241,294 to it, the largest being PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND ($74,173). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $241,294 in grants to THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY?
- PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $74,173 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CREATURE CONSERVANCY 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.
Play a game about who funds Creature Conservancy →
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 13 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