Friends of the Bergen County Zoo

Legal name: Friends of the Bergen County Zoo Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900217980
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Paramus, New Jersey, USA
Phone
201-634-3110
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$643,565
Expenses
$380,240
Assets
$1,334,231
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Jairus Marcella (Treasurer): $65,894 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Friends of the Bergen County Zoo is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing financial support to the Bergen County Zoological Park for the welfare of its animals, educational programs and family-friendly facilities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sponsor Programs: Activities for the general public, held to support operational needs of the Zoo. Annual Halloween (Zoo-Boo)event. (Approximate attendance 13,000) Other activities include: Easter Egg Hunt (8,000 in attendance)Holiday with the Animals ( 1,500 in attendance) Members Night ( 850 in attendance)Plus Seasonal ExhibitsLet it Glow Lantern Event (22,500 tickets sold)

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 96% 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 most voting board members are independent. 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: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.9%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 70%; rating input score 70; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 40.9%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.51; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.3%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 52.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 49.9% of revenue deployed · 68.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $259K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $66K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.