Thanksgiving Point Institute

What Thanksgiving Point Institute does

Thanksgiving Point Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Lehi, Utah, operating seven award-winning discovery venues across a 155-acre, two-campus property: Ashton Gardens (50 acres, 17 themed spaces, largest manmade waterfall in America), Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life (60+ mounted dinosaur skeletons), Butterfly Biosphere (USDA-regulated facility with 1,000+ butterflies and a 120,000-ant colony), Museum of Natural Curiosity (400+ hands-on exhibits), Curiosity Farms (working farm showcasing agricultural technology including hydroponics), Mountain America Jurassic Jungle (Utah's largest indoor prehistoric playground with wearable wristband mission system), and The Carousel. It serves families with children, K-12 schools, underserved communities, youth interested in STEM (particularly girls), and event clients through a multi-channel go-to-market combining direct ticket sales, memberships, summer camps, private events and weddings, dining, retail, and philanthropy.

The organization operates a hybrid revenue model blending per-visit admissions ($19-$39 adult pricing, with All-Access 3-day passes during the Imaginaria summer festival), recurring annual memberships (nine tiers from Individual at $139 to Premier Family at $749 with auto-renewal), educational program fees (summer day camps $95-$349), premium add-on experiences (VIP Animal Encounters at $129, Canopy Tours at $8-$12), private event and wedding venue rentals, on-site F&B across five dining concepts, retail gift shops, and contributed revenue through the Curiosity Club donor program and Every Kid Counts subsidized-access fund. Customer acquisition is multi-channel—website, mobile app, email/SMS, social media, school outreach, community partnerships with United Way and SheTech, and seasonal events—and is supported by 800 employees and 800 volunteers. Naming-rights partnerships with Mountain America Credit Union and flagship philanthropic funding from the Bill and Pat Child Foundation and Barbara Barrington Jones Family Foundation anchor the capital and sponsorship base.

The underlying technology is predominantly experiential and physical rather than digital: living biological collections, mounted paleontological specimens, hands-on STEM exhibits, hydroponic growing containers, high-ropes canopy tours, and a wristband-based interactive mission system in Jurassic Jungle. The organization's strategic priorities reflected in recent activity include venue expansion (Jurassic Jungle, Curiosity Farms), thematic seasonal programming (Imaginaria/America 250), structured philanthropy scaling (Curiosity Club), and broadening access to underserved and female-STEM audiences through partnerships with Primary Children's Hospital, SheTech, and Utah State iSEE.

Name

Thanksgiving Point Institute

Legal name

Thanksgiving Point Institute

Website

https://thanksgivingpoint.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Thanksgiving Point Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating seven discovery venues across 155 acres in Lehi, Utah—including gardens, natural history museums, a butterfly conservatory, a working farm, and an indoor prehistoric playground—serving families, K-12 schools, underserved communities, and event clients through admissions, memberships, camps, and philanthropy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Family Discovery Centers and Educational Attractions

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Museums (712110), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Natural History Museums (THAJADAC), Historic Sites, Heritage Landmarks & Archaeological Sites (THAJACAC)

Keywords

• Discovery centers
• STEM education programs
• Museum attractions
• Botanical gardens
• Family entertainment venues

Headquarters

HQ city

Lehi

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Venue Admission Tickets: Per-visit ticket sales to seven discovery venues including Ashton Gardens, Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life, Butterfly Biosphere, Museum of Natural Curiosity, Curiosity Farms, Mountain America Jurassic Jungle, and The Carousel
2. Annual Memberships: Tiered membership program (Individual $139, Duo $219, Family $319, Premier Family $749) with unlimited access, guest passes, discounts, and priority registration
3. Summer Day Camps & Education Programs: STEM-based camps for preschool through 6th grade; Little Learners two-day camps ($95-139), 1st-2nd grade week camps ($299-349), 3rd-4th grade camps ($349), 5th-6th grade mission camps; youth/teen programs including Growing Leaders and SheTech internships
4. Private Events & Weddings: Wedding venue rentals, private event bookings, corporate events, birthday parties with full-service planning, florists, décor specialists, and culinary team
5. Dining & Food Services: On-site restaurants including Harvest Restaurant (fine dining), Trellis Café (seasonal), The Tower Deli & Grill (quick service), Ice Age Creamery, Curiosity Cafe, Clubhouse Grill at Golf Club
6. Retail Gift Shops: Gift shops at each venue offering toys, décor and themed merchandise; Garden Path Greenhouse; plant sales including tulip bulbs
7. Donations & Curiosity Club: Tax-deductible donations supporting Every Kid Counts program for STEM education access; Curiosity Club donor program with naming rights opportunities
8. Signature Experiences & Add-ons: Premium add-ons including VIP Animal Encounters ($129), Butterfly's First Flight ($4), Canopy Tours ($8-12), Dino Quest ($8), Paleo Studio ($10), Geode Cracking ($10-18)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Thanksgiving Point Institute operates seven award-winning family discovery venues across two 155-acre campuses in Lehi, Utah: Ashton Gardens (50 acres), Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life, Butterfly Biosphere, Museum of Natural Curiosity, Curiosity Farms, Mountain America Jurassic Jungle, and The Carousel. It sells daily admissions, tiered annual memberships, STEM-based summer day camps and field trips, wedding and private event hosting, on-site dining, and retail gift shop merchandise, supported by donations through the Curiosity Club donor program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ashton Gardens

