88/ 100
WarmTier 2Enriched
Roger Williams Park Zoo
A city-owned, nonprofit-managed, AZA-accredited zoo and ticketed visitor attraction in Providence, Rhode Island.
Research snapshot2026-08-2116 cited sources · 4/6 modules complete Open PDF Report
ICP score88/1002026-08-21 · Evidence-weighted CTM score
Owned annual attendance claim~800KCurrent public page · First-party standing claim; reporting period not stated
FY2024 operator revenue$13.65MFY2024 · Rhode Island Zoological Society revenue
Live openings52026-08-21 · Visible on the official careers page
Visual evidence profile
What supports the opportunity
Source composition and verified operating momentum at a glance.
Evidence mix16 cited sources
Six-segment module readiness strip
Verified growth trendOperator total revenue
Revenue declined 1.97% in FY2023 and 10.30% in FY2024, ending 12.07% below FY2022.
Visual intelligence map
Research coverage
Each branch maps directly to a required module in the plugin’s canonical report schema.
Why this lead fits CTM
The lead scores 4.4 of 5.0 on CTM criteria: visitor fit, campaign readiness, buyer access, active triggers, and measurable ticket actions are strong; exact CTM inventory and an approved marketing budget remain material unknowns.
Fit reasons
The zoo is a ticketed attraction serving a large in-market audience with a direct online purchase path.
A 2026 immersive exhibit, seasonal offers, and a planned 2027 elephant transition create timely campaign narratives.
Official pages name both the marketing director and a corporate sponsorship manager, creating a credible buyer route.
Risks and unknowns
FY2024 operator expenses exceeded revenue by $892,797, which may increase scrutiny of discretionary channel spend.
CTM public pages do not prove an available Providence package, so geography fit is intentionally below full points.
Evidence modules
Lead intelligence structure
Each module uses a view tailored to its canonical evidence type—reports, momentum, channels, leaders, roles, or demand.
01Analyzed reportsThe official report hub and FY2022-FY2024 nonprofit filings establish governance, financial scale, revenue mix, and a current deficit; the linked 2025 impact report could not be opened in the approved Chrome surface, so no claims from its contents are published.Partial
Reported Performance4 verified metrics
FY2024 revenue$13.65MFY2024
FY2024 expenses$14.54MFY2024
FY2024 net income-$0.89MFY2024
FY2024 net assets$11.58MFY2024
Reviewed Reports1 records
IRS nonprofit filings · FY2022-FY2024Rhode Island Zoological Society Form 990 series
Operator-level nonprofit filings covering revenue, expenses, net assets, revenue mix, and named officers; values are not presented as zoo-owned municipal accounts.
Operator revenue was $15.52M in FY2022, $15.22M in FY2023, and $13.65M in FY2024.
Program-service revenue rose from $5.29M in FY2022 to $6.00M in FY2023 before easing to $5.65M in FY2024.
Contributions fell from $5.73M in FY2022 to $4.52M in FY2023 and $4.19M in FY2024.
Additional Evidence3 items
Additional Signals
The operator combines admissions and concessions with education, conservation, fundraising, and membership activity; the filing does not isolate paid visitor-acquisition spend.
These are operator-level nonprofit figures and should not be described as City of Providence zoo accounts or an available media budget.
Research Boundaries
The official hub lists 2023-2025 impact reports, but the Issuu-hosted 2025 document was not accessible in the approved browser session; its contents were not used.
02Growth signalsGrowth is commercially active but financially mixed: operator revenue and contributions declined across FY2022-FY2024, expenses rose, and FY2024 moved into deficit, while program-service revenue remained above FY2022 and 2026 added a separately ticketed immersive exhibit.Complete
A Bug's World opened April 11, 2026 as a separate-admission experience with two sensory mornings and two family nights.
The zoo planned two summers of elephant-focused programming before its herd moves in late 2027.
Half-price winter admission and a food-donation free day show active off-season demand stimulation.
Treat the 2026 exhibit and off-season offers as concrete creative hooks, while keeping any pilot small enough to answer attribution and cost questions under current financial pressure.
Additional Evidence2 items
Additional Signals
The FY2024 deficit and three-year revenue decline may constrain discretionary acquisition spend.
Research Boundaries
No comparable annual attendance series or campaign conversion data was published in the checked sources.
03Social activityThe official brand has meaningful public reach: Instagram displayed 101K followers and YouTube displayed 2.95K subscribers, while six recent YouTube uploads showed an active mix of ticketed-experience creative, animal stories, and event promotion; platform-level conversion data is unavailable.Partial
Additional Evidence2 items
Additional Signals
Visible campaign creative included A Bug's World, Escape the Indoors, and Tiny Explorer.
Research Boundaries
Follower and view counts are point-in-time observations; Instagram post dates and engagement were not fully exposed, and no platform analytics or conversion attribution was available.
