Platform Roadmap & Planning Budget
Modernize the FISH Partner Network Platform
Make the data trustworthy, the reporting dependable, and the public site worth the work it represents. Built in phases, foundation first.
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 cannot 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 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 1A
$500 – $1.5K
Data AdjustmentsPhase 1B
$3.2K – $5K
ReportingPhase 2
$5K – $8K
Theme & Front EndPhase 3A
$6K – $13K
Community DirectoryPhase 3B
$4K – $6K
$0$5K$10K$15K
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
$500 – $1,500
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 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.
- Remove inactive mobile app components. The mobile app service was discontinued in 2025, but its plugins and a second theme are still installed and still carry maintenance and security weight. Removing them simplifies every data change that follows.
Range breakdown
Runtime upgrade & testing$500 – $1K
License resolution & cleanup$0 – $500
Plugin license renewals are billed at cost and paid directly by FISH.
What moves the range
This phase is priced on the assumption that Phase 2 replaces the current reporting layer, so the aging reporting plugin does not need to be brought forward. If FISH stops after this phase, that compatibility work returns and the range moves up.
Phase 1B
Data Adjustments
$3,200 – $5,000
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 will not 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$1K – $1.5K
Category restructure$800 – $1.25K
Form & closing workflow$1K – $1.5K
Legacy field cleanup$400 – $750
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.
Phase 2
Reporting
$5,000 – $8,000
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$1.5K – $2.5K
Dashboard build$2K – $3.5K
Public impact widget$1K – $1.5K
Documentation & training$500
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
$6,000 – $13,000
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. Category filters, location search, and a map view alongside the needs grid, so a donor can find the needs closest to them or the causes they care about instead of scrolling one long list.
- Rebuild the individual need page. A clear layout with the story, who is impacted, the partner behind it, progress toward the goal, sharing tools, and an unambiguous path to giving.
- Built for mobile from the start. The browsing and giving experience is designed for phones as much as desktop, which matters more now that the mobile app is gone.
- Modernize the public pages while keeping the FISH brand and the existing site structure intact, and remove the builder's dependent plugins.
Range breakdown
Theme build, header & footer$2K – $3.5K
Needs listing, map & filtering$2K – $5K
Need detail template$1.5K – $3K
Public page rebuild$500 – $1.5K
Design direction shown below has already been produced and is the basis for this estimate.
Design direction
These are for design direction. We will work through the details during the process and make sure the design is unique to your brand.
What moves the range
How far the browsing experience goes. The low end rebuilds the existing pages on a clean, modern, fully responsive theme with an improved needs grid and need detail page. The high end adds the map based browsing, location search, and layered category filtering shown above, tuned for both desktop and mobile.
Phase 3B
Community Directory
$4,000 – $6,000
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$1.25K – $1.75K
Listing & detail templates$1.25K – $1.75K
Submission & approval workflow$1K – $2K
Initial content load$500
Assumes FISH supplies the initial resource list. Categories shown in the concept 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$3,700 – $6,500
Phase 2, reporting Depends on Phase 1$5,000 – $8,000
Phase 3, theme and directory Independent, can run in parallel$10,000 – $19,000
All phases$18,700 – $33,500
Plus software and license renewals, billed at costNominal
Please note: these figures do not reflect our non-profit discount, which will be applied to the final scope and fee schedule.
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.
- Relaunching the mobile app. The app service was discontinued in 2025. If FISH wants a mobile app again, that is its own project and we can scope it separately.
- 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
- 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.
- Confirm the design direction. The concepts above set the target for Phase 3A, and the map and filtering decision is what separates the two ends of that range.
- Decide on historical reporting. Whether the board needs trend data from before this work changes whether remediation is worth scoping.