New England Botanical Society

What New England Botanical Society does

The New England Botanical Society (NEBS) is a non-profit scientific membership organization founded in 1896 (originally as the New England Botanical Club) and incorporated in Massachusetts as "The New England Botanical Society, Inc." It operates as a regional learned society focused on the flora of New England and adjacent areas, governed by an elected Council of officers and councilors. Its core offerings include the peer-reviewed journal Rhodora (published continuously since 1899, four issues per year, self-published since March 2022), a Vascular Plant Herbarium of over 271,000 specimens and a Cryptogams Herbarium of over 7,500 collections — both physically housed at Harvard University Herbaria — plus a research library of approximately 600 volumes and institutional archives dating to 1894.

Revenue is generated through a diversified, mission-driven mix: annual membership dues (Individual $50, Family $60, Student $15), institutional journal subscriptions ($125/year), tax-deductible donations (one-time, recurring, honor/memorial, planned giving), merchandise sales through a Bonfire storefront, and one-time sales of Special Publications on county floras. The society also funds its research mission through named grant and award programs (Graduate Student Research Award up to $3,000, Junior Faculty Award up to $5,000, Les Mehrhoff Botanical Research Award up to $2,000, and the $1,000 Merritt Lyndon Fernald Award). Distribution is handled directly through rhodora.org, with digital journal archives also distributed via BioOne (2005-present), JSTOR (1899 to five years ago), and the Biodiversity Heritage Library (volumes 1–106, 1899–2004).

Its member and customer base spans professional botanists at universities and research institutions, serious amateur naturalists, graduate and undergraduate students at New England institutions, and academic libraries. Programming is delivered through monthly hybrid meetings (primarily at Harvard University with virtual options), field trips and collecting forays, annual away meetings, and symposia. Manuscript submissions for Rhodora are processed through Scholastica ($10 per submission), and the organization maintains a small operating footprint (1–10 employees) coordinated from Glastonbury, Connecticut, with a shared office at Harvard University Herbaria in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Name

New England Botanical Society

Legal name

The New England Botanical Society, Inc.

Website

https://rhodora.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1896

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The New England Botanical Society is a 1896-founded non-profit scientific membership organization that publishes the peer-reviewed botanical journal Rhodora and maintains herbaria of over 278,500 New England plant specimens at Harvard University Herbaria, serving professional botanists, students, serious amateurs, and academic libraries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Botanical Society and Scientific Publishing

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAC)

Keywords

• Botanical society
• Scientific journal publication
• Herbarium collections
• Botanical research awards
• Plant science membership

Headquarters

HQ city

Greenfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees providing access to journal, meetings, field trips, and other society activities. Membership categories include individual ($50), family ($60), and student ($15).
2. Journal Subscriptions: Institutional subscriptions to Rhodora journal at $125 annually, including four print issues and online access. Libraries and institutions are not eligible for NEBS membership and must purchase separate subscriptions.
3. Merchandise Sales: Online merchandise store selling sustainably manufactured apparel with organic materials. Proceeds support NEBS mission.
4. Donations and Contributions: Tax-deductible donations supporting botanical research, publication of Rhodora, student engagement, and educational programming. Includes one-time gifts, recurring donations, honor/memorial gifts, and legacy/planned giving options.
5. Special Publications Sales: Sale of special publication manuscripts about New England flora, including county flora publications priced at $18-25.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

New England Botanical Society (NEBS) is a member-governed non-profit founded in 1896 that promotes the study of New England flora. It publishes the peer-reviewed journal Rhodora (continuously since 1899), maintains major herbarium collections (over 271,000 vascular plant specimens and 7,500+ cryptogams housed at Harvard University Herbaria), and supports botanical research through grants, awards, field trips, and educational programs.

Product overview

The New England Botanical Society operates a platform of interconnected botanical science offerings anchored by its peer-reviewed journal Rhodora (published since 1899, four issues per year) and two major herbaria: the Vascular Plant Herbarium (over 271,000 specimens) and the Cryptogams Herbarium (over 7,500 specimens of lichens, bryophytes, algae, and fungi), both housed at Harvard University Herbaria. Supporting core functions are a library (~600 volumes), archives (dating to 1894), Special Publications (standalone botanical manuscripts), and membership access to historical journal archives via JSTOR, BioOne, and BHL. NEBS complements its scholarly infrastructure with research award programs—Graduate Student Research Award (up to $3,000), Les Mehrhoff Botanical Research Award (up to $2,000), Junior Faculty Award (up to $5,000), and Merritt Lyndon Fernald Award ($1,000 for best Rhodora paper)—as well as event scholarships, field trips, collecting forays, monthly hybrid meetings, and symposia. Membership (Individual $50, Family $60, Student $15) provides journal access, meeting invitations, and digital archive privileges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rhodora: Peer-reviewed botanical journal published by the society since 1899, focusing on the flora of North America.

