A three-day trip for fifteen families is a project-management job handed to someone who never asked to be a project manager. nonprofitEventPlanner gives that volunteer one place — on their phone, after dinner — to see what's late, collect money without chasing it, and put every kid in a room without a single parent getting upset.
"I don't want to be a project manager. I just want everyone to get on the bus."
If it doesn't earn its place for a leader, a parent, or a treasurer, it gets cut.
Volunteer troop leader. Works full-time, not technical, planning her first multi-day event. Wants to open the app after dinner and act on each open item in under a minute.
"Three families haven't paid, one deposit is due Friday, rooming isn't set."
Gets a link in a text. Has never seen the app. Wants to know what he owes, pay it, confirm his kid is set — and never make an account.
"Just tell me what to pay and where."
Retired accountant, the troop's money person. Detail-oriented. Needs every dollar reconciled and every deposit accounted for, without a spreadsheet that breaks.
"Show me the money that's in, out, and still owed."
Assign scouts to rooms and adults to chaperone duty with guardianship rules respected — so no assignment ever puts the wrong two people together.
Track what each family owes, what's been paid, and which deposits are due — check, Venmo, Zelle, or cash. Recorded, not processed. Fundraising pots offset the balance.
One signed URL per guardian per event. Parents tap a text, see what they owe, pay or mark a check sent, confirm the permission slip — no account, ever.
Buses, hotels, meals, and their deposits tracked as an org-level vendor catalog, with a schedule and cost lines that roll up into the family balances.
A future AI — or future you — can read one small slice and safely change it. Boring Rails conventions over clever abstractions.
A solo volunteer plus an AI can add a feature in a weekend without yak-shaving on infrastructure.
No Redis, no deliverability plumbing, no payments processor to reconcile. Cheap to host, dull to run.
A working Rails 8 application with a full domain model — organizations, events, rooms, chaperone assignments, guardianship, fundraising pots, a vendor catalog, an org-level contacts CRM, and a family portal. It carries real ADRs, personas, and a data-retention policy. It stays private because it holds a shape of data — minors, guardianships, family contact details — that has no business on a public remote. The concept lives here; the code stays home.