EIN 11-1635083

Queens Botanical Garden Society

IRS 501(c) type
501(c)(3)
Num. employees
103
Year formed
1946
Most recent tax filings
2023-06-01
Description
Queens Botanical Garden Society is an urban oasis that celebrates people, plants, cultures and environmental stewardship through inspiring gardens and educational programs.
Total revenues
$13,740,602
2023
Total expenses
$5,323,911
2023
Total assets
$13,336,874
2023
Num. employees
103
2023

Program areas at Queens Botanical Garden Society

Grounds care and security - responsible for the upkeep and security of this 39-acre public Garden and living museum, comprising 18 acres of formal gardens and 21 acres of arboretum. Maintains more than 20 ornamental and educational gardens including: an herb Garden, woodland Garden, rose Garden, wedding Garden, other perennial gardens and seasonal displays. Environmental strategies are in practice throughout the facility: water permeable pavers are in place throughout the Garden; bioswales absorb excess rain water, helping to ease the burden on nyc's sewer system; geothermal wells heat and cool the leed platinum certified visitor & administration building; native plantings, including the green roof, feed local fauna and migratory birds. Composting toilets and gray water system result in using 82% less water, photovoltaic panels harness the sun's energy just as plants do.all features mentioned support the Garden's commitment to sustainability.
Visitor services - promotes a positive visitor experience and welcomed 278,434 visitors onsite ang served 291,027 people in fy23. The visitor & administration building houses a variety of amenities including the gift shop, food service concessions, qbg gallery, special event & facility rentals and qbg membership hospitality. Throughout the year, visitor services provides meaningful, workplace readiness volunteer experiences for dozens of high school students and college interns.public programs staff coordinate nearly 88 public programs and events for visitors in a typical year; public programs highlight the changes in nature throughout the seasons, plant collections throughout the Garden, bees and honey, cultural significance of plants, visual arts, performing arts and green / sustainable living.
Education - provides programs, workshops and special events that advance a dual mission of sustainability and cultural expression. In fy23 qbg educators worked with 24,348 school children and 1,351 teachers through onsite environmental education workshops, tours and teacher training programs. Education programs focus on steam learning (science, technology, engineering, art, math) to teach urban children about plants,ecosystems, trees, and bees. Qbg is home to one of the largest composting education sites in the city, and focuses on outreach to various neighborhoods in Queens. Qbg also hosts several nature-based programs for early childhood through middle school-aged youth throughout the year, ranging from one-time classes to multi-week sessions during out-of-school times.
Outreach - communicates with 4,284 direct mail recipients, over 32,000 email recipients, over 12,000 social media followers, and 300,000 visitors to the website per year. Offer at least two annual press conferences a year that invite and inform the media of news and programs at the Garden. Off-site meetings to visit elected officials and community networking and planning meetings also keep the public apprised of what happens at the Garden. Onsite materials, including banners and printed materials, inform visitors who come to the Garden annually.volunteer - engages and encourages local residents to make a difference in their community by volunteering at qbg. Led by our knowledgeable staff, volunteers participate in a variety of activities from seeding to weeding, or supporting our education, maintenance and administration departments while gaining new experience and skills. We welcome individuals, community organizations, corporations, as well as high school and college interns. In fy23, the Garden attracted 3,335 event and group volunteers and 257 long term volunteers whose work totaled 40,046 volunteer hours! Our horticulture volunteers learned gardening basics while working hands-on with our plants. Public program event volunteers helped to set up, run and support the many activities happening throughout the day and ensuring the events were a success for everyone in our community. While our Garden works to create a meaningful customer service experience for our visitors, the volunteer department works to create a meaningful employment experience to our long-term volunteers and interns.
Planning/capital projects - provides oversight of new capital projects and proposes improvement of the existing infrastructure of the facilities which includes the award-winning "green" visitor & administration building (2007) and the environmentally sustainable parking Garden (2010). In fy16, we completed the re-paving of pathways in the Garden and upgraded about half of the exterior sidewalks. In fy17 we added the second stepped ramp along the college point boulevard bridge. In fy18 we completed an upgrade to the geothermal heating & cooling system and added a building management system to tie in the various systems including heating & cooling, lighting, grey water, and irrigation to bring greater efficiency. Early in fy19 we engaged in various site improvements including transferring water needs for the parking Garden from city potable water to a well which was installed as part of the pathways project noted above. We also upgraded the drive court near the v&a building with pavers as well as upgraded an electrical box dating from the 1964/65 world's fair and 15 light poles in the arboretum. In fall 2018/early fy19 we started landscape renovations within the gardens on parade section, including re-doing what has been known as the backyard gardens exhibit. That project was completed in fy19; the space was renamed the unity Garden. A new education center project, including an education building and surrounding landscapes, will break ground in late 2024 and more than double our capacity to provide environmental education programs to our community. The building is slated to open to the public in 2027. We will also soon begin construction on a pavilion and pavilion gardens, which will enable us to provide additional public programs in a beautiful landscape. In 2020 we re-did the Garden master plan, a,well-needed update to the 2001 version. A new heating and cooling system for the visitor and administration building was put in place in fy23.

