November 5, 1998 | Read Time: 3 minutes
THE PHILANTHROPY 400 – No. 303
(Table of Contents)
Year founded: 1895 (as the New York Zoological Society)
What it does: Operates five wildlife centers in New York and works in 50 countries throughout the world to save wild animals and their habitats
Number of staff members: 796, including 17 fund raisers
Spending on fund raising: $5,130,789
Largest single gift in 1997: A $4.5-million donation from Laurence A. and Preston R. Tisch, two brothers who co-chair the Loews Corporation, to complete the Tisch Children’s Zoo, in Central Park
Location: New York
World-Wide Web: http://www.wcs.org
How Wildlife Conservation Society reached the top: The Wildlife Conservation Society finances conservation efforts around the world, but it still has a high profile in the United States because it operates several zoos and wildlife centers scattered throughout New York City. That combination gives it a big fund-raising advantage over its peers. In addition, its campaign to renovate a children’s zoo in Central Park attracted around $6-million last year — the primary reason for the organization’s fund-raising gain.
Biggest fund-raising challenge: As the charity continues efforts to transform itself from a New York institution into an international one, its challenge is to find ways to attract attention to its global message without diminishing the local facilities’ ability to attract families and to raise money. One exhibit now under construction unites the society’s local and international fund-raising goals. Visitors to a re-creation of a ”Congo forest’’ in the Bronx, home to more than 20 gorillas, will be allowed to earmark a portion of their admission fee for one of several conservation projects in Africa.
The fund-raising climate for all environmental groups: Charities on the Philanthropy 400 list raised 11.6 per cent more than they did in 1996. Pressure is on environmental charities — many of which have recently passed the quarter-century mark — to become more sophisticated about their fund raising. Several organizations are making their first forays into nationwide capital campaigns, raising money for new endowments, and beginning to try other fund-raising approaches commonly used by well-established non-profit institutions. Some environmental groups are seeking to undertake ambitious global conservation efforts, but fund raisers say it could be tough to attract donors since such projects offer less-tangible results than do small-scale or local efforts.
Planning Is the Secret to Success
”One of the challenges for environmental groups now is trying to increase the number of people who are interested in conservation. The number of donors who give to our causes is limited. As we each get more sophisticated, there is more competition among us for the people who do give, although we increasingly work together in the field. At the same time, there is more confusion in the public about which environmental group does what. That’s why there is the necessity to differentiate what we each have to offer and to have a well-articulated plan about what each one of our groups will accomplish. The strength of that planning is the secret to fund-raising success — that and how well we can articulate our separate plans to donors.’’
— Jennifer Herring, Vice-President for Public Affairs and Development