04C-suite activityCurrent public leadership is clear: Stacey Johnson leads the zoo and operator; Shareen Knowlton owns strategy and engagement; Vicki Scharfberg owns marketing and PR. Johnson has publicly fronted both off-season access and a long-horizon animal-care transition.Complete
Executive Director, RI Zoological Society and Roger Williams Park ZooStacey Johnson
Lead with a bounded, measurable arrival-stage test tied to current seasonal experiences and visitor access, not a generic print pitch.
Chief Strategy & Engagement OfficerShareen Knowlton
Frame the pilot as a visitor-engagement experiment with explicit geographic and measurement boundaries.
Director of Marketing & PRVicki Scharfberg
Use the 2026 exhibit and off-season offer calendar to test in-market discovery with route-specific QR and UTM actions.
Decision PathPublic buying signals
Public activity emphasizes accessible year-round visitation, animal welfare, community engagement, and long-range transition planning.
Executive sponsor for a visitor-acquisition pilot that affects budget, brand, or cross-functional operations.
The official role title assigns strategy and engagement responsibility.
Additional Evidence4 items
Additional Signals
Likely cross-functional evaluator for strategic fit and audience engagement; public procurement authority is not established.
The official role and press route assign marketing, public-relations, and campaign-communications responsibility.
Best initial buyer route for media mix, creative, timing, and campaign measurement.
Research Boundaries
Role ownership is current to the official page snapshot; no public source established tenure start dates or purchasing authority.
05Hiring activityFive official openings were visible across events, finance, facilities, education, and visitor operations, indicating broad operating demand rather than a dedicated marketing expansion.Complete
5Visible RolesPublic openings connected to this lead
Events · Providence, RIEvent Support Staff
Event delivery demand is visible in this opening.
Finance · Providence, RIAccounts Payable and Payroll Associate (part-time)
Finance operations demand is visible in this opening.
Facilities · Providence, RIPlumbing and HVAC Technician Assistant
Facilities capacity demand is visible in this opening.
Education · Providence, RIPreschool Director
Education programming demand is visible in this opening.
Visitor operations · Providence, RISpecial Events Parking Lot Attendant
Event operations demand is visible in this opening.
Three of five roles directly support events, education, or visitor flow, consistent with maintaining a busy public-program calendar.
No marketing or sales opening was visible on the checked page.
Additional Evidence1 items
Research Boundaries
Posting dates were not shown on the careers page; file paths indicate June-August 2026 but are not treated as formal posting dates. The page must be rechecked within 14 days of outreach.
06Visitor activityOwned pages establish substantial attraction scale and direct reach, while statewide tourism reached a record 29.4M visitors in 2024. The statewide figure is a market proxy and is never presented as zoo footfall.Complete
Demand & DistributionOwned metrics remain distinct from market proxies
Approximate annual zoo attendance~800KCurrent public page; exact year not stated · Owned first-party standing claim
Annual attendance threshold>700KCurrent sponsorship page; exact year not stated · Owned first-party threshold corroborating scale, not a separate additive count
Member households>20KCurrent sponsorship page · Owned membership base
Newsletter subscribers>360KCurrent sponsorship page · Owned addressable audience; not visitation
Rhode Island visitor volume29.4M2024 · Market proxy - not owned zoo footfall
The zoo used January-February 2026 half-price admission after a December free day, showing an explicit off-season demand strategy.
A Bug's World launched in spring 2026 and added summer family and sensory dates.
The zoo says visitors come from across Rhode Island and around the world, but no origin shares were published.
Rhode Island visitor volume reached 29.4M in 2024, up 3.7%, providing a growing in-market pool; this is a statewide proxy, not zoo attendance.
Additional Evidence3 items
Additional Signals
The zoo exposes online tickets, add-on exhibit admission, memberships, and event-specific actions suitable for route-level UTM or QR measurement.
Research Boundaries
Owned attendance claims lack a stated reporting year and methodology; do not calculate attendance growth from them.
Statewide visitor volume cannot be attributed to the zoo or to any CTM campaign.
A Providence-area visitor-discovery pilot can use A Bug's World, year-round family visits, or 2027 elephant programming as the offer, provided operations confirms inventory and the zoo confirms campaign ownership, budget, and baseline analytics.
Recommended solution
Evaluate a bounded brochure or visitor-information distribution test with a route-specific landing page; layer digital screens only where current inventory is confirmed.
Pilot hypothesis
Contextual exposure in Providence and gateway visitor environments may increase qualified discovery and ticket sessions for a time-bound zoo offer.
Measurement plan
Create corridor-specific QR codes and UTMs; measure scans, qualified sessions, ticket starts, completed purchases, and add-on attach rate where analytics access permits.
Track placed quantity and replenishment by route alongside digital actions; compare against a pre-pilot and holdout baseline.