Naples Botanical Garden's mission is to connect all people with plants, and we are starting in our own community. We want our visitation to better reflect the demographics of the community, and we have identified audience diversification as a primary goal. During the pandemic, the Garden shifted focus to local audiences and implemented new initiatives that mitigated previous access barriers. We positioned ourselves as a resource for families looking for self-guided nature-based education in both English and Spanish, as well as a place for all to safely explore the outdoors. Outreach efforts included a resident discount, as well as a community appreciation campaign to allow for free Garden admission for essential workers and their families. Initial data from these efforts show a dramatic shift in visitors with children in the household, average age, and ethnicity. We are also capturing more visitor contact information due to timed ticketing, ensuring that we can continue communication with these new visitors and move to diversifying our membership base as a result. We know plants are vital to all life on Earth; these audience diversification efforts have brought the Garden to a new frontier in expanding access, understanding, and opportunity.

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