88/ 100
HotTier 2 - attractions and bookable visitor experiencesEnriched
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
A 501(c)(3), AZA-accredited, ticketed zoo operating a 135-plus-acre campus in Baltimore's Druid Hill Park, with statewide public support, year-round programming, and a long-range campus master plan.
Research snapshot2026-08-2118 cited sources · 4/6 modules complete Open PDF Report
CTM qualification score88/1002026-08-21 · Recalibrated from live evidence; not inherited from the prior draft.
FY2025 operating revenue$19.96MFY2025 · Annual-report operating view; distinct from Form 990 total revenue.
FY2025 net capital support$14.77MFY2025 · Supports capacity for a multi-year campus transformation.
Visible zoo-operated openings122026-08-21 · Point-in-time ATS count; third-party food and retail roles excluded.
YouTube subscribers8.89K2026-08-21 · Public official-channel snapshot.
Field-trip students70KFY2025 · Owned education participation, not total zoo attendance.
Visual evidence profile
What supports the opportunity
Source composition and verified operating momentum at a glance.
Evidence mix18 cited sources
Six-segment module readiness strip
Verified growth trendOperating revenues plus other
Operating revenue increased about 3.4% year over year.
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
Strong visitor-market fit, a live ticket CTA, current campaign triggers, demonstrated operating scale, and sophisticated marketing requirements justify hot-lead status; exact CTM inventory and the marketing-owner transition remain material gates.
Fit reasons
The zoo sells a visitable, ticketed, time-sensitive experience in a major Mid-Atlantic gateway market.
The June 2026 habitat opening and year-long sesquicentennial create a verified, immediate campaign window.
The marketing-role brief explicitly calls for omni-channel paid media, visitation and revenue growth, KPI reporting, and campaign optimization, which aligns with a measurable CTM pilot discussion.
Risks and unknowns
A marketing leadership vacancy may slow buying decisions or change channel ownership.
Public funding and contributed income are important to the operating model, so procurement, restricted funding, and board visibility may shape approval.
CTM market availability and current-customer suppression must be confirmed before outreach.
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 FY2025 and FY2024 annual reports, FY2025 IRS filing reconstruction, 2022 master plan, and current project pages provide a well-supported view of finances, education, conservation, visitor experience, capital investment, and governance.Complete
Reported Performance19 verified metrics
Operating revenues plus other$19.96MFY2025
Net capital support$14.77MFY2025
Net admissions$3.80MFY2025
Individual memberships$2.10MFY2025
Operating expenses before depreciation$19.60MFY2025
Field-trip students70KFY2025 · In-person and virtual; not total attendance.
Reviewed Reports4 records
annual report · FY2025 (July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025)Annual Report - Fiscal Year 2025
The report combines guest-experience investments, conservation and education outputs, operating financials, and future campus priorities.
annual report · FY2024Annual Report - Fiscal Year 2024
The prior-year report supplies consistent operating-revenue, admissions, capital-support, student, and volunteer baselines.
IRS Form 990 filing reconstruction · FY2025Form 990 - Fiscal Year Ending June 2025
The reconstructed filing provides regulator-origin total revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, net assets, and officer information for the legal nonprofit.
The zoo refurbished Main Gate parking and wayfinding, installed smart lighting and stormwater controls, and continued campus-wide infrastructure work.
Planning and fundraising were underway for a gibbon habitat, raptor flyway, and the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Plaza with concessions, rental and performance space, water features, and winter ice skating.
The report recorded more than 1,500 keeper chats, 70,000 field-trip students, 31,390 volunteer hours, and $855,000 in State Aided Institutions funding supporting free or reduced admission for more than 65,600 guests.
Additional Evidence26 items
Additional Metrics
Volunteer hours31,390FY2025
Keeper chats1,500+FY2025
Operating revenues plus other$19.30MFY2024
Net capital support$11.48MFY2024
Net admissions$3.16MFY2024
Operating expenses before depreciation$18.44MFY2024
Field-trip students76KFY2024
Volunteer hours23,771FY2024
Form 990 revenue$24.96MFY2025
Form 990 expenses$21.65MFY2025
Net assets$76.72MFY2025
Contributions$16.30MFY2025
Program services$7.77MFY2025
Additional Records
strategic master plan · 2022-2032 directionMaryland Zoo Master Plan
The plan sets a decade-long guest, animal-care, conservation, sustainability, workforce, and campus redevelopment direction.
