Oregon · Nonprofit
THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION
THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION (Oregon) receives grants from 100 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,567,003 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($811,384). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 100
- Grants received
- $6.6M
- Net assets
- $23M
What The Oregon Zoo Foundation does
Mission
To foster community pride and involvement in the oregon zoo and to secure financial support for the zoo's conservation, education and animal well-being programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Membership services- operate a membership program that supports the daily operations of the oregon zoo and fosters the meaningful and lasting impact of the zoo in our community by providing members endless opportunities to engage in and learn about the zoo's conservation, education, and animal well-being efforts.
$876,381 spent10% of program spendingZoo support- raise funds that are granted to the oregon zoo to support its work in: conservation to ensure the long-term survival of species and their habitats, including restoring populations of native species in the pacific northwest; public education to empower learners of all ages to take action on behalf of wildlife and nature; and animal well-being that provides the best lives possible for the animals in the zoo's care. Provide operational support for improvements to the oregon zoo including upgrades to existing habitats, interpretive displays, and programmatic activities.
$7,471,384 spentof which $7,382,108 as grants90% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,347,765.
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 2022 to 2023, from $19M to $23M (+22%).
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: 2021 4% · 2022 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (67% 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
Sharla Settlemier
Interim executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 20 funders to 47 funders, grant income rose $207k → $943k.
17 of 100 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 100 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
THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% 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
47% 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 OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 27% · 2018 22% · 2019 24% · 2020 19% · 2021 34% · 2022 11% · 2023 27% — broadly stable.
“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
46% of THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
54% of THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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 OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 134 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 134 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5k on record.
- ADVERTISE, PUBLICITY, PUBLISH/PRINT SRVS$5k
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 THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION
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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% 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 THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION: 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 OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION?
- THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION (Oregon) receives grants from 100 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,567,003 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($811,384). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 100 organizations giving $6,567,003 in grants to THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION, 62 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $811,384 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE OREGON ZOO FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 100 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