A decade ago, the concept of customer relationship management (CRM ) remained just that – a figment tossed about now and then to be buried later, but over the past five years at least, it has come into its own, and what was once merely a buzzword, has gained tremendous status with a large cross section of industry lapping up what it has to offer.

Like its other counterparts across the world striving to push themselves higher with CRM solutions, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), U.K.’s foremost gardening charity that is helping and inspiring millions of people to garden, has implemented a CRM solution from Blackbaud to meet its 2013 strategic objectives.

“Our strategic objectives are dependent on us understanding and interacting with our members and visitors more effectively,” said Dan Wolfe, director of members, art & media at the RHS.

Blackbaud CRM is a multi-channel, secure and scalable platform that reportedly combines membership, fundraising, online applications, actionable prospect research and analytics as well as multichannel direct marketing. This allows the RHS to make better use of the data it holds on its more than 400,000 members.

A thorough review of RHS’ existing CRM solution revealed that rather than helping the society understand and interact with its members and visitors, it was actually preventing effective and consistent communication.

As the RHS was dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening, it was keen that it should be viewed and trusted as the charity for all gardeners. This was possible only with an integrated CRM. Blackbaud’s solution fit the bill.

RHS was attracted by the company’s sector expertise, the flexibility, its functionality and the ability to use it across its more than 600-person staff. By implementing Blackbaud’s CRM, the horticultural society would be positioned to have a 360 degree view of its members and the activities that they were involved in.

Viewing the CRM solution as integral to its ongoing growth and development, the RHS also plans to streamline its operations by using Blackbaud CRM to replace a number of other systems as well as the legacy CRM databases.

Recently, Blackbaud announced that it was now offering Standing Room Only4 (SRO4), a Web-delivered ticketing solution by TopTix, designed to help performing arts organizations enhance the customer experience and optimize ticketing operations.