SAFE Silent Auction

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is excited to support AZA’s conservation grants programs with the proceeds from the SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction Silent Auction. Annually, the Silent Auction has been a successful fundraising tool for AZA’s Conservation Grants Fund for collaborative conservation and we look forward to continuing the tradition in Columbus. Your participation in the auction helps support 35 SAFE species programs across the globe! 

In 2019, AZA created the SAFE granting program to complement AZA’s Conservation Grants Fund. In 2021, the JoEllen Doornbos Endowment was created with a $1 million gift to support AZA members’ collaborative SAFE projects in perpetuity and AZA issued a challenge to double the size of the Endowment. AZA’s Board of Directors matched a $100,000 grant from the Arthur L. and Elaine V. Johnson Foundation in 2021 and the Foundation has offered up to $200,000 in matching funds in both 2022 and 2023. Your involvement is critical to meeting the matching grant challenge!

Please help us take advantage of this matching grant challenge by donating a unique or specialty auction item highlighting your facility, programs, or partners you support for the 2023 Annual Conference.  Share this invitation with your own staff, volunteers, and Board members to encourage them to make a personal item donation to the Auction. The donation will have a direct impact on the important work conducted by your staff and colleagues to save animals from extinction. Items will be bid on by attendees during the AZA Annual Conference.

Please visit our online form to submit an auction item. Please send your donation early! If you have questions about the Auction, please contact Colby Falconer, Annual Giving Manager, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Thank you! Together we met a $200,000 matching grant challenge and doubled the funds contributed for 2023! In fact, with your help, we more than doubled the value of the JoEllen Doornbos Endowment to power SAFE granting programs in perpetuity. With this momentum, and the growing number of SAFE species and member engagement, our next challenge is to meet member demand! Visit here to make an online donation to SAFE. Have questions? Contact Amanda Johnston for information.

Bid on Items at the Conference!

Bidding on Silent Auction items will take place in the Exhibit Hall during the following times:

• Tuesday, September 12, 9:30 am - 6:30 pm
• Wednesday, September 13, 1:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Be sure to stop by the Exhibit Hall and place your bid on any of the hundreds of items donated.