Who funds Queens Botanical Garden Society

Grants from foundations and other nonprofits
GrantmakerDescriptionAmount
Joan N and Norman Bluestone FoundationDonation for Construction of Additional Building for the Benefits of the General Public$1,620,000
Max and Selma Kupferberg Family FoundationEducation Center Project$50,000
City Parks Foundation (CPF)Maintain, Program and Activate Nyc Open Spaces$40,000
...and 22 more grants received totalling $1,901,292

Personnel at Queens Botanical Garden Society

NameTitleCompensation
Evie HantzopoulosExecutive Director$136,921
Olivia CothrenDirector of Development$107,842
Rebecca Wolf InterimPast Executive Director$99,601
Raymond D JasenBoard Chair / Trustee$0
Li LiSecretary / Trustee$0
...and 14 more key personnel

Financials for Queens Botanical Garden Society

RevenuesFYE 06/2023
Total grants, contributions, etc.$12,277,657
Program services$1,143,974
Investment income and dividends$19,744
Tax-exempt bond proceeds$0
Royalty revenue$0
Net rental income$0
Net gain from sale of non-inventory assets$0
Net income from fundraising events$0
Net income from gaming activities$0
Net income from sales of inventory$77,157
Miscellaneous revenues$222,070
Total revenues$13,740,602

Form 990s for Queens Botanical Garden Society

Fiscal year endingDate received by IRSFormPDF link
2023-062024-05-14990View PDF
2022-062023-05-11990View PDF
2021-062022-05-16990View PDF
2020-062021-05-25990View PDF
2019-062020-11-13990View PDF
...and 9 more Form 990s
Data update history
October 20, 2024
Received grants
Identified 10 new grant, including a grant for $50,000 from Max and Selma Kupferberg Family Foundation
August 12, 2024
Posted financials
Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2023
August 4, 2024
Updated personnel
Identified 5 new personnel
July 13, 2024
Used new vendors
Identified 1 new vendor, including
July 11, 2024
Received grants
Identified 3 new grant, including a grant for $17,669 from American Museum of Natural History
Nonprofit Types
Horticultural organizationsMuseumsCharities
Issues
EducationEnvironment
Characteristics
MembershipsPolitical advocacyFundraising eventsReceives government fundingEndowed supportCommunity engagement / volunteeringGala fundraisersTax deductible donationsAccepts online donations
General information
Address
43-50 Main St
Flushing, NY 11355
Metro area
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
County
Queens County, NY
Website URL
queensbotanical.org/ 
Phone
(718) 886-3800
Facebook page
queensbotanical 
Twitter profile
@queensbotanicl 
IRS details
EIN
11-1635083
Fiscal year end
June
Taxreturn type
Form 990
Year formed
1946
Eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions (Pub 78)
Yes
Categorization
NTEE code, primary
C41: Botanical Gardens, Arboreta, and Botanical Organizations
NAICS code, primary
7121: Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions
Parent/child status
Independent
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