For charities, foundations and university advancement · Canada and the US
Know your number. Close your gap.
December 31 decides your year. We forecast where your philanthropic revenue will land, in three scenarios, and find the donors and prospects already in your file who can close the gap before the tax-receipt deadline.
- Where will we land?Revenue Outlook, three scenarios against budget
- How do we close the gap?Annual Fund Targeting, segments and ask amounts
- Who do we ask personally?Major Gift Shortlist, briefs for each prospect
The problem
Why December gets away from good teams
Most of your year is decided in December. Most teams find out in January.
The forecast is hopeful by design
It is built by the people who will be judged on it. The direction is usually right. The size rarely is.
The gap is known, the plan is not
The shortfall shows up, and the December appeal still goes to the same list, with the same ask.
The money is already in your file
Your best December prospects are donors you have: loyal givers ready to upgrade, lapsed donors ready to return.
How it works
One engagement · three modules · ten working days
Three questions every philanthropy leader asks every day. One engagement answers all three.
01 · Revenue Outlook
Where will we land?
Conservative, expected and stretch figures for 31 December, by revenue stream, against your budget.
- Range chart and board-ready answer
- Weighted pipeline, ask codes only
- Data needed: aggregated monthly totals
02 · Annual Fund Targeting
How do we close the gap?
Your donor file in four December segments, each with its own ask: likely givers, upgrades, lapsed, light touch.
- Suggested ask amount per donor
- Expected value per segment
- Data needed: anonymized gift history
03 · Major Gift Shortlist
Who do we ask personally?
The 25 to 50 hidden major gift prospects already in your file, each labelled: ask before 31 December, or cultivate for 2027.
- One-page brief per ask-now prospect
- Capacity ranges from public sources
- Data needed: gift history plus engagement
The dashboard
Sample data · fictional charity · click a scenario
Your whole December, on one screen.
Every client gets a private dashboard alongside the report: the three scenarios, the gap and the lists that close it. It is refreshed each week to 31 December from a one-line update your team sends.
Harbourlight Food Security Network · Philanthropy dashboard
Scenario: Expected
Forecast at 31 December
$4.60M
Range $4.10M to $5.00M
Against $4.90M budget
-$300K
Short of budget
Still to raise from 1 October
$2.09M
$2.51M raised to 30 September
Days to the deadline
76
Last day for this year’s tax receipts
Outlook by stream
Share of the year raised each month
December alone brings about $1.24M in this scenario. Nothing raised after 31 December counts for this year.
Who closes the gap: December appeal
How major gifts are built
8 open asks · 18 shortlist prospects to ask by 15 December · 27 to cultivate for 2027. Total $1.54M.
Illustrative figures for a fictional organization, matching our sample report. Want it in your own tools?
Dashboard on your system
Available from January · connected to your donor database
Want it in your own tools? We build it there.
After December, the same dashboard can live inside the tools your leadership team already opens, connected to your donor database. Actual revenue updates itself. Our team keeps the forecast current.
- 1. Your donor databaseRaiser’s Edge NXT, Salesforce, Bloomerang or a scheduled export file
- 2. Secure read-only linkReads gifts and pipeline. Never writes back.
- 3. Your dashboard toolPower BI, Looker Studio or Tableau
- 4. Your leadership teamThe same screen they saw in December, now inside your systems
Three ways to have your dashboard
Start simple. Move it in-house when you are ready.
Option 1
Hosted by us
The interactive dashboard you have just seen, on a private link.
- Included with every package
- Updated by our team from your weekly update
- No licence, no IT work
Option 2
File handover
An interactive file you keep and open yourselves.
- Works offline and inside your network
- Numbers as at the date of delivery
- Good for board packs and audit trails
In your own tools
Rebuilt in Power BI, Looker Studio or Tableau and connected to your CRM.
- Live actuals, no manual updates
- Sits behind your own sign-in and permissions
- Your team owns it, we support it
What is live, and what is not
Actuals update themselves. Forecasts are refreshed by people.
Updates itself
Actual revenue and pipeline
Gifts received, revenue by stream, and pipeline stages as recorded in your database. Always the latest figures, without anyone preparing a file.
Daily or weekly, set by your tool and plan
Refreshed by our analysts
Scenarios, lists and assumptions
The three scenarios, the donor and prospect lists and the assumptions register are re-run by our team, reviewed, then published into the same screen.
Monthly or quarterly, as agreed
What keeping it live takes
A small commitment from you. The heavy lifting from us.
