Sponsor an Animal
Support Your Favorite Animal
Show your love for animals at the Milwaukee County Zoo by sponsoring an animal! Each animal sponsorship helps the Zoological Society fulfill their mission to conserve wildlife and endangered species, educate people about the importance of wildlife and the environment, and support the Milwaukee County Zoo.
Pick your favorite animal or choose a limited-time-offer animal sponsorship opportunity that comes with a plush toy! Each sponsorship comes with a certificate, a subscription to Wild Things newsletter and our Alive magazine, your name displayed in the Peck Welcome Center, and an invitation to a behind-the-scenes event. Higher sponsorships come with even more benefits like attraction tickets, a picture of your sponsored animal, or a private behind-the-scenes tour.
Limited-Time Offers
Our exciting limited-time offers are a great opportunity to help sponsor an animal. These offers generally coincide with significant holidays, making your contribution a perfect gift for a friend or loved one! For a set price, you can get all the benefits of sponsoring an animal plus an adorable plush.
Our current offers include:
Bee the Change
What is your first reaction when you hear that familiar buzzing sound? Nervous, perhaps a little afraid? Some people fear bees, but bees won’t sting unless they are provoked or feel threatened. The more we know about our bee friends, the more we learn to appreciate them and their very important role in the earth’s biodiversity puzzle!
“Bee” helpful this spring and participate in No Mow May. This conservation initiative encourages people to stop mowing or mow less often for the month of May to create habitat and provide resources for bees and other pollinators.
A bee sponsorship is all the buzz this spring! Sponsorships make a great gift idea for birthdays, anniversaries or other special occasions. This limited-time offer is available through May 31, 2023, or while supplies last.
You’re Flippin’ Amazing!
Found throughout the northern waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, harbor seals have one of the widest ranges of the seal family. Equipped with four flippers harbor seals can quickly and easily move throughout the water. Moving their hind flippers from side to side to propel themselves forward and using their fore flippers to help them steer. They can swim forward, upside down and reach speeds up to 12 miles per hour.
Meet Cossette! Cossette arrived at the Milwaukee County Zoo in April 2016 as part of the Species Survival Plan® (SSP), in order to maintain genetic diversity in the zoo population. She became a first-time mom in May 2022, when she gave birth to a female pup who was named Leia. A gift sponsorship of Cossette would get the “seal” of approval for a first-time mom on Mother’s Day or anyone you think is flippin’ amazing. This limited-time offer is available through July 31, 2023.
Kids Conservation Club
Give kids a chance to make a difference – after all, they’re our future conservationists! The Zoological Society’s Kids Conservation Club gives children the scoop on endangered species and ways to help these animals survive. For $25 a year (per child), Kids Conservation Club members sponsor an endangered animal at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Benefits include an animal fact sheet on that year’s animal, collector cards with endangered animals, the child’s name in the Peck Welcome Center, invitations to educational workshops that include crafts and zookeeper talks, and much more.
Gift Sponsorships
Animal sponsorships make great gifts for people of all ages for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, anniversaries and so much more. If you sponsor an animal as a gift, benefits apply to the gift recipient. However, the gift is tax-deductible for the person that purchased the sponsorship. We also invite the gift-giver to the Animal Safari, an exclusive, behind-the-scenes event for animal sponsors.
Gift Sponsorships
Animal sponsorships make great gifts for people of all ages for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, anniversaries and so much more. If you sponsor an animal as a gift, benefits apply to the gift recipient. However, the gift is tax-deductible for the person that purchased the sponsorship. We also invite the gift-giver to the Animal Safari, an exclusive, behind-the-scenes event for animal sponsors.
Sole Animal Sponsorships
Is there an animal that you or your organization or business would like to make a significant contribution to at the Milwaukee County Zoo? While most animals available for sponsorship through the Zoological Society’s Sponsor an Animal program have several sponsors, there are some animals that are available for sponsorship by just one person, group, or family.
School & Youth Groups
Our school & youth group animal sponsorships are a great way to connect children with wildlife! Schools and youth groups can sponsor an animal and receive great benefits:
At the $25 donation level and up receive a fact sheet about the animal along with a picture. The group name will also be on display in the Peck Welcome Center for one year.
At $100 level or higher, we will arrange for a zookeeper to talk to your group during a field trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo. (A minimum donation of $150 is required for school/youth groups with more than 130 students to receive the zookeeper presentation benefit.) This is a great opportunity to talk with someone who works directly with the animals and to ask questions. Keeper presentations are held from October through April and must be scheduled four to five weeks prior to your visit.
If you are interested, please call (414) 258-2333, ext. 201, for more information.
Matching Gifts Program
Double your gift by taking advantage of your employer’s charitable match program! Find out if your company has a matching program and request the appropriate form to go along with your donation or proof of it, to the Zoological Society. Companies may match your entire donation or the tax-deductible portion of your donation. Please check with your company.
