A Mammoth Mess

The number of people purchasing and renewing memberships online is up. As of July, ANI already had raised roughly $200,000 online for the year, more than it’s brought in through the Web in any prior year.

Conkerton says at the same time the organization reached out for gifts of all sizes via the Web, it touched base with its major donors — those who had given ANI $10,000 or more in a given year — by phone or e-mail as soon as it was able. Several of those contacts yielded additional donations, many from corporate donors whose companies had emergency funding available to organizations affected by the storm. Fundraising events were held in Aspen, Colo., New York and Cincinnati; and the entire zoo and aquarium industry embraced Audubon’s recovery during “Audubon October,” an awareness and fund drive held on site at facilities nationwide. A number of donors also joined ANI’s board as “huggers” to greet and — literally — hug the 66,000 guests admitted to the zoo for free when it first reopened Thanksgiving weekend.