Columbus Zoological Park Association

About Columbus Zoological Park Association

Columbus Zoological Park Association’s recent grantmaking centers on animal conservation, with the largest grants going to the International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals in Cumberland, Ohio. That relationship appears repeatedly in the record, alongside multi-year support for other conservation organizations working on species recovery and habitat protection. The association’s funding also reaches beyond Ohio, including grants to Rewild in Austin, Texas, and Turtle Survival Alliance in North Charleston, South Carolina. Across the recent grants list, the foundation supports conservation work tied to gorillas and great apes, turtles, manatees, elephants, cheetahs, bonobos, and native species recovery. Several awards are large enough to signal sustained program support rather than one-time microgrants. The foundation also uses its grantmaking to back institutions that combine field conservation, rescue and rehabilitation, and scientific monitoring. Its named active programs reinforce that pattern: the Columbus Zoo Conservation Fund and Partners In Conservation both support projects in the field, while the Learning is Wild Scholarship and other education scholarships connect conservation with school and youth learning. The overall profile is one of a zoo-affiliated funder that gives to wildlife-focused nonprofits, conservation alliances, and research-oriented institutions.

What Columbus Zoological Park Association Funds

A clear theme in the recent grants is primate and great ape conservation. Columbus Zoological Park Association awarded multiple grants to Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in Atlanta, including $40,000 in 2023 and two additional $25,000 grants in 2024 and 2025. It also funded Friends of Bonobos in Durham, North Carolina, with $25,000 in 2025. Marine and freshwater species are another major thread. The association gave $152,465 in 2025 to Turtle Survival Alliance in North Charleston, South Carolina, and also supported Save the Manatee Club Inc in Maitland, Florida, with $20,000 in 2023 and 2024 and $20,000 again in 2025 to its Longwood office. For wider wildlife work, it granted $25,001 to the International Elephant Foundation in Azle, Texas, in 2024 and $20,000 to Cheetah Conservation Fund in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2023, followed by another $20,000 in 2024.

How Columbus Zoological Park Association Gives