More than a year has passed since many of our gardens were forced to rethink day to day operations to meet government guidelines, protect our employees, and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. One of the tools that many of us quickly adopted was a...

A successful nonprofit organization has diversified funding streams, and individual donors play an important role. If you or your organization is new to individual giving, this webinar is for you. We’ll provide you with an overview of the fundraising...

Each year, Classy announces fundraising trends to look out for in the coming year, but unforeseen events and variables in 2020 made predicting this year’s trends, without a doubt, the most difficult yet.

While the future remains uncertain,...

The Association's Finance & Operations Community holds its Annual Meeting virtually. Hosted by Community Chair Drake Fowler (Chief Business Office, North Carolina Arboretum), Vice-Chair Karen Sikkenga (Principal, Huron River Group Consulting), and...

As the philanthropy world grapples with the spread of Covid-19, nonprofit leaders must consider how they can best care for the people they serve, as well as their organizations, staff, and donors. To help leaders steer their organizations during these...

This webinar explored how we should be communicating internally and externally during the COVID-19 pandemic.  How to best communicate with our staff, members, supporters, funders, boards, and families focused on home-schooling.

 In this webinar...

In late March 2020, 324 Association member gardens responded to a survey. Survey results indicated sweeping closures that occurred suddenly and caused profound earned revenue-related losses and other economic impacts to garden business operations.

The business world needs comprehensive, credible, comparable standards to support a systems change. B Lab helps tens of thousands of businesses, investors, and institutions manage their impact with as much rigor as their profits using the B Impact...

Business model innovation has seen a recent surge in academic research and business practice. Changes to business models are recognized as a fundamental approach to realize innovations for sustainability. However, little is known about the successful...

​The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) are the first and most widely adopted global standards for sustainability reporting. Since GRI's inception in 1997, we have transformed it from a niche practice to one now adopted by a growing...

Despite all the important work accomplished by nonprofit organizations over the last hundred years, significant growth or scaled impact has remained an elusive goal for most of them. Even the most effective mission-driven organizations face the...

Beyond gift shops, wedding rentals, and one-off plant sales, every garden has unique assets that could be leveraged to achieve the institutional mission and creatively generate revenue for the organization or reduce expenses. Identifying those assets...

Public gardens, which are centers for expertise, often have concerns with earned-revenue generation and education seeing consulting income as a conflict with their mission. Our experience shows education, advocacy, and service can enhance relevance and...

Growth is vital for any organization to be successful but many institutions do not strategically plan how, why, and where they invest resources to grow strategically. Whether large or small, managing your growth is critical to make sure your garden's...

In this episode of What’s Next?, Randy and Kathleen Janus talk about social entrepreneurship and how it can be used to tackle some of society’s grandest problems. Also discussed in this episode is earned income, overhead costs, root-cause initiatives...

For the purposes of this study, we have broadly categorised the results of the activities of botanic gardens into economic, social and environmental impacts. Wherever possible, this Technical Review has highlighted case studies where impact evaluation...

Did you miss the Finance & Operations Symposium in March? A few of the symposium speakers brought their earned revenue focus presentations to the annual conference. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to learn more. 

We are living in a day and age where big data is discussed in every newspaper, trade publication, or blog we read. Public gardens need to connect more with our customers, deepen loyalty, and generate more earned revenue. But how? This 60-minute, multi-...

Bellevue Botanical Garden Society has generously provided samples of artist/performer agreements for one-time events and annual events sponsored by thier partner group (updated annually). 

The museum sector is essential to the national economy — generating GDP, stimulating jobs, and contributing taxes. These economic effects can be measured using a standard technique known as economic impact analysis. This...