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Plants aren’t the only things growing at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
The prominent Sarasota nonprofit organization, known nationally for its collections and research, now has no long-term debt and a zero balance on its line of credit. That wasn’t the case several years ago. The organization, for example, carried long-term debt and a line of credit of more than $2 million in 2008.
The organization's leadership attributes the financial success to Selby’s new operational model, dubbed The Living Museum, as well as multiple streams of revenue from facility rentals, retail and more. It's an all-out effort on the nonprofit axiom: Run the organization like a business.
The new model has worked — earned revenue has increased 70% over the past four years, for starters. Since ushering in The Living Museum model in 2015, Selby has seen a 172% increase from rental and catering commissions and a 57% increase in retail. The organization has also experienced a more than 30% increase in attendance from fiscal 2015 to 2019. Officials say memberships have increased by 67% and now stand at 14,000 member households. “It speaks volumes to the shift in model,” President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki says.
In the past, some people felt once they had been to the gardens that there wasn’t enough of a reason to come back again, Rominiecki says. “People would say, ‘It’s beautiful,’” she says, with the implication that beautiful wasn’t enough. Now with new exhibits and events throughout the year, people have a reason to return — and to become members. “The best part is it’s a sustainable business model," she says.
Just as important, Selby's nonprofit designation hasn’t limited the organization’s approach to earning revenue, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens COO Wendy Deming says. “We always say ‘nonprofit’ is a tax status not a way of doing business,” she says. “It’s important for a nonprofit to operate like a business in order to fulfill its mission for the long term.”
Change of scene
Rominiecki took the helm at Selby in February 2015 after 15 years at The New York Botanical Garden, including as vice president for institutional advancement and special assistant to the president.
Selby went through a strategic planning process after her arrival. That led to a revamp of the organization’s operations model toward one that emphasizes new experiences.
Selby officials dubbed the concept of changing exhibits and events The Living Museum. Rominiecki says the term developed organically as a way to describe the new model and what the organization does. “The notion of a garden is it’s always changing,” she says. “The Living Museum just sort of embraced that aspect of the garden. It’s a dynamic experience, not a static one.”
The transition to the new model started in February 2016, with a major orchid show, one part of the formalization of its exhibits. The idea is to operate as museums do with exhibits that open and close with marketing that promotes them and brings in visitors.
A cornerstone of the new model is the Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series.
The idea is to feature artists, many widely known names, who hadn’t been studied before in their relationship to nature. “The New York Botanical Garden was putting on exhibits that connected art and nature, but it was more literal — artists who had gardens,” Rominiecki says. “Here it became more abstract.”
The first artist highlighted through an exhibit at Selby was Marc Chagall. “We saw results immediately,” Rominiecki says. People wanted to see the exhibit, and the first foray into artist exhibits drew people in.
A recent exhibit on Andy Warhol was also a hit. “We wanted to bring an element of the unexpected,” Rominiecki says. “No one thinks of Warhol with flowers.” But, she says, Warhol created 10,000 flowers during his career, some of which were highlighted during the Selby exhibit.
An exhibit on Salvador Dalí is planned for February 2020. “There’s an appetite now for what’s the next show,” Rominiecki says.
By combining arts and the natural world, Selby has created a popular draw, particularly in Sarasota, an arts-loving town. But the program has also been a driver for residents to become members of Selby. “I think we would always encourage people to become members of the gardens because then they’re part of the family,” Deming says. “They receive more communication from us, and they develop longer-term, more sustainable connections with the garden.”
The industry is noticing what the organization is doing. Selby has received 10 inquiries from other botanical gardens about the artist exhibits traveling to their organizations. Selby is seizing the interest and plans to start traveling exhibits in 2021. The exhibits will be marketed as “presented by Selby Gardens.” “It will greatly enhance the brand in other markets,” Rominiecki says. Plus, offering traveling exhibits will introduce another revenue stream for Selby.
Full stream ahead
Diversification, a concept familiar to business leaders across sectors, has also been key for Selby Gardens.
“All nonprofits should be operating like a business,” Deming says. “The goal for any nonprofit, for any business, is to be sustainable over the long term. The best way for nonprofits to do that is to diversify revenue streams.”
One major revenue stream at Selby is event rental, for people and groups who host weddings, parties and other events on the grounds.
When Rominiecki started at Selby in 2015, the organization had 10 caterers coming and going who handled events at the site. But a key change in catering operations, a bid process to select an exclusive catering partner, had a big impact on revenue. Selby chose Michael’s On East for the role. “They’ve been an amazing partner for us,” Rominiecki says.
“Any time a nonprofit can operate as a business, it’s a much healthier model. I’m a big proponent of nonprofits operating as businesses to be healthy and sustainable for the future.” — Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
One benefit of having one caterer instead of many is decreased wear-and-tear on the property. Selby has also seen revenue implications, with rental and catering revenue going up 172% since 2015. The rental fee for the facility goes to Selby, and it receives what Rominiecki calls a “significant percent” from catering. The overall result of the revised catering operations? She says, “Better quality events that benefitted the bottom line.”
Selby’s retail revenue has also improved, increasing 57% since The Living Museum model began in 2015.
Deming says there isn’t a single metric — such as admissions, memberships, rentals or retail — that speaks most strongly to the positive operational model changes. “I think it’s a consolidation into all of them,” she says.
Rominiecki agrees, saying revenue streams build on one another. By giving people a reason to come, she says, that builds admissions. Building admissions leads to building up memberships, which leads to more people coming to shop and eat at Selby. “The institution isn’t relying on one source of revenue,” Rominiecki says. “It’s much more sustainable.”
Infrastructure improvements
The recent success has led to some growing pains. On peak days, for one, Rominiecki says Selby Gardens turns away 200 visitors because there isn’t enough parking.
That’s partially why the organization has developed a master plan that includes adding new parking, green space and a welcome center. “Now that we’ve illustrated that this is a successful model, we need to shore up the infrastructure,” Rominiecki says.
Cleaning up the balance sheet was important for Selby’s next steps, one major element being the multistage master plan. Selby’s demonstrated success with generating revenue has encouraged more donors to contribute to the organization, Rominiecki says. “It makes us much more attractive to donors. Donors are like investors,” she says — they want to know an organization is doing well.
Selby has raised $35 million for the master plan, closing in on the goal for the first phase, $42.5 million. It’s aiming to break ground in early 2020, but Rominiecki says the organization will not break ground without all of the commitments in place.
Beyond multimillion dollar fundraising, another hurdle the plan faces is vocal criticism from some residents in surrounding neighborhoods. Selby officials, in response, focus on the positives of the plan and the impact it could have on patrons and revenue.
“Another new revenue stream that will come out of the master plan is a destination restaurant,” Rominiecki says. Many botanical gardens and museums around the world have destination restaurants that drive traffic, she says.
Selby’s new restaurant would be operated by Michael’s On East with a portion of revenue benefitting Selby. The restaurant will be fueled by an edible rooftop garden and offer people a chance to learn about garden-to-plate dining. Deming says the restaurant will help expose people to Selby who haven’t visited before.
Through the fulfillment of the master plan, officials expect Selby to continue to strengthen its earned revenue streams. “I think we’ll experience that once phase one of the master plan is complete, and we have amenities we need to accommodate visitors,” Deming says.
In addition to helping Selby further its master plan goals, the increase in revenue through The Living Museum model and the diversified revenue streams have also allowed the organization to further its mission, by hiring two more botanists.
“Any time a nonprofit can operate as a business, it’s a much healthier model,” Rominiecki says. “I’m a big proponent of nonprofits operating as businesses to be healthy and sustainable for the future.”
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