Washington · Nonprofit
WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Washington) receives grants from 159 organizations whose IRS filings report $38,529,112 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($15,877,500). 93 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $84M
- Funders on record
- 159
- Grants received
- $39M
- Net assets
- $87M
What Woodland Park Zoological Society does
Mission
Woodland park zoo saves wildlife and inspires everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Animal care: the professional staff at the zoo care for more than 834 vertabrates and 5,270 invertebrates, representing 247 species, of which 26 are endangered and 5 are threatened. The zoo's scientific nutrition programs, welfare research, rehabilitation medicine, husbandry and behavioral enrichment ensure all animals at the zoo thrive. Together, animal care staff, including curators, veterinarians and keepers, have more than 1,000 years of combined expertise in their fields. The program revenue is generated by select animal experiences facilitated by a keeper or attendant who provides informal science and empathy building content. Wildlife conservation efforts on zoo grounds include participation in species survival plans and re-introduction programs.
$13,104,027 spentof which $9,384 as grants$51,550 earned by the program20% of program spendingGrounds, facilities and exhibitry: the grounds and maintenance staff is responsible for our 92 acre community asset, including resource sustainability, daily upkeep, major maintenance and repairs, security, construction of new facilities, horticulture and signage. Expenses in this category increased by $15 million over prior year due to $16 million spent on the new forest trailhead exhibit opening in may 2026. Many of the thousands of plants and trees at the zoo provide vitamin-packed food for our herbivores and enrichment for all species. In addition to the zoo, staff maintain a 100-year-old historic carousel, an organic rose garden, a greenhouse complex, a state of the art composting system and two neighborhood parks.
$30,492,555 spent$59,921 earned by the program47% of program spendingConservation and education: the zoo advances biodiversity conservation to mitigate climate change through the protection of more than 2.2 million acres of endangered species habitats regionally and globally through 28 wildlife conservation partnerships with indigenous and local communities and ngo's. Partners include the tree kangaroo conservation program in papua new guinea. Integral in the informal science education ecosystem, the zoo provides public programs, camps, community science projects, outreach learning and classes that foster connections with the natural world and support participants' development of empathy for wildlife to advance conservation. School field trips, camps, programs and classes are subsidized for communities and schools that serve a high percentage of students from low-income (continued on schedule o) families by king county levy funds and private fundraising. The zoo also supports peer institutions' development of empathy-focused programs through capacity building grants.
$9,068,877 spentof which $1,449,040 as grants$1,142,306 earned by the program14% of program spendingMembership program and visitor services: the zoo's membership program is one of the largest in the state with membership counts in the mid-thirty thousands, allowing unlimited general admissions access to the zoo for one year. Members also enjoy special communications, discounts, presales and an annual celebration. Visitors services encompasses admissions, guest services, the historic carousel, group sales and event support.
$8,176,259 spent$20,550,220 earned by the program13% of program spendingCommunications, marketing and public relations: the zoo shares its mission with both local and extended audiences via several communications methods. The zoo creates its own signage, maps, etc and is active on various social media platforms. The zoo raises awareness for and engages conservation efforts.
$4,220,630 spent$3,987,640 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $65,062,348.
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 2020 to 2021, from $51M to $75M (+47%).
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 31% · 2018 27% · 2019 32% · 2020 48% · 2021 49% · 2022 29% · 2023 32% · 2024 38%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of WOODLAND PARK 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. 0 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
Alejandro Grajal
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Anders Brown
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 35 funders to 67 funders, grant income rose $959k → $11M.
22 of 159 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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: $2.2M from 7 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Seattle Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY raised.
From the IRS filings of WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 159 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
WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 54%; half comes from just 3 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
27% 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 WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 67% · 2019 42% · 2020 49% · 2021 52% · 2022 53% · 2023 44% — 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
48% of WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY draws 72% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, across 27 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 235 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 235 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.6M on record — $3.2M federal, $351k state.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$1.7M
- Department of the Interior$1.5M
- Department of Agriculture$19k
- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NON-IT$341k
- AGENCY PROGRAM RELATED SUPPLIES$10k
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 WOODLAND PARK 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 Washington
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
88%
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
- Center for Wildlife Conservation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WOODLAND PARK 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 WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY?
- WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Washington) receives grants from 159 organizations whose IRS filings report $38,529,112 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($15,877,500). 93 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 159 organizations giving $38,529,112 in grants to WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 93 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY?
- MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $15,877,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WOODLAND PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 159 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