Woodland Park Zoological Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
916070005
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2065482500
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Zoo, Zoological Society

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$83,715,805
Expenses
$77,905,396
Assets
$102,428,363
Liabilities
$15,473,769

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

Leadership & pay

56 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEJANDRO GRAJAL (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEJANDRO GRAJAL (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $614,430 total reported compensation
  • BEIHONG LINDA ZHANG (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $332,512 total reported compensation
  • ROGER SWEENEY (CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER): $294,620 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Woodland park zoo saves wildlife and inspires everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Conservation 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.

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 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.31; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.6% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 37 of 37 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $65.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $614K · 56 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $17.5M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 44 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 31 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 16 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.