John Regan Associates - External funding for zoos, botanical gardens & aquaria

I have been reading Lawrence Anthony’s very interesting book on the problems faced by Bagdad Zoo in the first years of the Iraq War ”Bablyon’s Ark”.  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Babylons-Ark-Incredible-Wartime-Baghdad/dp/0312358326
Why is it that zoos in war zones attract such enormous media interest?   Obviously it is piteous to think of trapped animals being bombed, starving or being slaughtered for food in these situations.  But [...]

Dr Geoffrey Miller, writing in a professional psychology journal and reported here in The Economist,  suggested that giving to good causes (including your zoo) can be as much as about unconscious human mating rituals as true benevolence: http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9581656

The paperback of this very stimulating compendium of essays on the growing and potential role of world zoos in biodiversity is now available.  Yoy can buy from Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoos-21st-Century-Catalysts-Conservation) or direct from Cambridge University Press (http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521618588)  This work, based on the Catalysts for Conservation symposium held at ZSL in 2004, fills a much needed gap in [...]

A recent survey shows that a sunny day at the zoo remains a preferred day out for people with children, coming very closely behind the seaside.   Here are the highlights of the report with the zoo reference highlighted. family-survey.doc 
Overall the report was pretty critical of the child friendliness of the UK recreation and tourism facilities [...]

Researching and analysing prospective supporters for your zoo, botanic garden, aquarium or similar is clearly important. ‘People research’ , one to one discussions with your board members, networking, etc., is the place to start. Use of the internet and published sources must follow. Some questions to ask yourself:

In general what kind of person is likely to support [...]