Additional Signals
Reimagine the guest arrival and Main Valley experience while improving accessibility and sustainability.
Pair capital projects with fundraising and marketing strategies on a project-by-project schedule.
The report does not publish a total annual attendance number, limiting direct footfall trend analysis.
FY2024 reported 76,000 field-trip students, 23,771 volunteer hours, and a redesigned parking-lot arrival experience.
Advance the red-panda and gibbon habitats while improving arrival, access, and sustainability infrastructure.
FY2025 Form 990 revenue was $24.96 million, expenses were $21.65 million, and net assets were $76.72 million.
Contributions represented 65.3% of total revenue and program services represented 31.1%.
Annual-report operating revenue and Form 990 total revenue use different scopes and should not be combined as one series.
The plan calls for new exhibits and species, accessible guest experiences, improved staff and event spaces, expanded conservation partnerships, and sustainability milestones.
Fund projects individually using a public-private model involving state, city, counties, foundations, and private donors.
The public plan does not provide a complete current project budget or verified delivery schedule for every proposed element.
Research Boundaries
No audited financial statements were located in the checked official publication archive; annual-report figures and the Form 990 are presented with their distinct accounting scopes.
02Growth signalsComparable annual-report lines show higher operating revenue, admissions, memberships, capital support, and volunteer engagement in FY2025, while field-trip participation decreased. Form 990 revenue fell from the FY2024 high, but net assets continued to grow.Complete
The red-panda habitat moved from permits and construction in 2025 to an official June 2026 opening.
The official 2025 year-in-review documented a full monthly cadence of animal, conservation, partnership, and habitat-construction stories leading into the anniversary year.
A 150th-anniversary campaign and upcoming Main Valley projects create multiple reasons to refresh visitor creative and distribution.
Hiring spans guest services, event operations, animal care, facilities, security, business administration, and advertising/digital media.
Additional Evidence4 items
Additional Signals
Near-term visitation marketing can center on the open red-panda habitat and anniversary programming; the longer opportunity is a sequence of Main Valley activations rather than a one-off launch.
The Director of Advertising and Digital Media vacancy creates uncertainty around campaign ownership during a high-activity year.
Total Form 990 revenue declined from FY2024 even as net assets grew, so budget availability should be confirmed rather than inferred from asset scale.
Research Boundaries
Growth calculations use only comparable lines within the same source family; annual-report operating values are not merged with Form 990 totals.
03Social activityThe official site links six brand channels. YouTube provided a public, quantifiable snapshot with active recent uploads and a large paid-campaign view signal; Instagram was opened in Chrome but did not expose a usable public metric or post sample in the session.Partial
Additional Evidence1 items
Research Boundaries
Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and TikTok were verified as official outbound links but not sampled for follower, cadence, or engagement metrics; no login wall was bypassed.
04C-suite activityPresident and CEO J. Kirby Fowler, Jr. is confirmed by the FY2025 report, board page, filing, and current anniversary communications. His public messages emphasize guest-experience reinvestment, Main Valley transformation, conservation, and year-round destination value.Partial
President & CEOJ. Kirby Fowler, Jr.
Lead with a bounded anniversary and new-habitat visitor-discovery pilot that complements the zoo's existing paid and owned media, with no booking or footfall guarantee.
Decision PathPublic buying signals
No executive change was verified; however, the live Director of Advertising and Digital Media vacancy is a material functional leadership gap below the C-suite.
Reimagine Main Valley, improve the full guest journey, and connect capital renewal to conservation and anniversary storytelling.
Likely executive sponsor for a larger visitor-acquisition or multi-channel pilot; day-to-day channel design should sit with the senior marketing owner.
Additional Evidence1 items
Research Boundaries
No current public executive-team directory or verified current marketing-leader name was found; the official board page and latest filing were used to confirm governance and the CEO.
05Hiring activityTwelve zoo-operated openings were visible on the official ATS. The mix signals active staffing for guest operations, events, facilities, animal care, administration, security, and digital advertising.Complete
12Visible RolesPublic openings connected to this lead
Marketing and Communications · Baltimore, MarylandDirector of Advertising and Digital Media
Owns advertising, social, website, email, media buys, optimization, visitation and revenue campaigns, and post-campaign reporting; listed salary was $75,000-$80,000.
Guest Services and Events · Baltimore, MarylandGuest Services Event Operations Manager
Supports an active events and guest-experience operating model.
