Agency-verified crowdfunding for community support

A modern, open-source platform enabling transparent fundraising for people experiencing homelessness. Built with verified social service agencies at the core—they manage campaigns, verify beneficiaries, and ensure funds reach their intended purpose.

Status: Production-ready • Built for: Peterborough, Ontario • Designed to: Scale globally

Traditional crowdfunding lacks accountability when supporting vulnerable populations:

• Unverified campaigns - No vetting of fundraisers
• Transparency gaps - Donors don't know where money goes
• Disconnected support - No integration with actual services
• No accountability - No tracking of outcomes

Path2Better fixes this by making verified social service agencies the campaign creators. They manage funds, track outcomes, and provide ongoing support.

1. Browse verified campaigns - Created by trusted local agencies
2. See transparent budgets - Know exactly how funds are used
3. Track impact - Follow progress from donation to outcome
4. Choose your support - One-time donation or monthly sponsorship

1. Create campaigns - For clients with specific, achievable goals
2. Manage funds - Control spending and ensure alignment with goals
3. Post updates - Share progress with supporters
4. Track outcomes - Mark milestones and document impact

1. Verify campaigns - Approve new campaigns and agencies
2. Monitor activity - Dashboard with funding, supporter, and update metrics
3. Manage platform - User/agency administration

User System

• Email/password authentication with bcrypt hashing
• Three user roles: Donors, Agency Admins, Platform Admins
• Secure session management (HTTP-only cookies)
• Email preference management (4 notification types)

Donor Experience

• Dashboard with donation history and impact metrics
• Real-time campaign search with 5-category filtering
• Sorting by funding progress, supporter count, days left, newest
• Social sharing (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Email, Native)
• Payment method management via Stripe portal
• Email preferences center

Agency Management

• Dashboard with campaign management interface
• Performance metrics (raised funds, active campaigns, beneficiaries)
• Campaign creation and editing (UI foundation ready)
• Role-based access control

Campaign Experience

• Beautiful browse page with responsive design
• Category-based filtering (Housing, Education, Medical, Employment, Basic Needs)
• Progress visualization with funding percentage and supporter counts
• Campaign detail pages with:
  • Campaign overview and narrative
  • Budget breakdown as milestones
  • Recent updates from agencies
  • Donation sidebar with Stripe integration

Admin Dashboard

• Campaign and agency management
• User and role administration
• Platform-wide metrics and monitoring

Frontend & Framework

• Next.js 14 (App Router) with React 18
• TypeScript for type safety
• Tailwind CSS 3 with custom design system

UI Components & Styling

• Shadcn/ui (Radix UI primitives)
• Lucide React (icons)
• CSS variables for theming
• Responsive design system

Backend & Data

• Sanity CMS for content management
• Stripe for payment processing
• Resend for email delivery
• Custom session-based authentication

Design Language

• Deep Teal (#0f766e) primary
• Warm Amber (#f59e0b) secondary
• Modern gradients and smooth transitions
• Mobile-first responsive design

• Node.js 18+ with npm
• Stripe account (test mode for development)
• Sanity account
• Resend account (for transactional emails)

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/path-2-better.git
cd path-2-better

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Copy environment template
cp .env.example .env.local

Edit .env.local with your credentials:

# Stripe (from https://dashboard.stripe.com)
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_...
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...

# Sanity (from https://sanity.io/manage)
NEXT_PUBLIC_SANITY_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
NEXT_PUBLIC_SANITY_DATASET=production
SANITY_API_TOKEN=your-token

# Resend (from https://resend.com/api-keys)
RESEND_API_KEY=re_...

# Security
ADMIN_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
ADMIN_SESSION_SECRET=your-session-secret

# Site
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=http://localhost:3000

npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 — the site reloads on file changes.

