Delaware Zoological Society Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 510234751
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Wilmington, DE, USA
- Phone
- 3025717788
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Zoo, Zoological Society
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,323,879
- Expenses
- $811,090
- Assets
- $3,539,792
- Liabilities
- $129,771
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- WILLIAM MONTGOMERY (PRESIDENT)
- ARLENE REPPA (VICE PRESIDENT)
- SERENA WILSON-ARCHIE (VICE PRESIDENT)
- MARK SHAFER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MARK SHAFER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $76,929 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Delaware zoological society is a dedicated partner of the brandywine zoo and supports its mission to engage in, and inspire wildlife conservation.
What it reported doing in 2025
The brandywine zoo's vision is to inspire awe and action for wildlife and the zoo's education department's programming is central to that vision. The board of director held an all day off-site in august with the intention of reinvigorating our commitment to our vision for inspiring awe and action for wildlife. The discussions were robust and were generally agreed by all to serve its purpose. Overall guest satisfaction survey scores were a slightly lower than in 2024. Comments, however, remain very positive. Guest interaction with staff remains a key satisfier. Our brew at the zoo, sip & stroll "after hours" events continue to generate significant fundraising income and recorded the highest attendance to date as did our major day-time special events.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 61
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 75
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 52.6%; rating input score 53
- Program expense ratio: 74.7%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $25.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 38.7%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.36; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 52.6% of revenue deployed · 74.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $606K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $77K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.