Butler, Elizabeth2007-12-102007-12-101998http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/2977A public garden is an institution using living plant collections for public service through botany and horticulture having a diversity of forms, functions, purposes, services, and programs (Lighty, 1982). Every public garden must secure funding to cover annual operating expenses; therefore, the successful solicitation of these funds is important to the continued existence and growth of a garden. This research focuses on four factors that have an effect on the successful solicitation of operating revenue in public gardens. These factors are: age (date of incorporation), membership activity, board involvement, and collaboration. Telephone interviews were conducted with twenty-six gardens responsible for raising over seventy percent of their annual operating budget from non-governmental sources. Some of these gardens mirror trends found in other nonprofit organizations, while others define new relationships. After activity levels were determined for each factor, the results were tabulated statistically to define relationships among factors. The gardens that have similar qualities are grouped together. Group and outlier analyses have been developed and included in the results. Relationships between the following factors emerged from chi-square contingency table comparisons: age and the percent membership dues contribute to the operating budget; collaboration and the percent membership dues contribute to the operating budget; age and the percent individual donations contribute to the operating budget; and collaboration and the percent individual donations contribute to the operating budget.Note: Except for the faculty signature page, which was not digitized, the entire thesis was scanned as formatted by the author.en-USFinancial managementSponsorshipFundraisingPhilanthropyFundingThesis