Lessons from our gardens: A case study of Royal Roads University’s annual community giving appeal

In 2021, the Advancement team at Royal Roads University (RRU) launched an annual giving direct mail appeal called Vision in Bloom, fundraising for projects within the century-old Hatley Park gardens that will help tackle food insecurity, act on reconciliation, establish community spaces and create biodiversity. This paper will provide insights from their learnings and recommendations to help fundraisers look beyond the bottom line and identify additional markers of success through the importance of crossdepartmental collaboration, donor engagement and iterative fundraising approaches, all of which have contributed to the appeal’s success in raising funds and deepening community engagement. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.