Ohio · Nonprofit
THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Ohio) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,570,750 to it, the largest being THE LANTERMAN FOUNDATION ($2,495,600). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $50M
- Funders on record
- 71
- Grants received
- $8.6M
- Net assets
- $154M
What The Toledo Zoological Society does
Mission
We inspire our guests to join us in being advocates for wildlife and conserving the natural world by providing fun, awe-inspiring, and educational experiences. By joining us, others help build a movement that cares for animals and creates a shared space for wildlife in this world.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The Toledo Zoological Society is one of the world's most complete zoos with over 14,000 animals representing over 700 species. The grounds include one of the largest concentrations of wpa era buildings, formal gardens, conservatory, and amphitheatre. The zoo is at the forefront of many conservations efforts working to preserve endangered and threatened species. The zoo is also involved with breeding animals through the species survival program that is helping to ensure a future for some truly amazing species. In addition to these efforts, the zoo runs many education programs for both children and adults that inspire them to join the zoo in following their mission of caring for animals and conserving the natural world. All program expenses are used to support the animals, maintain the grounds, and provide educational experiences for the public.
$39,575,503 spentof which $513,648 as grants$17,727,873 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $39,575,503.
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 2017 to 2018, from $143M to $154M (+7%).
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 34% · 2018 37% · 2019 35% · 2020 51% · 2021 30% · 2022 42% · 2023 33% · 2024 29%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
59% of THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as 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 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
Jeffrey Sailer
President & CEO
Board chair
Jeremy Zeisloft
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 36 funders, grant income rose $349k → $1.5M.
14 of 71 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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: $22M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Toledo Zoological Society Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY raised.
From the IRS filings of THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 71 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 TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
34% 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 TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 46% · 2019 33% · 2020 23% · 2021 27% · 2022 13% · 2023 39% — 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
61% of THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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 TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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 TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY's funding base is broadening — from 14 funders to 36 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 235 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $793k on record.
- Environmental Protection Agency$461k
- Department of the Interior$332k
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 TOLEDO 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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% 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
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- The Toledo Zoological Society Foundation · exempt
- River Horse Wildlife Conservancy · exempt
- The Herde Collective Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE TOLEDO 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 THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY?
- THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Ohio) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,570,750 to it, the largest being THE LANTERMAN FOUNDATION ($2,495,600). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 71 organizations giving $8,570,750 in grants to THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 43 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY?
- THE LANTERMAN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,495,600 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE TOLEDO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 71 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