From your side
- A licence for your chosen toolMost organizations already have Power BI or Looker Studio.
- Read-only access to your databaseA dedicated service account, approved by your IT and privacy lead.
- A named ownerOne person who answers questions and holds the sign-in.
From our side
- Build and secure the connectionDocumented, tested and handed over with a data processing agreement.
- Keep the forecast currentScenarios and lists re-run on the schedule you choose.
- Support and fixesWhen a connector changes or a field is renamed, we repair it.
The path
From one December to a year-round view.
01
October to December
Report and hosted dashboard
Know your number, close your gap, and see it on one screen.
02
January
Dashboard on your system
Connected to your database, with live actuals for your whole leadership team.
03
Every quarter
Rolling Outlook
Refreshed scenarios and prospect lists, published into the same dashboard.
Not offered during the December engagement. We scope it with you in January, once your year-end is closed.
Built for each team
One list does not serve both
Annual fund and major gifts need different answers.
| Annual Fund Targeting | Major Gift Shortlist | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | Annual giving and development managers | VP or Director of Philanthropy, gift officers |
| Scale | Hundreds to thousands of donors | 25 to 50 named relationships |
| Output | Segments, ask amounts, appeal priorities | Individual prospect briefs and approach |
| Your December result | A stronger response to your year-end appeal | The right asks made before the deadline, and a 2027 pipeline |
Method
Always three scenarios · never a single number
From data, to information, to knowledge, to action.
AI does the reading and the heavy lifting. The numbers come from transparent models. A person challenges and signs off every result.
Data
Three years of monthly history, year to date, open pipeline and anonymized gift records.
You shareTotals and donor IDs, never names
Information
Seasonality, run-rate and giving patterns, with every open ask weighted by stage and your own close rates.
We findWhere the year is really heading
Knowledge
Sector and economic signals plus your leadership’s insight turn patterns into three December 31 scenarios.
You getA range your board can trust
Action
The donors and prospects to ask, how much to ask for, and what to do in the weeks before the deadline.
You actLists, briefs and a plan to 31 December
Your December timeline
Ten working days · about three hours of your team’s time
Start by 6 November. Ask with confidence in December.
- 14 October: book a call
- 6 November: onboarding closes
- About 20 November: report, lists and dashboard
- 25 November: appeal in the mail
- 15 December: personal asks made
- 31 December: tax-receipt deadline
Privacy
PIPEDA and Quebec Law 25 aware
We never need a donor’s name.
- Outlook: totals onlyAggregated monthly figures. No donor records at all.
- Targeting: donor IDs onlyGift history with ID numbers. You match IDs to people in your own systems.
- Public sources onlyCapacity ranges from public filings. We never buy, rent or sell lists.
- Signed and deletedA data processing agreement before any file moves. Your data is deleted after delivery.
B4A Decision Intelligence · The Year-End Forecast
Fixed fee · scaled to your size · dashboard included
Choose how far you want to go before 31 December.
Outlook, Gap Closer and Full Intelligence are the three ways to buy The Year-End Forecast, one of the products in our Decision Intelligence suite. Foundation Match is the entry step for teams not ready to share donor data. Every package is a one-off engagement. Your report, lists and hosted dashboard arrive within 10 working days, and the dashboard is refreshed every week until 31 December. Carrying on after that is optional.
Answers: where will we land?
Outlook
Know where you will land and what drives the range.
One-off · 10 working days
- Three scenarios against budget
- Aggregated data only
- Report, dashboard, walkthrough
Gap Closer
Know your number and the donors who will close the gap.
One-off · 10 working days
- Answers 1 and 2: where we land, how we close the gap
- December appeal segments and ask amounts
- Action plan to 31 December
Full Intelligence
The full picture, from the number to the named asks.
One-off · 10 working days
- All three answers, including who to ask personally
- 25 to 50 major gift prospect briefs
- Ask-now and cultivate-for-2027 lists
Entry offer
Foundation Match
Not ready to share donor data? Start here.
One-off · a single ranked list
- 20 to 30 ranked Canadian foundations
- Built from public CRA filings
- No client data needed
What is in each package
Start with one answer. Add the next when you need it.
| The question | Outlook | Gap Closer | Full Intelligence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where will we land? Three scenarios against budget | Included | Included | Included |
| How do we close the gap? Donor segments and ask amounts | Not included | Included | Included |
| Who do we ask personally? 25 to 50 major gift prospect briefs | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Hosted dashboard | Included | Included | Included |
| Data you share | Monthly totals only | Totals, plus anonymized gift history | Plus engagement history |
| Best for | Knowing your number first | Charities | Universities |
Foundation Match stands apart. It needs no donor data, so it suits teams that are not ready to share any yet.