Guest Services · Baltimore, MarylandGuest Services Agent - Sales Associate
Visible public opening.
Administration · Baltimore, MarylandBusiness Administrator
Visible public opening.
Animal Facilities · Baltimore, MarylandExhibits Specialist
Visible public opening.
Visitor-facing operations and events are expanding or replenishing during the anniversary year.
The marketing vacancy is directly relevant to CTM because it owns campaign planning, media buying, visitation growth, and ROI analysis.
Animal-care and facilities openings align with the capital and habitat renewal described in the master plan and annual report.
Additional Evidence8 items
Additional Records
Animal Programs · Baltimore, MarylandArea Manager - Penguin Coast/Africa Barn
Visible public opening.
Animal Programs · Baltimore, MarylandAnimal Keeper 1 - Penguin Coast/Africa Barn
Visible public opening.
Animal Programs · Baltimore, MarylandAnimal Keeper 1 - African Watering Hole
Visible public opening.
Animal Programs · Baltimore, MarylandCommissary Keeper
Visible public opening.
Guest Services and Facilities · Baltimore, MarylandCustodial Driver/Facilities Operator
Visible public opening.
Security · Baltimore, MarylandSecurity Officer - Evening Shift
Visible public opening.
Security · Baltimore, MarylandSecurity Officer - Part-Time
Visible public opening.
Research Boundaries
The ATS did not expose posting dates for the visible listings; the count is point-in-time and should be refreshed within 14 days of any outreach decision.
06Visitor activityOwned evidence shows strong ticketing and education activity, rising admissions revenue, and a full-year event calendar, but no total attendance figure. BWI record traffic is presented only as a Baltimore-region gateway proxy, never as zoo footfall.Complete
Demand & DistributionOwned metrics remain distinct from market proxies
Field-trip participation70KFY2025 · In-person and virtual education participation; not total zoo attendance.
Net admissions revenue$3.80MFY2025 · Owned earned-revenue signal; not a visitor count.
Events revenue$1.47MFY2025 · Owned event-demand signal; not a visitor count.
BWI monthly passengers2.67MJuly 2024 · Market proxy - not owned footfall. Record month, up 8.4% year over year.
General admission price$332026-08-21 · Live bookable visit path and a direct conversion surface.
Regular season runs daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., from March through December; winter operations run Friday through Monday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., in January and February.
Anniversary activity spans the full year, with milestone events, new-habitat activation, gala programming, storytelling, and history content.
The checked public sources did not publish a current zoo-specific visitor-origin breakdown. BWI confirms large gateway traffic but does not identify who visits the zoo.
The FY2025 report highlights a rebuilt arrival experience with improved wayfinding, ADA parking, covered bicycle parking, lighting, and stormwater infrastructure.
Additional Evidence3 items
Additional Signals
BWI's July 2024 record of 2.67 million passengers and nearly 300 daily nonstop departures to about 90 destinations indicates a large regional arrival stream; it is a market proxy only.
CTM's public services include brochure distribution in hotels, attractions, visitor centers, airports, and transportation corridors, subject to exact-market inventory confirmation.
Research Boundaries
No current total zoo attendance, visitor-origin mix, conversion rate, or existing out-of-home baseline was published in the checked sources.
The strongest CTM opportunity is arrival-stage amplification for the open red-panda habitat and 150th-anniversary programming, using nearby visitor environments to move active travelers and locals toward a trackable zoo visit.
Recommended solution
Recommend a bounded print-plus-digital Baltimore gateway pilot with habitat-led creative, anniversary/event variants, and visitor-ready rack cards or maps; final geography, screens, host sectors, and cadence require CTM operations confirmation.
Pilot hypothesis
If the zoo presents a distinct red-panda/150th proposition in high-intent Baltimore visitor environments, then trackable ticket-page sessions and offer interactions should rise among exposed markets without replacing the zoo's existing paid social and search.
Measurement plan
Use a dedicated landing URL and QR code with UTM parameters by placement group; measure scans, landing sessions, ticket-starts, and completed purchases where the zoo's analytics allow.
Run a time-bounded placement test with a pre-period baseline and matched geography or host-sector comparison; report distribution quantities separately from digital impressions and downstream conversions.
Create at least two visitor-ready messages - the new red-panda habitat and anniversary/event discovery - and compare action rates rather than claiming guaranteed attendance.