A Very Special Thank You for a Bronx-Zoo Donor

July 15, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute

Finding the right way to thank a donor can be tough—but in the case of one recent gift, the Wildlife Conservation Society has come up with a particularly cute way to show its appreciation.

Margaretta Taylor, a New York philanthropist, donated $5-million to the environmental organization, which runs the famous Bronx Zoo.

As an expression of gratitude, the Wildlife Conservation Society has decided to name a baby sea lion, born at the zoo last month, Margaretta in Ms. Taylor’s honor.

Among Ms. Taylor’s other gifts: more than $3-million to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for research, and last year, with her family, $4-million to American Rivers, an environmental organization in Washington.

Photo: Julie Larsen Maher for the Wildlife Conservation Society

About the Author

NICOLE WALLACE

Features Editor

Nicole Wallace is features editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She has written about innovation in the nonprofit world, charities’ use of data to improve their work and to boost fundraising, advanced technologies for social good, and hybrid efforts at the intersection of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, such as social enterprise and impact investing.Nicole spearheaded the Chronicle’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast and reported from India on the role of philanthropy in rebuilding after the South Asian tsunami. She started at the Chronicle in 1996 as an editorial assistant compiling The Nonprofit Handbook.Before joining the Chronicle, Nicole worked at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and served in the inaugural class of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.A native of Columbia, Pa., she holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.