EIN 25-1648405

Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

IRS 501(c) type
501(c)(3)
Num. employees
54
Year formed
1991
Most recent tax filings
2022-12-01
Description
Pittsburgh Botanic Garden values plants and nature, cultivating plant collections, maintaining a habitat for native flora and fauna, and conducting educational programs.
Also known as...
Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania
Total revenues
$3,305,605
2022
Total expenses
$3,186,554
2022
Total assets
$22,198,703
2022
Num. employees
54
2022

Program areas at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

Visitor Experience: Through its facilities, gardens and woodlands, and programs, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden strives to increase the number of individuals exposed to the natural beauty of the Allegheny Plateau region. The Garden's mission is grounded in the belief that connecting with plants is fundamentally important to the emotional and physical well-being of all people.Since opening to the public in 2015, nearly 300,000 individuals have visited the garden to explore, learn or celebrate a milestone. This visitation has increased year over year, with approximately 78,000 in 2022. In addition to visitation, membership also has grown steadily with over 3,000 households at the end of 2022.As an outdoor public garden, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden offers gardens and woodlands for all to connect to plants while exploring the native habitats of the Allegheny Plateau ecoregion. Highlights for visitors include these garden features: Garden of the Five Senses - This garden encourages children of all ages and abilities to touch, hear, smell, taste and see the natural world around them. Filled with hands-on activities for exploration, this is the garden for families to learn and connect with nature. You also will find the Discovery Cart, filled with constantly changing artifacts to spark curiosity in young minds. The Weisbrod Learning Pavilion provides an outdoor space for school field trips and drop-in programs for visitors.Hillside Pollinator Garden - Colorful, all-season blooms invite you and pollinators to visit this gently sloping hillside. The swaths of cultivars of native perennials burst each season to take center stage. Stroll along or take a moment on GB's Overlook to view a pollinator at work. Exhibit Garden - On October 1, 2021, Carbon Cycle: An Earth Art Exhibit opened as the first exhibit featured in the new garden area. Carbon Cycle is an immersive experience for guests as they walk a serpentine path to find the artist Gary Smith's piece made of materials of the site.During 2021, the Garden opened its new Welcome Center. This 7,500-square-foot facility greets visitors entering the gardens and woodlands and transports them to a place of exploration, wonder, and learning. The Welcome Center is home to the Welcome Desk, Forage & Finds, Canopy Cafe, Peirce Education Rooms and Courtyard Garden, the Zappala Woodland Room and its Art Gallery, featuring local artists year-round.
Education: With education a cornerstone of its mission, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is able to use its restoration of former coal mining land as a living laboratory for adults and children to engage in environmental stewardship and develop a conservation mindset.Exposure to nature in a beautiful and safe environment through guidance of mentors helps foster connection with the natural world. In an era of increased time spent indoors, children and young adults need an opportunity to connect with nature for their personal growth and to develop the stewardship behaviors that will contribute to a healthier, more sustainable and just future.The education programming at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is a mix of formal classes and self-discovery opportunities throughout the gardens and woodlands. Adult classes and workshops are held on a wide range of topics for beginner and experienced gardeners as well as ways to connect to plants in a variety of ways, such as through photography and art programs. Children and families learn together while exploring the gardens and woodlands through self-discovery and the assistance of interpretive signage or a stop by the Discovery Cart. The Garden education team partners with regional school districts to host curriculum-based field trips. Students are exposed to Science Technology Engineering Agriculture/Art and Mathematics (STEAM) in a unique environment that cannot be duplicated in a classroom.
Horticulture: Pittsburgh Botanic Garden inspires people to value plants, garden design and the natural world by cultivating plant collections of the Allegheny Plateau and temperate regions, creating display gardens, conducting educational programs and conserving the environment. The Garden is a qualified caretaker of 460 acres of southwest Pennsylvania's land and water. Dedicated staff and volunteers create and maintain this space as a habitat for native flora and fauna. In addition to ongoing conservation efforts such as mitigating acid mine drainage and reforestation projects, the Garden provides 65 acres of cultivated gardens and woodlands for the public to connect to plants. Through this innate experience: young minds are engaged, gardeners are inspired, and all visitors find a sense of calm.Central to the story of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is the poor condition of the site upon which it is being built. Left in a deplorable state following coal extraction throughout the first half of the 20th Century, the land was unfit for most uses and even dangerous in spots. Further damage was caused by flooding of the mines beneath the surface in 2004, which exposed a severe acid mine drainage problem. The land and water are being reclaimed and repaired. Abandoned mine features, invasive species and poor site conditions are being replaced by educational gardens, reconstructed woodlands, and lovely views. The Garden is providing long-term benefits, including carbon capture, superior soil conservation and lasting habitat improvement.A few conservation highlights since beginning its land and water reclamation efforts in 2014: -15,000 native saplings were planted to reforest an abandoned mine site. The Garden collaborated with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, United States Office of Surface Mining and Plant Five for Life. -The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative provided expert advice on tree species that thrive on reclaimed soils. -The Garden's efforts are successful with more than 80 percent of the planted trees thriving. Horticulture staff and volunteers continue to tend to and monitor this future forest. -With no chemical treatments or energy inputs, and minimal maintenance, water once considered 'dead' now supports a healthy aquatic ecosystem. The Garden operates three passive, water filter systems which neutralize more than 25 million gallons of acid mine discharge each year, prior to it entering the region's watershed and then the Ohio River. -The first innovative filter system to be installed creates the Garden's Lotus Pond, a focal point of the Japanese Garden. The Garden was recognized for this system as the recipient of the 2014 Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. -The Garden's work in mitigating acid mine drainage is recognized by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining as a national model and has since been duplicated elsewhere.

