DATA IS POWERful

Based on information received from member gardens who shared their Fiscal Year 2018-19 data with the Association’s Garden Benchmarking platform, this is what we know about the hypothetical “median” public garden. Of course the “Median Public Garden” isn’t your public garden, but Benchmarking will allow you to see your garden in relation to your peers in your area and around the country.

This data is invaluable to you, your peers, your Association, our advocacy efforts, and the future of public horticulture.

 

Attendance & ProgrammingGarden Size
  • 161K in annual visitation
  • $12.50 average ticket price
  • 69% membership retention
  • 416 Total Donors
  • 8,018 education/programming participation
  • 4,261 formal education (K-12) participation
  • 2.2 acres of display garden per FTE Horticulture staff
  • 26% of garden space as display area
  • 43% of display garden area as “high maintenance”
RevenueExpenses
  • $3M annual operating budget
  • $3.4M in annual operating revenue
  • 97% expense to revenue ratio
  • $786K in earned revenue
  • $476K in private donation revenue per FTE staff
  • $117K in special events revenue per FTE staff
  • $233K in net membership revenue
  • $65K in net food services revenue
  • $43K in net gift shop revenue
  • $102K in net rentals revenue
  • $87K per FTE staff
  • $628K on administration expenses
  • $193K in development expenses
  • $68K in membership expenses
  • $178K on Education programs
  • $373K in Facilities/Maintenance expenses
  • $427K on horticulture
  • $129K on Marketing & PR

Start today

What will you learn about your public garden’s place in public horticulture? Where can you grow? Where can you safely prune? What areas can you cultivate for better production?

Garden Benchmarking

Enter data and get reports about garden’s size, location, employees, volunteers and more.

Compensation & Benefits

Compare your employee’s compensation and benefit packages to your peer gardens.

Conservation & Biodiversity

Establish best practice parameters for public gardens in pursuing conservation and biodiversity.