Products and services

• Rhodora Journal Peer-reviewed botanical journal published continuously since 1899, issued four times per year. It focuses on the flora of North America, covering biogeography, conservation biology, ecology, evolution, floristics, paleobotany, population genetics, and systematics. Available digitally from 2005 onward via BioOne and JSTOR, with full archive (1899-2004) via Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Harvard University HerbariacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEBS herbaria are housed at Harvard University Herbaria where specimens are accessible to researchers. Specimen data can be accessed through the HUH website and the Consortium of Northeast Herbaria portal. NEBS maintains a shared office at Harvard University Herbaria. Loans of specimens are handled through Harvard University Herbaria.
• Eagle Hill InstituteminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEagle Hill Institute offers 20% discount for NEBS members on 2026 in-person summer week-long seminars (May-September) and additional early registration discounts. NEBS provides $150 stipends for three student members for summer botany courses.
• Consortium of Northeastern HerbariacoreTechnology or IntegrationNEBS herbarium specimens are integrated with the Consortium of Northeast Herbaria portal for specimen data access. Both vascular and cryptogam collections are accessible through this platform.
• Biodiversity Heritage LibrarycoreTechnology or IntegrationNEBS back issues of Rhodora (volumes 1-106, 1899-2004) are scanned and available free online through the Botanicus project at the Missouri Botanical Garden Library and Biodiversity Heritage Library.
• BioOnecoreTechnology or IntegrationRhodora journal issues from 2005 onward are available through BioOne.2 digital subscription service. Members can access content through the BioOne portal.
• JSTORcoreTechnology or IntegrationNEBS members can access all Rhodora content from first publication (1899 to present, except for last five years) through JSTOR.

Scale indicators6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• American Fern Society: A specialized nonprofit society focused on ferns and lycophytes, publishing the American Fern Journal. Comparable as a small membership-based botanical scholarly society serving a specialist taxonomic niche, similar in scale and operating model to NEBS.
• American Bryological and Lichenological Society: Publishes The Bryologist and Evansia, focusing on bryophytes and lichens — the same taxonomic groups represented in NEBS's Cryptogams Herbarium (7,500+ specimens). Comparable as a small specialized botanical society with overlapping scientific scope on cryptogams.

Broad incumbents

• Missouri Botanical Garden: Operates a major herbarium and hosts the Biodiversity Heritage Library, which digitally preserves NEBS's historical Rhodora archive (volumes 1-106). Comparable as a broad institutional botanical and scientific-publishing player central to the regional flora literature.
• Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University: Harvard's research arboretum and herbarium partner, which physically co-houses NEBS's collections. Directly comparable in its herbarium-based botanical research mission and provides institutional infrastructure analogous to what NEBS would need to operate independently.
• New York Botanical Garden: Operates one of the world's largest herbaria (over 7.8 million specimens) alongside major publishing (Brittonia, The Botanical Review) and research programs. A broad incumbent whose scientific publishing and herbarium stewardship mission overlaps materially with NEBS, though at vastly greater scale.
• Botanical Society of America: The largest professional botanical society in North America, publishing multiple journals (e.g., American Journal of Botany) and serving a wide academic membership. It overlaps with NEBS in mission and journal-publishing category but operates at a broader national and scientific scope.

Direct peers

• Native Plant Trust: Formerly the New England Wild Flower Society, Native Plant Trust is a regional nonprofit focused on New England native plant conservation, education, and botanical research. It is the most operationally comparable organization to NEBS in the same geography, with overlapping membership, conservation mission, and herbarium activities.
• Philadelphia Botanical Club: A regional botanical society serving the Delaware Valley, publishing Bartonia and maintaining similar programs of field trips, lectures, and amateur/professional integration. Closely comparable in mission, scale, and operating model to NEBS.
• California Botanical Society: Publishers of Madroño, a peer-reviewed journal on the flora of western North America, the California Botanical Society is a direct analog to NEBS as a state/regional membership-based scientific society focused on regional flora publication and amateur/professional engagement.
• Torrey Botanical Society: A regional botanical society serving the northeastern US, publishing the peer-reviewed Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society. Like NEBS, it is a membership-based nonprofit operating monthly meetings, field trips, and research awards in a similar long-established scholarly niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/newengbotanical
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@newenglandbotanicalclub8093
• Facebookfacebook.com/NewEnglandBot
• Instagraminstagram.com/newenglandbotanical
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nebotany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about New England Botanical Society