Denver Zoo Faces Big Funding Loss During Coronavirus Pandemic
DENVER (CBS4) - Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving to support nonprofits. Typically held after Thanksgiving, this year's event was moved up because of the pandemic, and to ensure those organizations that rely on donations can stay afloat.
The Denver Zoo is among those. Before the day ended they were able to bring in more than $100,000 to help support their work.
It is a huge success, but for their facility will support just a single day of operations
Bert Vescolani is the CEO and President of the Denver Zoo, who, right now, has had to close doors to guests.
"It's silent, it's quiet, it's eerie," Vescolani said. "You can't even imagine it."
Visitors to the park make up more than half of their total revenue.
"Somewhere between $2.5 to $3.5 million in lost revenue per month," he said.
Not bringing in revenue is just one piece of the puzzle. The more than animals that call the zoo home still need to be cared for.
"We are not going to compromise on animal care. That is an absolute, and that amount of cash to just maintain animals is a million dollars a month," Vescolani said.
To help fill the gap they have had to furlough staff, tapped in to reserves and are continuing their push for donations that are key in keeping any nonprofit running.
"It's about making some choices. We had to reduce or delay some things we were doing like everyone else is and trying to get a sense on what is really essential," he said.
While they work on filling the financial hole, reopening to visitors will be their greatest lifeline.
While their hope is to be up and running again by the end of the month, there is no clear timeline and much of that decision will be based on how the zoo can show it is maintain public health and safety.
"When we reopen we will open at a capped capacity which will be far greater reduced than we had when we were open before. We did that right before we closed and it worked really well we could space people out we could do timed ticketing and no cash," he said.
In addition, they will have new cleaning protocols plus a one directional path through the zoo for viewing and to help maintain social distancing.
"We are going to have to work with families to get them comfortable on how to use the zoo and we have to make sure they are comfortable coming back and that you can't predict."
