Akron Zoo serves supporters more completely
by simplifying its software setup

It’s hard to imagine that the Akron Zoo, home to more than 1,000 animals, all
started with two bears in the early 1900s. Yet the zoo now delights visitors
and strives to turn them into champions of the natural world while sharing
and caring for animals from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the deep sea.
With visitation reaching record highs in 2017, leaders at the Akron Zoo sought
to upgrade their technology to better serve their members and guests. The
zoo wanted to change the way the community viewed the organization and
become more than just an attraction. To achieve this, the staff knew they
needed to get a better idea of who was coming through the doors.

A Blackbaud customer for more than 20 years, the Akron Zoo wanted to
stay with their trusted technology partner and consolidate other softwares
into a unified system by adding Blackbaud Altru, a comprehensive cloudbased solution that ties together ticketing, fundraising, and membership
management.

Blackbaud Altru was the solution they needed to get the right data to better
understand their supporters. Combined with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT®,
which they already had in place, and Blackbaud’s powerful analytic tools,
Altru would give them a clearer view of their patrons and allow them to focus
on cultivating relationships. With integrated technology, the zoo staff could
track the journey of their patrons and encourage them to take further steps
in their support of the zoo.

The timing of the shift turned out to be critical. “We launched Altru in 2019
right before COVID hit, and our entire staff is now able to use it,” Director of
Guest Services Jeannette Andreski said. “Our guests are utilizing our online
platform more than ever before to buy admission tickets, memberships, and
event tickets.”

Streamlining Arrival with Altru and XTruLink

As the Akron Zoo adapted during the pandemic, Andreski and her team were
faced with a big challenge. “We needed technology to support our growing
online sales in addition to walk-up sales and member check-ins. Visitation was
rising to pre-pandemic levels, but we were still experiencing staff shortages.”
They had done a great job in encouraging more online transactions with
the ease of Altru’s web forms but needed a solution to keep lines moving
and provide guests and members with a fast and easy way to enter the zoo.
That’s when Andreski reached out to XTruLink, a solution made just for Altru
users by Blackbaud partner SwipeTrack. “We have relied heavily on Altru and
XTruLink to bridge the gap,” Andreski explained.

XTruLink directly integrates with the zoo’s Altru database and allows them to
offer their patrons digital membership options, self-serve kiosks, and handheld check-in devices.

“Having the flexibility of XTruLink’s handheld devices allowed us to
simultaneously check in members, walk ups, and online tickets,” Andreski
said. “The connection back to Altru allows our finance office to keep live
tabs on the guest data coming in so we can make better plans for our guest
services department.”

Staff shortages with a high volume of visitors is usually a recipe for trouble at
a busy zoo, but the guest services team was able to rely heavily on Altru and
XTruLink to bridge the gap without adding new staff responsibilities. Once
everyone got on board and trained with the new solution, the impact was
immediate.

Letting the Data Do the Talking

Ultimately a positive guest experience encourages ticket buyers to become
members. With their implementation of Altru, the Akron Zoo has added more
than 2,000 new memberships, while realizing other positive changes for staff
and guests that have been enhanced by XTruLink.

The number of customer complaints about ticketing issues dropped by 75
percent, while staff time spent adding in online sales and managing the
software dropped by at least 50 percent, Andreski explained.
“We saw an immediate ROI with the ease of our ticketing from the guest
perspective with Altru over our previous point of sale provider,” Andreski said.
“But the staff component should not be overlooked because they have really
embraced the technology and removed duplication of efforts that we had
before.”

With simplified, integrated solutions, the guest services department and the
rest of the staff realized access to more data than ever before, giving them
the ability to truly understand their patrons and make sure that they are
meeting their needs. By tapping the power of Altru and XTruLink, the Akron
Zoo can analyze visitation and make more informed decisions that give all
communities a greater feeling of inclusion and a world-class experience that
starts at the front entrance.