Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

What Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens does

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (CMBG) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1991 and headquartered at 105 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay, Maine. It operates New England's largest botanical garden, comprising 325+ acres of cultivated gardens, woodland trails, shoreline access, permanent sculpture, and signature exhibits including the Guardians of the Seeds — five giant recycled-wood troll sculptures by Danish artist Thomas Dambo — plus an on-site herbarium, the Caterpillar Lab, and the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses. The organization's mission centers on plant conservation, environmental education, and connecting people with nature.

CMBG serves a broad base of individual visitors and families, school and educator groups, community volunteers, and corporate/private groups through tiered memberships ($70 Individual to $2,750 Benefactor), admission tickets ($12-$28 online), a robust calendar of fee-based classes, workshops, certificate programs, and youth summer camps, a Gardenshop retail operation, facility rentals, and an active philanthropy program including annual fund, capital campaign, endowment, and securities-gift processing via Fidelity Investments. It partners with Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness, Indigo Arts Alliance, Chewonki, Spark Inclusive Arts, and Harbor Theater to extend its programming. Underlying commercial infrastructure is a Spektrix ticketing platform running admissions, memberships, classes, and gift cards alongside a WordPress-based marketing site and a separate online Gardenshop storefront.

Revenue is generated across six streams — admission tickets, memberships, retail, classes and educational programs, donations and philanthropy, and facility rental — supported by five primary GTM motions (general admission, memberships, group and educational bookings, special events, and donation pipelines) and a multi-channel marketing mix spanning website, email, Facebook, Instagram, and event programming. The core operating season runs May 1 through October 18, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with year-round program and donation activity. The organization is governed by a board of trustees, is entirely donor- and member-supported, and has no parent company or institutional investor backing.

Name

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Legal name

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Website

https://mainegardens.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens operates New England's largest botanical garden, a 325+ acre nonprofit visitor destination in Boothbay, Maine, offering admissions, memberships, classes, certificate programs, summer camps, retail, and donations to families, school groups, and individual visitors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Botanical Gardens

NAICS

Zoos and Botanical Gardens (71213), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219)

akta.pro primary industry

Parks, Gardens & Botanical Attractions (THAJACAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Seasonal Color, Planting & Horticultural Services (BPABADAL), Native, Pollinator & Drought-Tolerant Garden Installations (HSAIAFAL)

Keywords

• Botanical garden admissions
• Garden membership programs
• Botanical education programs
• Horticultural retail sales
• Nonprofit cultural attractions

Headquarters

HQ city

Boothbay

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Admission Tickets: Visitors purchase tickets for garden admission during regular season (May-October). Adults $28, Seniors/Veterans $24, Students $19, Children (3-17) $12, under 3 free. On-site tickets are $4 more per ticket.
2. Memberships: Annual memberships providing free regular season admission, shop discounts, and member-only benefits. Tiered levels: Individual $70, Dual $110, Family $135, Contributor $225, Supporter $450, Patron $850, Benefactor $2,750.
3. Gardenshop: Physical and online retail gift shop selling garden-related merchandise, plants, and gifts. Every purchase supports the mission.
4. Classes and Educational Programs: Fee-based programming including adult classes, certificate programs, summer camps, workshops, and guided tours. Categories include botanical arts, ecology, gardening, wellness, youth programs.
5. Donations and Philanthropy: Charitable contributions through annual fund, capital campaign, endowment gifts, tribute gifts, planned giving, securities donations, and wire transfers. Organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
6. Facility Rental: Venue available for private events and rentals, generating rental income.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Operates a 325+ acre public botanical garden in Boothbay, Maine — New England's largest botanical garden — featuring ornamental gardens, native plant collections, woodland and shoreland trails, and large-scale art installations such as the "Guardians of the Seeds" troll sculptures, while offering admission-based public access, annual memberships, education classes, certificate programs, summer camps, horticultural therapy, guided tours, retail through an on-site and online Gardenshop, and gift cards as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Product overview

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens operates as New England’s largest botanical garden (325+ acres), offering a unified visitor experience centered on admission-based access to gardens, woodland trails, and exhibits. The core product portfolio includes All Day Admission Tickets and Garden Memberships providing entry, supplemented by fee-based add-on tours (Highlights Tour, Hike the Trolls, Biodiversity Tour, Wetlands Hike, Native Plant Hike, Five Senses Family Tour). Educational programming spans Certificate Programs in Botanical Arts and Native Plants, Summer Camps for youth, and Horticultural Therapy wellness offerings. Retail operations include the Gardenshop online store and Gift Cards. Major exhibits include the Guardians of the Seeds (five giant troll sculptures by Thomas Dambo) and the Caterpillar Lab. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit relying on admission revenue, memberships, donations, and retail sales to fund its mission of plant conservation, education, and connecting people with nature.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• All-Day Garden Admission Tickets

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.

