Case Study: Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve achieves operational efficiency and increased online sales with Blackbaud Altru

Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve - Customer Case Study

Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve is a 105-acre public garden and nature preserve along the St. Joseph River that offers trails, exhibits, classes, a conservatory, and cultural programming to more than 2,500 members. The organization struggled with an antiquated advancement system (DonorPerfect) that couldn’t meet its needs for modern membership, event, retail, and donor management.

After migrating to Altru, Fernwood centralized gift shop sales, online event registration, membership processing, group sales, and donor data—giving staff a 360-degree view of operations and easy access to support. The change delivered faster front-desk transactions and online convenience, time savings through real-time reporting, increased group sales and member retention, reduced paper use via emailed receipts, and better-targeted outreach and volunteer engagement.

Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve

Barb Dinger

Visitor Services Manager