How long each one runs
One-off, weekly or ongoing.
| What it is | One-off or ongoing | How often it updates |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook, Gap Closer, Full Intelligence | One-off. Delivered in 10 working days. | Report and lists as delivered |
| Foundation Match | One-off entry offer | One ranked list of 20 to 30 Canadian foundations |
| Hosted dashboard | Included with every package, until 31 December | Weekly, from a one-line update your team sends |
| Rolling Outlook | Ongoing and optional, after 31 December | Every quarter, with a refreshed prospect list |
| Dashboard on your system | Ongoing and optional, from January. Scoped with you once your year-end is closed. | Actual revenue daily or weekly. Scenarios and lists monthly or quarterly, as agreed. |
Monthly applies only to the optional dashboard on your system, where scenarios and lists are refreshed monthly or quarterly. Everything else is one-off, weekly during December, or quarterly.
The team behind it
A specialist team · human first · AI assisted
Not a solo consultant. A team built to deliver this.
The Year-End Forecast is delivered by Build 4 Abundance: a specialist team that brings fundraising practice, statistics, data engineering and design to every engagement. Each part of your report is owned by the person best placed to get it right.
Strategy
Fundraising and advancement
Practitioners who have run appeals, major gift programs and campaigns. They lead your engagement and turn numbers into a plan.
Analysis
Data science and statistics
Forecast models, three-scenario ranges and donor scoring, built to be transparent and testable.
Engineering
AI and data engineering
Secure intake, cleaning and pipelines. AI tools do the heavy lifting, always under human review.
Design
Data visualization
Dashboards and board reports that a leadership team reads in a minute, not a spreadsheet to decode.
How the team delivers
Every engagement passes through five hands before it reaches yours.
- 1. Secure intakeData engineering
- 2. Models and scenariosData science
- 3. Lists and action planFundraising strategy
- 4. Dashboard and reportVisualization
- 5. Independent reviewA second senior reviewer
How we work as a business
The standards of a firm, the attention of a boutique.
- Fixed scope, fixed feeAgreed in a signed engagement letter before work starts.
- Data processing agreementSigned before any file moves. Data deleted after delivery.
- Documented methodEvery assumption written down in a register you can test.
- Two-person sign-offOne builds, another reviews. No single point of failure.
- ContinuityA team behind your account, so delivery never depends on one diary.
- Accountable leadOne senior lead from discovery call to walkthrough.
Humans decide. AI assists.
AI reads, sorts and drafts. People set the scenarios, challenge every number and sign off.
Donors are people, not data points
We work with ID numbers only. Your team, who know your donors, make every ask.
Insiders, not outsiders
Led by people who have carried a fundraising target, so the advice fits how your team really works.
Behind it
Our founder, a fundraising and partnerships insider with more than 25 years across Canadian universities, research institutes, nonprofits and international foundations.
FAQ
Questions leaders ask
Our fiscal year does not end on 31 December. Is this still for us?
Yes. 31 December is when donors give for their tax receipt, whatever your fiscal year. We forecast what you will raise by 31 December and help you make the most of that window.
Do you buy or rent donor lists?
No. Every name on your lists is already in your own database. Our work is finding which of them to ask, how much to ask for, and when.
Is it too late for this December?
Not if you start by 6 November. Delivery takes 10 working days, which leaves time to shape your appeal and make personal asks before the deadline. Prospects who are not ready go on a cultivate-for-2027 list.
We already use a wealth screening tool. How is this different?
Screening tools give you data. We give you a finished answer: a forecast, prioritized lists, a dashboard and a plan, reviewed by a senior strategist. No software to learn and no subscription.
How accurate is it?
No forecast is certain, which is why we always give a range. Every scenario comes with its assumptions, and Rolling Outlook clients see how each forecast compared with actual results.
How is AI used?
AI helps read reports, organise data and spot giving patterns. Forecast figures come from transparent statistical models, and a person reviews every result.
We are a university. What do you cover?
Philanthropic revenue: annual and alumni giving, major and planned gifts, and foundation and corporate support. Tuition and enrolment are outside our scope.
76 days to 31 December
See your range while there is still time to change it.
Book a 30-minute call. Onboarding for this December closes on 6 November.