Give TO JOHN BALL ZOO
Your Support Means Everything
Thank you for supporting John Ball Zoo. From providing our animals with local produce in their diets to innovative medical care, our team provides customized and compassionate care to the over 2,000 animals that call John Ball Zoo home. None of this is possible without your philanthropic support.
John Ball Zoo is an IRS Section 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to our mission of inspiring our community to be actively engaged in the conservation of wildlife and wild places. You can also explore other ways of giving, or mail your gift directly to John Ball Zoo (1300 W Fulton St, Grand Rapids, MI 49504). Additionally, you can maximize your impact by asking your employer about gift matching.
For questions please contact our Development team at [email protected] or by phone at 616.336.3309.
Can't get enough of the Zoo? join Conservation Circle!
For a gift of $500, you can join Conservation Circle! Conservation Circle is a group of donors whose annual gifts totaling $500 or more helps to ensure the sustainability of John Ball Zoo’s core values and community. In appreciation of their giving, Conservation Circle donors have access to exclusive special events, early Zoo Camp registration, exclusive digital behind-the-scenes, and much more!Â
To learn more about Conservation Circle, please contact:
Seth Montague, Development Director
[email protected]
616.336.3309.
$500 – 999
- Complimentary Preferred membership
- Invitation to Donor Night
- Invitation to Conservation Circle events​
- Personal staff concierge
- Priority Zoo camp registration
- Onsite recognition at the Zoo
$1,000 -2,499
- Complimentary Preferred membership
- Invitation to Donor Night
- Invitation to Conservation Circle events
- Personal staff concierge
- Priority Zoo camp registration
- Onsite recognition at the Zoo
- Behind-the-scenes tour (digital in 2022)
$2,500 – 4,999
- Complimentary Preferred membership
- Invitation to Donor Night
- Invitation to Conservation Circle events
- Personal staff concierge
- Priority Zoo camp registration
- Onsite recognition at the Zoo
- Behind-the-scenes tour (digital in 2022)
- Animal training (digital in 2022)
$5,000 – 9,999
- Complimentary Preferred membership
- Invitation to Donor Night
- Invitation to Conservation Circle events
- Personal staff concierge
- Priority Zoo camp registration
- Onsite recognition at the Zoo
- Behind-the-scenes tour (digital in 2022)
- Animal training (digital in 2022)
- Private Zoo tour & lunch
$10,000 – 24,999
- Complimentary Preferred membership
- Invitation to Donor Night
- Invitation to Conservation Circle events
- Personal staff concierge
- Priority Zoo camp registration
- Onsite recognition at the Zoo
- Behind-the-scenes tour (digital in 2022)
- Animal training (digital in 2022)
- Private Zoo tour & lunch
- Personal invitation to animal hospital tour
$25,000 +
- Complimentary Preferred membership
- Invitation to Donor Night
- Invitation to Conservation Circle events
- Personal staff concierge
- Priority Zoo camp registration
- Onsite recognition at the Zoo
- Behind-the-scenes tour (digital in 2022)
- Animal training (digital in 2022)
- Private Zoo tour & lunch
- Personal invitation to animal hospital tour
SUPPORT BY GIVING:
50 species survival plans
2,500 animals, 240 species, 365 days per year
John Ball Zoo in 2022
JUMP PROGRAM
Support JUMP
While John Ball Zoo is committed to continuing the JUMP program, the expense incurred impacts other Zoo projects, including habitat renovations, expansions, and educational experiences. With the help of our generous supporters and community, families of all income levels can experience outdoor education and the Zoo’s mission of saving wildlife and wild places.
The Impact of Nature Play:
Nature play can encourage care for the earth, nature can improve academic outcomes, and nature can improve health and wellbeing. Learn more about the positive effects of nature from the Children & Nature Network at childrenandnature.org.
If you would like to support the JUMP program, please select JUMP as your designation on the donation form above. Or connect with our Development team at 616.336.3309 or [email protected].
Animal Sponsorship Program
2023 ADOPT An Animal
ADOPT stands for Animals Depend on People Too. Your sponsorship helps feed and care for the more than 2,400 animals representing more than 200 species that call John Ball Zoo home. Your donation also supports wildlife conservation in the Great Lakes region and around the world.
- Name recognition on websiteÂ
- Exclusive animal experienceÂ
- Gift certificate for a plush animal from the Zoo gift shop
- Certificate of ADOPTion
- Note from sponsored animal’s area keeper
- Photo of sponsored animal
- Exclusive animal experienceÂ
- Gift certificate for a plush animal from the Zoo gift shop
- Certificate of ADOPTion
- Note from sponsored animal’s area keeper
- Photo of sponsored animal
- Gift certificate for a plush animal from the Zoo gift shop
- Certificate of ADOPTion
- Note from sponsored animal’s area keeper
- Photo of sponsored animal
- Certificate of ADOPTion
- Note from sponsored animal’s area keeper
- Photo of sponsored animal
- Certificate of ADOPTion
- Photo of sponsored animal
This sponsorship level is great for classrooms, offices, teams, etc.
