The platform has run for roughly a decade and it still does the core job: county case workers post needs, FISH reviews them, and the network responds. What has drifted is everything built on top of that. Needs are stored in ways that make them hard to count, reports are assembled by hand and can't produce the demographic detail grant funders ask for, and parts of the underlying stack are no longer supported. This roadmap fixes the foundation and the data first, then rebuilds reporting on top of it, so that the design work and the new community directory land on a platform that can actually carry them.
These are planning ranges, not a quote. Each phase is scoped lean: the smallest version that genuinely works, with room to expand once the foundation is in place. Once FISH picks a position in each range, this converts into a detailed scope and a fixed fee schedule.
Where the effort goes
Phases are shown at their planning range. Third party software costs are minimal and noted per phase; the reporting tool proposed in Phase 2 is free at FISH's data volume.
Foundation & Platform HealthPhase 1
$4K – $7K
Data AdjustmentsPhase 1
$6K – $10K
ReportingPhase 2
$7K – $12K
Theme & Front EndPhase 3
$9K – $15K
Community DirectoryPhase 3
$5K – $8K
Phase detail
Foundation and data come first and are sequential: reporting cannot be trusted until the data underneath it is. The theme and directory depend on neither and can run alongside or after.
Phase 1a
Foundation & Platform Health
$4,000 – $7,000
One-time · Before all other work
- Upgrade the platform runtime. The site runs on a version of PHP that reached end of life in 2022 and no longer receives security updates. Moving to a supported version is the baseline for everything else, and it forces a compatibility review of the plugins the site depends on.
- Retire the unused mobile app. The app is no longer in service and shows no active users. Retiring it ends the app subscription costs, removes five interconnected plugins and a second theme from the site, shrinks the security surface, and removes a constraint from every data change that follows.
- Resolve lapsed plugin licenses. Two licenses have expired, which is why some features have quietly drifted out of sync and broken over time. Renewing or replacing them restores updates and support.
- Reporting plugin compatibility review. The plugin driving every current report is several major versions behind and may not survive the runtime upgrade. This review determines whether it gets upgraded or replaced, which is the decision that shapes Phase 2.
Range breakdown
Runtime upgrade & testing$1.5K – $2.5K
App retirement & cleanup$1K – $2K
License resolution$0.5K – $1K
Plugin compatibility review$1K – $1.5K
Plugin license renewals are billed at cost and paid directly by FISH.
Reduces ongoing cost. Retiring the mobile app ends two active software subscriptions that currently serve no users.
What moves the range
What the compatibility review turns up. The low end assumes the current plugins survive the runtime upgrade with minor fixes. The high end covers replacing one that does not, and rebuilding what depended on it.
Sequential with foundation · Prerequisite for reporting
- Consolidate the status system. Needs currently track status in two parallel places, which is why a single need can appear as closed, filled, and open at the same time. One authoritative status ends the contradictory records that make every report suspect.
- Structure the need categories. Categories are inconsistently applied and many records have none at all, so category based reporting is unreliable. This consolidates overlapping terms and enforces the field at approval, where FISH staff already set it.
- Require key fields at submission. Number of people helped, with the adult and child breakdown grant funders ask for. These are known at submission, so requiring them adds almost nothing to the case worker's time.
- Fix the closing side. Household size tells us who a need was for. Whether they were actually helped depends on what gets recorded when the need closes, and that is the field currently breaking. Both sides get fixed together or the numbers still won't hold.
- Clean up legacy fields. Retire the COVID and CARES era questions, merge duplicated questions, and remove the parallel field sets that no longer serve a purpose.
Range breakdown
Status consolidation$2K – $3K
Category restructure$1.5K – $2.5K
Form & closing workflow changes$1.5K – $2.5K
Legacy field cleanup$1K – $2K
Note: this improves data from launch forward. Historical records are addressed separately, see boundaries below.
What moves the range
How much history gets normalized along the way. The low end fixes the structure going forward and leaves existing records as they are. The high end includes a scripted pass to reconcile the contradictory statuses already in the system.
Begins once data work is complete
- One clean data source, not thirteen reports. Today each report is built individually against the raw database, which is why assembling a single board report takes so much manual work. A single scheduled export replaces that, and every report draws from it.
- Internal and grant reporting in a proper reporting tool. Date ranges, filters, and demographic breakdowns that produce themselves. Shareable links for the board, direct exports for grant applications.