Quantifiable outcome

• 800 volunteers supporting nonprofit mission annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Bill and Pat Child FoundationflagshipOthersMajor donor making Curiosity Farms possible - real working farm in Silicon Slopes showcasing agricultural technology and STEM education
• Barbara Barrington JonesflagshipOthersPhilanthropist who envisioned and funded The Carousel and donated building for Museum of Natural Curiosity (Barbara Barrington Jones Family Foundation Building)
• Mountain America Credit UnionflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerNaming sponsor for Mountain America Jurassic Jungle (Utah's largest indoor prehistoric playground) and Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life
• SheTechcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSheTech Internship Program at Thanksgiving Point offering students grades 9-12 hands-on STEM experience with female mentors in agriculture tech, entomology, exhibit design, STEM education, outdoor education, and wetland restoration
• American Horticultural SocietyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerReciprocal Admissions Program providing members free admission to nearly 300 gardens throughout North America and Cayman Islands
• Utah State Office of Educators Informal Science Education Enhancement (iSEE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartneriSEE funding enables scholarships for public schools and public charter schools to visit Thanksgiving Point venues once per school year per grade
• United WaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfter-school STEM programs delivered at United Way community centers including South Franklin, Payson, and American Fork locations
• Imaginaria Sponsors (Adobe, Central Bank, Dancing Moose Montessori, Deseret First Credit Union, doTERRA, Harmons, Larry H. and Gail Miller Foundation, Lehi City PARC, Tom Stuart Construction, Union Pacific, Jack & Mary Lois Wheatley Family Fund)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsors supporting Imaginaria summer festival celebrating America 250 with hands-on activities and educational programming
• Utah State University Extension 4HminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSU provides educational kits for checkout to public school teachers, after school educators, and 4-H volunteers
• Primary Children's HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGirls in STEM partnership with Primary Children's Hospital offering free healthcare-themed STEM workshops for grades 6-10

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Longwood Gardens: Premier public garden with 1,000+ acres of themed outdoor gardens, conservatories, and ticketed experiences. Directly comparable to Ashton Gardens and the horticulture side of Thanksgiving Point's operation, including ticketed admissions, memberships, and event hosting.
• Please Touch Museum: Children's museum focused on hands-on, interactive learning experiences. Comparable as a nonprofit family-discovery destination with memberships, school field trips, and event programming targeting the same family demographic.
• Cincinnati Museum Center: Multi-museum complex housed in a historic landmark featuring natural history, children's, and history museums under one nonprofit. Closely comparable multi-venue museum operating model with education, events, and donor-driven nonprofit structure.
• Hogle Zoo: Utah's primary zoo and family attraction in Salt Lake City. Comparable as a regional nonprofit living-collection attraction targeting families, schools, and events with a similar membership and field trip model.
• Chicago Botanic Garden: Large public garden with 27 themed gardens and educational programming. Directly comparable to Ashton Gardens in scale, themed garden format, ticketed admissions, memberships, and reciprocal garden admission partnerships.
• Children's Museum of Indianapolis: The world's largest children's museum with hands-on STEM exhibits and family memberships. Comparable as a multi-venue children's discovery complex combining museums, gardens, and interactive experiences with similar educational mission and donor-supported funding model.
• Exploratorium: Interactive science museum with hundreds of hands-on STEM exhibits. Closely comparable to Museum of Natural Curiosity and the broader STEM-discovery focus of Thanksgiving Point, including field trip programming and family memberships.
• Natural History Museum of Utah: Operates a major natural history museum in Salt Lake City featuring paleontology and natural science exhibits. Highly comparable as a regional nonprofit museum with overlapping dinosaur/natural history collections and K-12 field trip programs in the same Utah market.
• Loveland Living Planet Aquarium: Family-focused aquarium and science attraction in Draper, Utah. Closely comparable as a Utah-based nonprofit/educational attraction competing for the same family visit and membership dollars, with similar pricing tiers and field trip programming.

Broad incumbents

• American Museum of Natural History: One of the world's largest natural history museums with dinosaur halls, scientific collections, and educational programs. Broadly comparable as a much larger incumbent in the same natural history museum and STEM education category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thankspoint

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Thanksgiving Point Institute