WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

As filed

Subsection

03

NTEE code

A560

Classification

2000

Street

222 HARRINGTON WAY

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

• EXHIBITS & COLLECTIONS: VISITS TO THE ECOTARIUM ARE EDUCATIONAL AND FUN. IN 2024, 136,699 VISITORS EXPLORED 45 ACRES OF OUTDOOR EXHIBITS, NATURE EXPLORE PLAYGROUND, AND WILDLIFE ZOOLOGICAL PARK HABITATS; 36,812 GUESTS RODE THE OPEN-AIR REPLICA 1863 C.P. HUNTINGTON STEAM LOCOMOTIVE. INSIDE THE MUSEUM, GUESTS ENJOYED THREE LEVELS OF EXHIBITS, INCLUDING MOUNT WASHINGTON, CITYSCIENCE, AFRICAN COMMUNITIES, ANIMALS AND TRAVELING EXHIBITS. IN 2024 THE ALDEN DIGITAL PLANETARIUM PROVIDED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR 19,741 VISITORS.

  Expenses $1,370,950 · Revenue $1,454,984

• EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: THE ECOTARIUM OFFERS INTERACTIVE, HANDS-ON, EDUCATOR-LED PROGRAMS THAT ALIGN WITH MASSACHUSETTS CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS FOR PRE-K TO 12, AS WELL AS HOSTED BIRTHDAY PARTIES WITH FUN, EDUCATIONAL COMPONENTS. IN 2024 THE ECOTARIUM'S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING INSIDE THE MUSEUM AND IN THE COMMUNITY AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND YOUTH-SERVING AGENCIES PROVIDED IN-PERSON EDUCATION AT THE MUSEUM FOR 7,741 YOUTH AND ADULTS, AS WELL AS TRAVELING PROGRAMS IN THE COMMUNITY AND SCHOOLS FOR 9,088 YOUTH. SINCE 1885, THE ECOTARIUM HAS OFFERED SEASONAL SCIENCE AND NATURE DAY CAMPS FOR CHILDREN DURING VACATIONS AND SUMMER. IN 2024, CAMP PROGRAMS ENGAGED 763 CAMPERS DURING VACATIONS AND SUMMER CAMPS. 19,653 GUESTS PARTICIPATED IN FREE, DAILY, EDUCATOR-LED, MUSEUM EDUCATION PROGRAMS, INCLUDING, SCIENCE DISCOVERY, EARLY LEARNING, ANIMAL DISCOVERY, AFTERNOON ASTRONOMY, AND COLLECTION CONNECTION.

  Expenses $1,454,243 · Revenue $594,561

• GUEST SERVICES: THE ECOTARIUM OFFERS A VARIETY OF VISITOR SERVICES, INCLUDING SPECIAL ACTIVITIES, HOSTED SPECIAL YEAR-ROUND, SEASONAL COMMUNITY EVENTS, PURCHASES FROM OUR MUSEUM SHOP, SEASONAL FOOD SERVICE AND FOOD VENDING MACHINES.

  Expenses $614,907 · Revenue $162,885

• WILDLIFE: THE ECOTARIUM'S OUTDOOR ZOOLOGICAL PARK IS HOME TO NATIVE, NON-RELEASABLE, NEW ENGLAND WILDLIFE, MOST OF WHICH COULD NOT SURVIVE IN THE WILD DUE TO INJURY, ILLNESS, IMPRINTING, ORPHAN STATUS, OR CAPTIVE BIRTH. INSIDE THE MUSEUM, AMBASSADOR ANIMALS REPRESENT NEW ENGLAND AND EXOTIC SPECIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. ZOO-TO-YOU PROGRAMS FACILITATED BY ZOOLOGICAL AND EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS AIM TO NURTURE A GREATER CONNECTION TO AND UNDERSTANDING OF SPECIES LOCATED IN NEW ENGLAND WHILE PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL AND ENTERTAINING ENCOUNTERS WITHRESIDENT ANIMALS. THE ECOTARIUM DEMONSTRATES LEADERSHIP IN CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION OF ENDANGERED TURTLE POPULATIONS, ANIMAL WELFARE, ENRICHMENT, AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.. REGULAR ANIMAL PROGRAMMING INCLUDES BOTH INFORMAL AND FORMAL, VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON, ZOO-THEMED CAMP PROGRAMMING, BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND BEHIND THE SCENES TOURS.

  Expenses $735,958

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

• 2024

  Revenue

  $10,466,059

  Expenses

  $5,926,343

  Contributions

  $7,434,809

  Grants paid

  $0

• 2023

  Revenue

  $5,223,532

  Expenses

  $5,760,496

  Contributions

  $2,534,884

  Grants paid

  $0

• 2022

  Revenue

  $5,566,765

  Expenses

  $5,195,355

  Contributions

  $3,697,666

  Grants paid

  $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

• 2021 · 990

  Revenue

  $5,171,795

  Expenses

  $4,525,102

  Assets (EOY)

  $24,778,012

• 2020 · 990

  Revenue

  $1,327,769

  Expenses

  $4,274,440

  Assets (EOY)

  $22,442,953

• 2019 · 990

  Revenue

  $3,948,047

  Expenses

  $5,064,088

  Assets (EOY)

  $24,560,895

• 2019 · 990

  Revenue

  $4,205,542

  Expenses

  $4,924,632

  Assets (EOY)

  $25,126,753

• 2018 · 990

  Revenue

  $3,002,259

  Expenses

  $4,859,775

  Assets (EOY)

  $24,880,943

• 2017 · 990

  Revenue

  $6,700,228

  Expenses

  $4,965,747

  Assets (EOY)

  $26,633,535

• 2016 · 990

  Revenue

  $4,419,274

  Expenses

  $4,698,794

  Assets (EOY)

  $25,307,526

• 2015 · 990

  Revenue

  $7,635,535

  Expenses

  $4,303,990

  Assets (EOY)

  $26,221,045

• 2014 · 990

  Revenue

  $4,152,850

  Expenses

  $4,155,031

  Assets (EOY)

  $21,393,612

• 2013 · 990

  Revenue

  $3,382,052

  Expenses

  $3,925,814

  Assets (EOY)

  $21,457,300

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

• GREATER WORCESTER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC

  $545,611

  2024 · ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES

• GREATER WORCESTER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC

  $65,758

  2023 · NATURAL HISTORY & NATURAL SCIENCE MUSEUMS

• GREATER WORCESTER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC

  $51,427

  2025 · ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES

• GREATER WORCESTER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC

  $40,282

  2022 · ARTS, CULTURE

• UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC

  $35,000

  2024 · PROGRAM GRANT 527

• UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC

  $25,700

  2022 · PROGRAM GRANT

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $22,250

  2024 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC

  $18,025

  2022 · GENERAL SUPPORT

• UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC

  $16,000

  2022 · PROGRAM GRANT

• UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INC

  $15,962

  2023 · PROGRAM GRANT 409

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

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