# Seed with sample data
npm run seed

# Deploy Sanity Studio (optional, for remote content management)
npx sanity deploy

npm run build
npm start

path-2-better/
├── app/                      # Next.js app directory
│   ├── (auth)/              # Authentication pages
│   ├── admin/               # Admin dashboard
│   ├── agency/              # Agency portal
│   ├── api/                 # API routes
│   ├── campaigns/           # Campaign pages
│   ├── donor/               # Donor dashboard
│   └── page.tsx             # Home page
├── components/              # React components
│   ├── campaigns/           # Campaign-specific components
│   ├── layout/              # Layout (navbar, footer)
│   └── ui/                  # Reusable UI components
├── lib/                      # Utilities
│   ├── auth.ts              # Authentication helpers
│   ├── hooks/               # React hooks (useAuth, etc.)
│   ├── sanity/              # Sanity client & queries
│   ├── stripe/              # Stripe integration
│   └── email/               # Email utilities
├── sanity/                   # CMS configuration
│   └── schemas/             # Content schemas
├── public/                   # Static assets
└── docs/                     # Documentation

• / - Home with hero, features, and featured campaigns
• /campaigns - Browse with filtering, search, and sorting
• /campaigns/[slug] - Campaign detail with donation form
• /auth/login - Sign in for donors/admins
• /auth/signup - Create account

• /donor/dashboard - Donation history and impact metrics
• /donor/preferences - Email notification settings

• /agency/dashboard - Campaign management and metrics

• /admin - Platform administration
• /admin/dashboard - Analytics and monitoring

• POST /api/auth/signup - Create account
• POST /api/auth/login - Authenticate user
• POST /api/auth/logout - End session
• GET /api/auth/me - Get current user
• PUT /api/donor/preferences - Save email preferences
• POST /api/create-checkout-session - Stripe payment session

Deploy to Vercel (recommended for Next.js):

npm install -g vercel
vercel

Or use Railway, Netlify, or any Node.js hosting.

See docs/DEPLOYMENT.md for detailed deployment guide.

• TypeScript throughout for type safety
• Tailwind CSS for consistent styling
• Responsive mobile-first design
• Error handling with user feedback

# Run tests (coming soon)
npm test

npm run lint

Schema is defined in sanity/schemas/ and includes:

• Campaign - Fundraising campaigns
• Agency - Partner organizations
• User - Donors and admins
• DonationEvent - Donation transactions

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature)
3. Make your changes with tests
4. Commit with clear messages (git commit -m 'Add feature')
5. Push to your fork and open a Pull Request

• Deployment Guide - Deploy your own instance
• Customization Guide - Adapt for your city
• Agency Guide - How agencies use the platform
• Security & Compliance - PCI scope, monitoring, incident response
• Code of Conduct - Community standards

Built-in protections:

• Payment data handled exclusively by Stripe (no card storage)
• HTTP-only session cookies (CSRF-safe)
• Bcrypt password hashing (10 salt rounds)
• Role-based access control
• Environment variables for secrets

Recommended for production:

• OAuth/SSO for admin access
• Audit logging for sensitive operations
• Rate limiting on API routes
• HSTS and CSP headers

See docs/SECURITY_AND_COMPLIANCE.md for full details.

GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPL-3.0)

This ensures Path2Better remains open source and benefits everyone.

See LICENSE for full terms.

Key points:

• Free to use, modify, and distribute
• If you run a modified version as a service, users must have access to source code
• Keep improvements open source for the community

In Progress

• Campaign creation API and form
• Advanced analytics dashboard
• Campaign comment system

Planned

• Email notification campaigns
• Tax receipt generation
• CSV export for reports
• Subscription management UI
• Tax receipts (PDF generation)

Future

• Mobile app (React Native)
• Offline fundraising integration
• International multi-currency support

• Issues: GitHub Issues - Report bugs or request features
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions - Ask questions and share ideas
• Email: support@path2better.com
• Website: Coming soon

Every community should have the tools to support their neighbors experiencing homelessness through transparent, dignified, agency-verified crowdfunding.

By keeping Path2Better open source, communities worldwide can deploy their own instances adapted to local needs while maintaining core principles of transparency and accountability.

Together, we can build paths to better. Everywhere.

Path2Better is built with ❤️ for community support and transparency. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.