Who funds Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

Grants from foundations and other nonprofits
GrantmakerDescriptionAmount
McCune FoundationGeneral Support$225,000
Allegheny FoundationCapital Support$221,000
Nimick Forbesway FoundationVisitor Safety Accessibility for the White Pine Picnic Project$40,000
...and 16 more grants received

Personnel at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

NameTitleCompensation
Robert MermelsteinChief Financial Officer$60,706
Keith S. KaiserExecutive Director$109,681
Tim KapelaFinance Director$31,110
Beth ExtonExternal Relations Director
Colleen ChorneyDirector , Events and Guest Relations
...and 21 more key personnel

Financials for Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

RevenuesFYE 12/2022
Total grants, contributions, etc.$2,242,697
Program services$238,790
Investment income and dividends$628
Tax-exempt bond proceeds$0
Royalty revenue$0
Net rental income$708,607
Net gain from sale of non-inventory assets$591
Net income from fundraising events$-28,147
Net income from gaming activities$0
Net income from sales of inventory$137,676
Miscellaneous revenues$4,763
Total revenues$3,305,605

Form 990s for Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

Fiscal year endingDate received by IRSFormPDF link
2022-122023-06-20990View PDF
2021-122022-07-06990View PDF
2020-122021-06-25990View PDF
2019-122020-11-10990View PDF
2018-122019-11-05990View PDF
...and 9 more Form 990s
Data update history
December 17, 2023
Updated personnel
Identified 2 new personnel
December 13, 2023
Updated personnel
Identified 10 new personnel
October 25, 2023
Received grants
Identified 5 new grant, including a grant for $50,000 from Hillman Family Foundations
August 19, 2023
Received grants
Identified 18 new grant, including a grant for $225,000 from McCune Foundation
August 3, 2023
Posted financials
Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2022
Nonprofit Types
Horticultural organizationsMuseumsCharities
Issues
EducationEnvironment
Characteristics
LobbyingFundraising eventsState / local levelReceives government fundingCommunity engagement / volunteeringTax deductible donations
General information
Address
799 Pinkerton Run Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15071
Metro area
Pittsburgh, PA
Website URL
pittsburghbotanicgarden.org/ 
Phone
(412) 444-4464
Twitter profile
@pbgarden 
IRS details
EIN
25-1648405
Fiscal year end
December
Taxreturn type
Form 990
Year formed
1991
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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