• Thomas DambocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDanish artist and recycle activist who designed and built the five giant Guardian Troll sculptures. Led a team of international and local volunteers to construct trolls from recycled pallets and salvaged materials. The trolls are part of Dambo's global troll family spanning China, Australia, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and South Korea.
• Wabanaki Public Health and WellnesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness to develop the Three Sisters Garden, one of the Gardens' newest spaces, honoring Indigenous agricultural traditions.
• Indigo Arts AlliancesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for the 'Deconstructing the Boundaries' art initiative, integrating Indigenous arts and perspectives into the Gardens.
• ChewonkisecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner providing interactive wildlife and ecosystem programs at the Gardens, including 'Predators' programming for visitors.
• Harbor TheatersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner for the 'Extraordinary Caterpillar Film Screening' event, bringing off-site nature programming in collaboration with the Gardens.
• Spark Inclusive ArtssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for inclusive arts programming including the 'Dancing in the Garden: An All Abilities Movement Workshop' and 'Between Root and Sky' dance performance.
• MolnlyckeminorOthersOrganization providing salvaged materials for troll construction. Contributed to the sustainable, recycled-material approach of the Guardian Troll sculptures.
• Louis Doe Home CenterminorOthersLocal business providing salvaged materials for troll construction project.
• Yoder SawyeringminorOthersLocal sawmill providing salvaged materials for troll construction.
• Viking LumberminorOthersLocal lumber company providing salvaged materials for troll construction.
• Brooks Feed and FarmminorOthersLocal farm providing salvaged materials for troll construction.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Morris Arboretum: 92-acre public arboretum operated by University of Pennsylvania with admissions, memberships, and education programming — comparable model, smaller scale, similar Northeast climate.
• Longwood Gardens: Largest public display garden in the US (~1,100 acres in PA) operating the same nonprofit botanical garden model with admissions, tiered memberships, education, and signature art/light installations — directly comparable in operating model to CMBG, though significantly larger.
• Chicago Botanic Garden: 385-acre public botanical garden operating with similar admissions, memberships, education, certificate programs, and horticultural therapy offerings — closely comparable in scale (slightly larger than CMBG's 325 acres) and program mix.
• New York Botanical Garden: 250-acre public botanical garden with admissions, tiered memberships, certificate programs, herbarium, and extensive education programming — comparable mission and operating model, though in an urban market.
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Historic 79-acre public botanical garden in St. Louis with admissions, memberships, education, conservation research, and herbarium — comparable nonprofit operating model and program mix to CMBG.
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden: 52-acre urban botanical garden with admissions, memberships, education programs, and plant science initiatives — comparable nonprofit garden model though smaller scale.
• Tyler Arboretum: 650-acre public arboretum in Delaware County, PA offering admissions, memberships, and nature/education programming — comparable outdoor nature-park operating model at similar regional scale.
• Wave Hill: 28-acre public garden in the Bronx with admissions, memberships, education, and art programming — comparable nonprofit cultural-garden hybrid model, though smaller and urban.

Regional players

• Berkshire Botanical Garden: Smaller (~15 acres) New England-based public botanical garden in Stockbridge, MA with admissions, memberships, and education — comparable model and regional climate, but significantly smaller scale than CMBG.
• Coastal Maine attraction peers (e.g., Acadia National Park area operators): Other Maine outdoor/cultural attractions in the Boothbay/Acadia corridor (e.g., Bar Harbor and mid-coast operators) that compete with CMBG for regional tourism dollars within the compressed May-October window.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/MaineGardens
• Instagraminstagram.com/coastalmainebotanicalgardens
• Xx.com/MaineGardens
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maine-gardens

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens