What your money actually buys
Keeping reptiles properly is not expensive in dramatic ways. It is expensive in small relentless ways: electricity that never switches off, UVB lamps that have to be replaced on a schedule whether or not they still look like they are working, feeder insects every week, and a vet who knows reptiles.
None of that photographs well, and all of it is the actual job. Here is how you can cover a piece of it.
Pick the one that fits what you have
Money is not the only useful thing, and for an organisation at this stage it is often not the most useful thing.
One-off or monthly
Straight into food, heating, veterinary care and the enclosures the animals move into. You can give once or set up monthly, quarterly or yearly.
We fundraise through Zeffy, which takes nothing, so 100% of what you give reaches the zoo. You get a tax receipt.
DonateSponsor an animal
Sponsorship covers one animal's food, heating, veterinary care and enclosure for a year. You get that animal's updates and its photos, and your name goes on its page where people actually read it.
It is also the easiest thing to explain to somebody else, which is why it is the one we lead with.
See the sponsorship levels and who is already in.
Sponsor an animalGive something other than money
Timber, glass, insulation, electrical work, shelving, a run of tiling, transport. A build like this eats trade hours, and an afternoon from somebody who knows what they are doing is worth more than the cheque it would take to buy it.
Offer materials or workCorporate partnership
Sponsor an enclosure, an animal or a school programme as a business. Your name sits on the page for the thing you paid for rather than in a list nobody scrolls to, and school sessions are the part of this that reaches the most people.
Talk about partnershipVolunteer
Husbandry, build days, events and admin. Tell us what you are good at and when you are free, and we will tell you honestly whether we have something worth your time right now.
VolunteerRehome an animal to us
If you own a reptile you can no longer care for, tell us about it. We cannot take every animal, because space and quarantine decide that, but we will give you a straight answer and a pointer to somebody else if it is not us.
Tell us about an animalSend someone here
Free, and genuinely useful. Book a session for your child's school, share an animal's page with somebody who thinks tarantulas are dangerous, or point a friend who found a tortoise at our guidance rather than at guesswork.
Education programmesThe unglamorous list
This is what the money is spent on, in roughly the order it gets spent.
Heat, light and power
Reptiles are ectothermic, which means their enclosures are their climate. Heating, UVB and the electricity to run both never switch off, and in a Las Vegas summer cooling costs money as well.
Food and veterinary care
Feeder insects every week for most of the collection, and a vet who actually treats reptiles rather than one who is willing to try. Exotic veterinary work is the cost that most often catches a small collection out.
Enclosures done properly
A cobalt blue tarantula needs deep substrate it can burrow into. A Parson’s chameleon needs height, humidity and real UVB. Building for the animal rather than for the viewer costs more and is not negotiable.
Things you are entitled to know
We are a registered charity, and you can check
Las Vegas Reptile Zoo is recognised by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organisation under EIN 33-2811809. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Look the number up in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search before you give us anything. We would rather you did.
Two documents we have not published
Giving works today, and so does every form on this page. These are the two things still to go up on the transparency page:
- Nevada charitable solicitation registration status
- The 501(c)(3) determination letter itself
If you are considering a large gift or a grant and want either of them first, write to us and we will send them across rather than asking you to wait.
See also: Transparency and reports.
Sponsoring one animal is the whole thing in miniature
It pays for something specific, you can see exactly what it covers, your name sits next to the animal it paid for, and you get told how that animal is doing. There is no ambiguity about where it went.
