Membership FAQs

What are the requirements of Species360 membership?

• Payment of annual membership fee
• Sharing of current, accurate, comprehensive data about your collection – data must be recorded at least every three months to remain in good standing

Why do organizations join Species360?
Members join Species360 to receive the benefits of a pooled knowledge base of information on more than 6.8 million animals. In addition, members contribute to greater conservation goals by sharing husbandry and medical information on their animal collections with Species360 member institutions across the world. Members have strong interest in learning and using animal management best practices, in managing their operations more productively, in strengthening their collection management capabilities, and in reducing overall costs.

Can I keep some of my data confidential?
Yes. Animals can be held in a “local only” research collection. No one outside your institution can see anything you report about those animals, including their existence.

Do members maintain ownership in their data?
Yes. Member data continually remains under the ownership of the submitting institution. Member data is not available for sale.

What are the system requirements for using ZIMS?
ZIMS will work with any modern browser, and is optimized for Google Chrome.  A high-speed internet connection is required.

How much does membership cost?
Species360 supports over 1,200 members in 100 countries in a complex and varied global environment. In an effort to balance fairness with inclusivity across this growing membership, a sliding scale membership pricing model is used based on the size of the institution. This ensures that smaller members pay a lower fee than our larger facilities, as long as they can meet the minimum annual fee. Determining the ‘size’ of the member incorporates various characteristics – including annual expense budget, visitor numbers, number of animal care staff, number of animals and species, and number of enclosures. Membership fees are a single, flat-rate payment, which is adjusted annually.

What payment methods does Species360 accept?
Payment can be made via an international wire transfer, check or credit card. Click here to get started.

Is membership renewed annually? Can I cancel?
Yes, your membership automatically renews annually with a right to cancel at any time. You will be invoiced for membership annually on a rolling 12-month basis. Member retention has averaged 98.8% over the recent past number of years.

How is the members’ annual renewal cost determined?
Starting in 2017, the Species360 Board of Trustees decided not to annually recalculate member renewal fees based on the above characteristics due to member difficulties in budget planning and the heavy administrative burden. Instead, once an initial membership fee is agreed to, the renewal fee is simply increased by a fixed annual inflation adjustment on the previous year’s fee. This new fee structure made it simpler for members to calculate and budget, and also provided a lower renewal fee for many members. Additionally, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on members’ financial position, the trustees approved in 2020 a temporary suspension of this inflation adjustment on membership renewals.

How is Species360 financially managed?
Species360 is a publicly-supported organization with members contributing 97% of all required funds. Species360 operates in a fiscally responsible manner – with 82% of total spending dedicated to services for our membership. Species360 is organized under the U.S. IRS tax code with a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt status. Financial statements are audited on an annual basis by an independent accountant. The Board has a committee responsible for overseeing the audit of financial statements and selection of independent accountants. The organization has a written conflict of interest policy, whereby directors and trustees are required to disclose annually interests that could give rise to any conflicts.

What does being a Non-Governmental Organization mean?
Since its founding over 42 years ago, Species360 has been a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and a legally constituted corporation created to operate independently from government. Species360 is not a part of any government and is not a conventional for-profit business. As an NGO, Species360 pursues wider animal conservation social aims. It is not a political organization pursuing political goals.