- Name recognition on websiteÂ
- Certificate of ADOPTion
- Note from sponsored animal’s area keeper
- Photo of sponsored animal
For questions please contact our Development team at [email protected] or by phone at 616.336.3309.
Can’t get enough of the Zoo?
For a gift of $500, you can join Conservation Circle! Conservation Circle is a group of donors whose annual gifts totaling $500 or more helps to ensure the sustainability of John Ball Zoo’s core values and community. In appreciation of their giving, Conservation Circle donors have access to exclusive special events, early Zoo Camp registration, exclusive digital behind-the-scenes, and much more! To make a gift or learn more, please visit jbzoo.org/conservationcircle
GIFT PLANNING
A Meaningful Gift For Your Zoo
& The Animals You Love.
If John Ball Zoo has been an important part of you and your family’s life, consider creating a legacy that will help to secure the Zoo’s future by including the Zoo in your estate plan. Gift planning enables you to give gifts or assets that benefit your family now and in the future, and help sustain John Ball Zoo’s promise to protect and conserve some of the most remarkable creatures on earth while accommodating your personal, financial, and philanthropic goals.
There are many ways to support the Zoo, and some are as easy as designating John Ball Zoo as a beneficiary in your will or estate, your IRA or 401K plan, or your insurance policy. You can leave a certain dollar amount or percentage, specific property or a portion, or even the remainder of your estate to John Ball Zoo.
Receive lifetime payments as well as tax savings while you support your Zoo. Transfer cash or securities to the Zoo, and receive fixed annuity payments for life.
For more information contact Gina Schulz, Chief Advancement Officer at [email protected] or 616.336.3309 x4927.
Leave a lasting impact by naming John Ball Zoo in your will for a specific amount, a percentage of the total estate, or the residue of the estate.
Bequest Intention Letter
Sample Bequest Language
For more information contact Gina Schulz, Chief Advancement Officer at [email protected] or 616.336.3309 x4927.
- Donate a policy that is no longer needed for family protection or establish a new policy with the Zoo as beneficiary and deduct the annual premiums.
- Deed your residence to the Zoo now, enjoy an immediate income tax deduction, and continue to live at that residence for the rest of your life.
For more information contact Gina Schulz, Chief Advancement Officer at [email protected] or 616.336.3309 x4927.
Receive lifetime payments as well as tax savings while you support your Zoo.
Transfer cash or securities to the Zoo, and receive fixed annuity payments for life.
For more information contact Gina Schulz, Chief Advancement Officer at [email protected] or 616.336.3309 x4927.
Gift appreciated stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to make a significant and lasting impact on John Ball Zoo. Did you know that when you make a charitable gift of securities, you may be able to reduce or eliminate federal capital gains taxes and receive a charitable income tax deduction for the fair market value of the asset upon transfer?
Stock Gift Instructions
For more information contact Gina Schulz, Chief Advancement Officer at [email protected] or 616.336.3309 x4927.
A donor advised fund (or DAF) might be a great solution for you. You can use a DAF to distribute gifts to numerous charities. With a DAF, you can make gifts to charity during your lifetime, and when you pass away, your children can carry on your legacy of giving.
For more information contact Gina Schulz, Chief Advancement Officer at [email protected] or 616.336.3309 x4927.
For more information contact Gina Schulz, Chief Advancement Officer at [email protected] or 616.336.3309 x4927.
NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 31
Double Your Support
By donating today your impact will be multiplied thanks to a matching grant from the Michigan Arts & Culture Council.
Improving the lives of our howler monkey troop is a step toward innovation at John Ball Zoo. We are replacing our aging howler monkey habitat with a new, multi species habitat that will provide this troop and other species with their most wild home ever.
Our new howler monkey habitat will provide permanent, comfortable, and year-round housing for not only howler monkeys, but also white-faced sakis, Hoffman’s two-toed sloths, six-banded armadillos, red-footed tortoises, and yellow-footed tortoises.
As of today, only 4% of the world’s animals live in the wild and only 3% of the world’s land remains ecologically intact. We have work to do. In 2022 alone, John Ball Zoo has spent $370,000 on conservation projects locally and around the world, doing what we do best, protecting animals and the wild habitats they call home. As you can imagine, this work takes immense resources and that’s why we need your help today.
When you donate to our annual fundraising campaign you help us not only keep our doors open to the roughly 500,000 visitors to the zoo each year, but you also help save animal species right here in Michigan. The Poweshiek Skipperling program is just one great example of our conservation impact. Through regional partnerships, we are raising and releasing this species right here in Michigan, in the only wild lands left where they currently exist.
