Opportunity:
Building on its 100-year history of success, the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens’ new CEO, Richard Glover, began an integrated planning process in 2022 focused on defining a bold future vision for the Zoo, its team, and its community, comprised of:
- Strategic planning to solidify the Zoo’s identity, commitments, and culture and pave the way for success over the next five years,
- Master planning to imagine the Zoo of the future through long-term expansion and growth, and
- Business planning to leverage the performance opportunities that these plans unlock, the resources needed to achieve them, and the financial trajectory of the Zoo over the longer term.
Solution:
As a long-time partner of the Zoo, Canopy Strategic Partners conducted the executive search resulting in Richard Glover’s hire. Our integrated planning approach was appealing to the Zoo to not only give them a bold vision but also one that would be financially sustainable.
Throughout our process, we reviewed extensive business performance data, census demographics, and audience analytics; sought the voices of over 140 staff and stakeholders; and conducted on-site and virtual workshops and meetings to gather input. During this time, the Zoo’s team faced exceptional challenges to complete this work. Two hurricanes, back-to-back, damaged the Zoo grounds. Undeterred, the Zoo team continued to push the planning process forward.
In partnership with AFH Design, a core team of Zoo leadership used the resulting wide array of perspectives and ideas to chart a path forward, including a unique solution to utilizing additional real estate located within a flood zone. Rather than change that habitat to decrease the chance of flooding, Canopy and AFH Design proposed embracing the natural tropical landscape by creating an elevated “Tree Trail” experience.
Canopy then assessed the master plan site improvements, admissions fees/attendance program, phasing, guest amenities, and investment in personnel and operations to ensure the Zoo team was creating a financially sustainable organization from revenue and expense to the bottom line.
Result:
In support of the Zoo’s reputation of providing educational and early childhood family experiences, the new master plan focuses on play as a gateway to deeper caring, connection, and action, yet also delivers on the foundational pillars of care, community, culture, conservation, connection, and cultivation identified in the strategic plan. These tenets are executed in the business plan, outlining a phased approach over ten plus years that will deliver financial sustainability.
With this integrated plan, the Zoo can now begin capacity building and community cultivation to raise support and bring this vision to life.
“When we were embarking on strategic planning, we knew we needed a partner with strong industry-specific knowledge and a team that would take the time to listen and learn our property’s unique challenges and opportunities. And we needed a partner that would help us create a plan that would not only get stakeholders excited but would also be financially sustainable for the long-term. The strength of the Canopy Strategic Partners team’s experience with zoological institutions and their ability to deliver a business plan that would help guide long-term financial sustainability through and beyond growth and construction made them the clear choice to be our planning partner.”
—Richard Glover, Chief Executive Officer
Master plan image courtesy of AFH Design.
