Chicago Botanic Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden is one of the country’s most visited and appreciated public gardens. It offers 385 acres of world-renowned plant collections and displays that are available for visitors to enjoy 365 days a year. It adjusts its foliage, scenery, events calendar, and entire atmosphere to accommodate the changing seasons and weather to ensure a pleasant visit year-round. From trees, to flowers, to aquatics, the Chicago Botanic Garden is a preeminent center for learning and scientific research. It offers group tours, adult classes and workshops, wellness and fitness classes, student art exhibitions, family activities, private events, and more.
The Situation
In its effort to offer a “five star” experience to all guests, The Chicago Botanic Garden was in need of direction regarding implementation of its current PE and PEO systems. These systems had the potential to improve its online membership enrollment services, standardize online class registration, and offer patrons the ability to make donations online, but were not implemented efficiently.
The Solution
LTA assessed the Chicago Botanic Garden’s PE and PEO systems and advised it to recast its current project for a short period to evaluate its current processes. During that time, LTA helped define its project expectations, set clear business goals and objectives, establish project organization, define a project scope and budget, develop a detailed project work plan, and prioritize the project’s initiatives. Following the project recast, LTA helped the Chicago Botanic Garden implement its PE and PEO systems on-schedule and on-budget. The new implementation of its systems incorporates a unique collaboration of Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge and Financial Edge solutions. The new system is more efficient than ever and benefits The Chicago Botanic Garden’s long-term business needs. It now takes full advantage of the new system and operates its online membership services quickly and cost-effectively.
The Client’s Response:
“LTA was very professional, thorough, and easy to work with. They were our guide – helping us define our business goals, policies, and processes from beginning to end of our software conversion project. They showed us that a software conversion shouldn’t be feared, but should be embraced as an opportunity.”