Nonprofit funding can look strong from the outside while still being difficult to manage from the inside. A successful gala, a generous year-end campaign, or a major grant can all create momentum. But for executive directors and boards, the harder question is often not whether money can be raised. It is whether enough of it can be forecast.
That distinction has become more important as nonprofits navigate a mixed giving environment. U.S. charitable giving reached $592.5 billion in 2024, according to Giving USA, but many organizations still face pressure from shifting donor behavior, restricted grants, rising operating costs, and uncertainty around public funding. In practice, that means impact can be high while cash flow remains hard to plan.
Forever Funding, a company focused on building recurring nonprofit funding through merchant processing relationships, is positioning itself around one word its team says nonprofit leaders understand quickly: budgetable.
“Most nonprofits are not asking for something complicated,” says Will Black, founder of Forever Funding. “They want dependable money they can plan around. If funding arrives month after month, it changes the way an organization thinks about hiring, programming, and growth.”
The Problem With Funding That Resets
Many nonprofits depend on revenue that arrives unevenly. Events produce short bursts. Grants may be restricted to specific programs. Donor campaigns can be affected by timing, economic pressure, or fatigue. For leaders responsible for payroll, rent, vehicles, supplies, and staff retention, that creates a gap between mission demand and financial predictability.
The issue is not that traditional fundraising no longer works. It is that traditional fundraising often requires nonprofits to restart the same push again and again.
Black says that is the part many people outside the sector miss.
“A fundraiser can be successful and still leave the nonprofit in the same position next year,” he says. “The question is not just how much was raised. The question is whether the organization can budget around it.”
How Forever Funding Uses Existing Commerce
Forever Funding’s model is built around everyday card payments at local businesses. When a customer pays with a card, the merchant pays processing fees. Those fees move through the payments ecosystem, including banks, card networks, and processors. Forever Funding focuses on the processor relationship and says a portion of processor profitability can be shared with a nonprofit when a participating merchant moves into the program.
The company describes the model as a way to redirect part of an existing business expense, rather than create a new charge for customers. Consumers do not pay more. In many cases, Forever Funding says the merchant is reviewing processing because card fees are already a pain point, and the switch only makes sense if the business can lower costs, improve service, or create a practical reason to move.
The funding comes from the processor relationship behind the scenes. Businesses already pay to accept card payments, and part of the economics inside that relationship typically stays within the payments system. Forever Funding’s model redirects a portion of that processor-side value to the nonprofit connected to the merchant. The customer experience stays the same, the merchant gets a business reason to participate, and the nonprofit receives monthly funding tied to normal card activity.
“It is not about asking the customer to give more at checkout,” Black says. “The consumer experience stays the same. The business chooses to participate, and the nonprofit receives monthly funding from the processing relationship.”
That distinction matters because checkout fundraising and add-on donation prompts are already familiar to many consumers. Forever Funding is trying to position its model differently: not as another ask, but as a behind-the-scenes funding mechanism connected to local commerce.
Why Merchants Have a Reason to Participate
For merchants, the decision is not framed only as charity. Businesses already pay to accept card payments, and many do not know whether their current processor is giving them competitive pricing or service. Forever Funding says its process starts by reviewing the merchant’s existing setup, identifying whether a better arrangement is available, and then tying the new relationship to a nonprofit the business wants to support.
That gives the merchant two reasons to consider the switch: financial efficiency and community alignment. Forever Funding says many small businesses it reviews are paying more than they need to for card processing, which creates room for savings, better service, or both. For the merchant, the decision is not framed as paying extra for charity. It is framed as paying less, improving an existing vendor relationship, and allowing part of that relationship to support a cause the business already cares about.
A local business can say it supports a nonprofit without asking customers to pay more. The nonprofit gains recurring deposits. The processor gains a long-term account. In Forever Funding’s view, the model works because each party has a practical incentive.
“Business owners like helping the community, but they also have to make business decisions,” Black says. “If we can show them a better processing relationship and connect that to a cause they already care about, the conversation becomes very different.”
The Nonprofit Role Is Relationship-Based
One reason nonprofit leaders are cautious with new funding ideas is workload. A model that requires more staff time, technical knowledge, or administration can become another burden.
Forever Funding’s program is designed to keep the nonprofit’s role focused on relationships. The organization identifies business owners, sponsors, donors, or community partners it already knows and makes introductions. Forever Funding says it handles the operational side, including fee analysis, onboarding, processor transition, account service, tracking, and monthly reporting.
That division of work is central to the company’s pitch.
“A nonprofit should not have to become a payments company,” Black says. “Its strength is trust in the community. Our role is to turn those relationships into a funding system that can keep running.”
Why Monthly Deposits Change the Conversation
For nonprofit boards, the value of recurring funding is not only the amount. It is the planning ability it creates.
Monthly deposits can help leadership make decisions earlier, build reserves more confidently, cover operating needs with fewer restrictions, and reduce dependence on single-event fundraising cycles. That is especially important when broader giving patterns remain uneven. A recent AP-NORC poll found that many U.S. adults were not planning year-end charitable contributions, even though December remains important for many organizations.
Forever Funding’s argument is that nonprofits need funding structures that do not depend entirely on the next appeal.
“Budgetable funding gives leaders breathing room,” Black says. “When money shows up predictably, the board can plan. The staff can focus. The organization can think beyond the next campaign.”
For a sector built around long-term problems, that may be the deeper appeal. Nonprofits are not just trying to raise money. They are trying to build organizations stable enough to keep serving.
