Know where your fundraising is heading
See where today’s fundraising performance and investment choices could take you over the next five years — and explore what needs to change to build sustainable net income for your mission.
Fundraising planning, profitability and monitoring for ambitious teams.
The gap is where the real conversation starts
Your current outlook shows where your existing fundraising performance and investment choices could take you over the next five years. Compare that with your ambition.
The gap gives your team a concrete starting point for deciding what needs to change.
What Forward helps you do
Explore different ways to reach your ambition. For example:
1. Acquire more or better donors
See how acquisition volume and donor quality affect future results.
2. Improve retention
Explore what happens when more donors stay for longer.
3. Increase donor value
See what higher gifts, upgrades and additional donations could deliver over time.
4. Change your fundraising mix
Explore how diversification could strengthen your programme.
Test individual changes or combine them into scenarios. See the effect on donor numbers, income, investment and net income over five years.
Explore Long Term Planning →
5. Invest differently
Compare what additional or redirected investment could deliver for your mission.
Built for ambitious fundraising teams
Forward is used by fundraising teams that want to look beyond the annual budget and make better long-term decisions about income growth, investment and profitability.
“Forward forces you to ask the tough questions every fundraiser needs to ask about their programmes and their profitability.”
Eva van der Zee, Fundraising & Engagement Director - Greenpeace Netherlands
Long term planning - plan beyond next year
Annual budgets tell you what you plan to do next year. Forward helps you understand where those choices are taking your fundraising over the next five years.
Build a baseline from your current fundraising portfolio and assumptions. Compare that with your ambition, then test different scenarios for acquisition, retention, gift value, diversification and investment.
This gives you a clearer view of what needs to change, what it may cost and what kind of growth is realistically achievable over time.
With Forward you can:
build a five-year fundraising baseline;
make key assumptions explicit;
compare your current trajectory with your ambition;
test alternative growth and investment scenarios;
understand the long-term consequences of today’s choices.
Explore Long Term Planning →
Profitability - understand long-term returns
Fundraising growth is not only about raising more income. It also matters what it costs to generate that income, how long it takes to earn back the investment and how much value donors create over time.
Forward brings income and investment together, so you can compare the long-term profitability of different fundraising choices.
It helps you look beyond individual metrics such as CPA or short-term ROI and understand the bigger picture: donor value, net income, payback, ROI and LTV over several years.
With Forward you can:
compare income and investment over time;
calculate net income, ROI and LTV;
assess the profitability of different donor segments and activities;
understand payback periods;
compare the financial impact of alternative investment scenarios.
Explore Profitability →
Monitoring - learn and adjust
A long-term plan only remains useful if you keep updating it as reality changes.
Forward helps you compare actual performance with your plan, understand which fundraising drivers are changing and update your forecast throughout the year.
By combining actuals with your latest forecast, Forward creates an updated view of where your fundraising is now heading.
With Forward you can:
compare plan and actual performance;
monitor the drivers behind the results;
update your forecast during the year;
create a Latest Estimate;
see how current performance changes your longer-term trajectory;
adjust plans and investment decisions when needed.
Explore Monitoring →
USER CASE: Leprastichting
Forward helps fundraising teams bring long-term ambition, investment and performance together in one planning process.
For Leprastichting, this means looking beyond annual targets and understanding how choices around acquisition, donor development and investment affect future income and profitability.
By making assumptions explicit and comparing different scenarios, Forward provides a stronger basis for planning, investment decisions and ongoing monitoring.
Build the fundraising programme you want to have five years from now
Forward helps you look beyond next year, understand the long-term consequences of today’s choices and make better decisions about growth, investment and profitability.
Bring ambition, planning and performance together, and keep adjusting as reality changes.