- A public impact widget on the site. Headline numbers only, in FISH's own branding, so the public facing story stays on the site and stays current without anyone updating it.
- Retire the reports that are lists. Several current reports are simple exports and are better served as such, which reduces the number of things to maintain.
- Documentation and a walkthrough so FISH staff can pull their own reports rather than requesting them.
Range breakdown
Export pipeline & scheduling$2K – $3.5K
Dashboard build$3K – $5K
Public impact widget$1.5K – $2.5K
Documentation & training$0.5K – $1K
The proposed reporting tool is free at FISH's data volume. A paid connector may be needed for scheduled syncing, roughly $25 to $50 per month.
What moves the range
Number of distinct report views. The low end delivers one flexible dashboard covering needs, outcomes, and demographics. The high end adds separate purpose built views for the board, for grant applications, and for partner activity.
Phase 3a
Theme & Front End
$9,000 – $15,000
Independent of data work · Can run in parallel
- Replace the page builder with a lighter theme. The current builder is used on only a handful of pages, the header, and the footer, but its weight applies to every page on the site. Replacing it makes the site faster and considerably easier to maintain.
- Rebuild how needs are browsed. A proper needs listing with category filtering, location, and progress toward each need, replacing the current presentation.
- Rebuild the individual need page. A clear layout with the story, the impact, the partner, progress toward the goal, and an unambiguous path to giving.
- Modernize the public pages while keeping the FISH brand and the existing site structure intact.
- Remove the builder's dependent plugins, several of which exist only to support it.
Range breakdown
Theme build, header & footer$3K – $5K
Needs listing & filtering$2.5K – $4K
Need detail template$2K – $3.5K
Public page rebuild$1.5K – $2.5K
Mockups of the needs listing and need detail page have already been produced and are the basis for this estimate.
What moves the range
How far the design goes. The low end rebuilds the existing pages on a clean, modern theme with improved needs display. The high end includes the map based browsing and richer filtering shown in the mockups.
Phase 3b
Community Directory
$5,000 – $8,000
Independent · Earliest visible win
- A browsable directory of partner resources organized by category, so the community has one place to find what is available rather than knowing which organization to ask.
- Partner self service. Partner organizations add and update their own listings through a submission form with FISH approval, so the directory stays current without staff maintaining it.
- Built on the existing partner records already in the system, rather than starting a separate list that would immediately drift out of sync.
- Search and category filtering across the full directory, with featured categories on the landing page.
Range breakdown
Directory structure & categories$1.5K – $2.5K
Listing & detail templates$1.5K – $2.5K
Submission & approval workflow$1.5K – $2.5K
Initial content load$0.5K – $0.5K
Assumes FISH supplies the initial resource list. Categories shown in the mockup are a starting point.
What moves the range
Whether partners maintain their own listings. The low end is a FISH maintained directory. The high end adds the partner submission and approval workflow, which costs more upfront and less every month after.
Total investment
Planning range
Phase 1, foundation and data Prerequisite for everything that follows$10,000 – $17,000
Phase 2, reporting Depends on Phase 1$7,000 – $12,000
Phase 3, theme and directory Independent, can run in parallel$14,000 – $23,000
All phases$31,000 – $52,000
Plus software and license renewals, billed at costNominal
Boundaries & next steps
Not included, or held for later
- Historical data remediation. The data work improves records going forward. A decade of existing records will not have the demographic detail, and reconstructing it is a separate effort worth scoping only if the board wants historical trend reporting.
- Payment processing changes. Linking donations to specific needs at the processor would remove most of the manual reconciliation FISH does today. It is a real opportunity and a separate conversation.
- Ongoing maintenance. This roadmap is project work. Keeping plugins current and licenses renewed is what prevents this situation from recurring, and is better handled as a standing arrangement.
- Content and copywriting for the rebuilt public pages.
To move this forward
- Confirm the app decision. Retiring the mobile app is assumed throughout and simplifies everything. It should be a conscious decision rather than an inherited one.
- Pick a position in each range. Phases do not need to sit at the same level. A thorough data phase with a leaner theme rebuild is a sound configuration.
- Confirm the required fields. Which demographic detail grant applications actually ask for determines what gets required at submission.
- Decide on historical reporting. Whether the board needs trend data from before this work changes whether remediation is worth scoping.