Missouri · Nonprofit
THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION
THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION (Missouri) receives grants from 128 organizations whose IRS filings report $48,220,897 to it, the largest being YOUTHBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($11,860,848). 79 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $54M
- Funders on record
- 128
- Grants received
- $48M
- Net assets
- $324M
What The Saint Louis Zoo Association does
Mission
The Saint Louis Zoo Association was established to support and enhance the saint louis zoo by providing facilities, funds, and advice. The association provides direct financial support to the zoo for renovations, new facilities, programs, conservation and research; administers fundraising campaigns and activities for the zoo; and manages the zoo's endowment. The Saint Louis Zoo Association works to advance the saint louis zoo's mission to conserve animals and their habitats through animal management, research, recreation and education programs that encourage the support and enrich the experience of the public.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Financial support - direct financial support to the saint louis zoo for renovations, new facilities, programs, conservation and research.
$23,116,659 spentof which $23,116,659 as grants71% of program spendingMembership - the association maintained a membership base of over 50,583 households, representing approximately 126,458 individuals in the community. This program generated $3,233,136 in revenue in 2025.
$1,440,218 spent$3,233,136 earned by the program4% of program spendingDevelopment administration - administering donor development and cultivation that generates proceeds to be used to renovate exhibits and expand programs at the saint louis zoo, educating and benefiting millions of visitors each year.
$3,163,227 spent10% of program spendingEndowment harvest - in 2025, the association provided funding for the saint louis zoo wildcare institute ($1,128,535), veterinary medicine ($126,175), employee and volunteer recognition ($17,325), educational programs ($201,225), and unrestricted/zoo operations ($2,431,740).
$3,905,000 spentof which $3,905,000 as grants12% of program spendingParent program - this program allows for direct compensation to the zoo's commissary budget to offset the costs of feeding the animals. This program also creates educational opportunities for its donors. Animal fact sheets are offered to donors, and an annual zoo parents celebration is held where donors are welcome to visit the commissary and veterinary hospital.
$388,249 spent$392,424 earned by the program1% of program spendingDocent & volunteer services - organizing and managing a base of over 921 volunteers and docents who provide time and services to provide an enriched educational experience to saint louis zoo visitors.
$380,999 spent1% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $32,394,352.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $189M to $251M (+33%).
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.
70% of THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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
Dwight Scott
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 24 funders to 54 funders, grant income rose $1.4M → $6.3M.
18 of 128 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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: $6.0M from 9 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest St Louis Community Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION raised.
From the IRS filings of THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 128 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 SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
62% 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 SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 73% · 2018 32% · 2019 30% · 2020 49% · 2021 33% · 2022 31% · 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
49% of THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION'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
59% of THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION'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 $20M that is directly attributable, 71% of it comes from Missouri funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $28M 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 SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 134 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 134 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION
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 Missouri
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
68%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- St Louis Zoological Park · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION: 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 SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION?
- THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION (Missouri) receives grants from 128 organizations whose IRS filings report $48,220,897 to it, the largest being YOUTHBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($11,860,848). 79 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 128 organizations giving $48,220,897 in grants to THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION, 79 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION?
- YOUTHBRIDGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $11,860,848 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SAINT LOUIS ZOO ASSOCIATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. 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 2020–2025), and the filings of 128 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