“At Greenpeace, we started using Forward this year as our new planning, profitability, and monitoring tool, after testing it in 2023 alongside our old system.

As fundraisers in the non-profit sector in general, and myself being a senior loyalty fundraiser specifically, we are always looking for ways to better predict and optimize our fundraising programmes and outcomes. This tool has been instrumental in taking a big step forward (no pun intended) in that regard.

Forward has provided us with more insight into the long term profitability of our fundraising programmes and a better way of monitoring these programmes throughout the year(s). The different templates, calculations and reports within Forward not only give us a uniform way of working, but also create more ownership and insight for the fundraisers responsible for the different programmes and channels.

One of the most beneficial parts of Forward however, I have found, is the specific questions Forward asks you when filling in new plans. Starting with the segmentation you choose and ending with the data drivers you need to fill in, like sign-up, average gift, cost per donor combined with no-show, fulfillment and retention. The honest and comprehensive image it creates of our programs throughout the current and upcoming four years, has helped us make choices on what to upscale, downscale and where and what to focus on moving forward.

Although Reinier likes to say Forward is a big calculator, I would argue it is more than that. It forces you to ask the tough questions every fundraiser needs to ask about their programmes and their profitability. It forces you to look at your programmes in a new light and to make the hard choices you need to make, in order to step up your fundraising game and aim for better results.

Not only do we owe that to our respective non-profits and the goals we hope to obtain, but most of all we owe that to our donors.”

Reviews

Jessica de Gier - Database Marketeer, Leprastichting

“In my career, I have often contributed to various planning tools for organizations. These tools have ranged from overly complex to overly simplistic Excel documents that ultimately fail to be well-embedded within fundraising teams. This lack of integration leads to long-term planning knowledge being held by individuals and not being used or consulted in the long run.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the long-term effects of the decisions made in designing a healthy and well-founded fundraising mix, Forward is an excellent tool.

It provides a solid foundation for quickly comparing and contrasting different scenarios. The output in clear tables and graphs ensures that the overall strategy is visually clear, even for non-fundraising professionals. This is particularly useful, for example, in supporting a Board of Trustees.

Within our team, we have adopted the tool to become more data-driven, allowing fundraisers to have better control and insight into the dynamics of underlying variables. By establishing these variables together, we can collaborate on improving quality and gaining insights. This approach fosters a better understanding within the team of the holistic objectives that extend beyond a budget and long-term vision.

Furthermore, the tool compels you to know the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), prompting a reevaluation of your current reporting structure. Do you have all the necessary information at hand to monitor your programs and objectives?

Looking to the future, I hope that organizations using Forward will collaborate to learn from each other. The existence of a standardized planning tool used by multiple organizations allows for cross-learning and benchmarking at various levels within one's own organization.

Thanks Reinier for your commitment to a more data minded sector!”