Working name notice: "Hānai" is the working title used throughout this document during development. This name has not been approved by FAF and may change. FAF will choose the official app name before launch. Renaming is a trivial code change — nothing structural depends on the name.
Project Brief
Version 2.0 · April 2026 · Built by Shauna Arnold · shauna.digital
What We're Building
A private, custom-built platform designed exclusively for Fur Angel Foundation. It brings together everything FAF needs to manage its dogs, fosters, adoptions, and communications — in one place, beautifully designed, and built specifically around how FAF works.
The working name "Hānai" is Hawaiian for the practice of raising a child or animal as your own outside of biological parentage — exactly what FAF's fosters do every day.
The Problem
FAF currently operates across six disconnected tools that don't talk to each other:
| Tool | Used For | The Problem |
|---|---|---|
| Shelter Manager (ASM) | Dog records, medical history | Admin-only — fosters can't access it |
| Group texts / DMs | Foster communication | No history, no search, no organization |
| JotForm | Adoption applications and waivers | Disconnected from dog records |
| DonorBox | Donations and adoption fees | No link to records or reporting |
| Wix website | Public presence, available dogs | Updated manually — always out of date |
| Personal phones | Photos, appointment requests | No central library, no audit trail |
The app replaces all six with a single system that works for the whole organization.
Who Uses It
| Role | Who | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Admins | FAF staff and coordinators | Full app — all dogs, fosters, records, settings, reports |
| Fosters | Foster families | Private portal — their dog(s), messaging, calendar, uploads |
| Adopters | People adopting dogs | No login — tracked in the system, communicate via email |
| Public | Website visitors | Read-only dog listings, donation and adoption forms |
Admin Features
- Dog management — intake, full profiles, medical history, vaccination records, medication schedules, status tracking, photo library
- Foster management — invite fosters, assign dogs, manage primary and secondary foster assignments, transfer dogs, track vacation holds
- Communications — private per-dog message threads with each foster, broadcast announcements, community feed moderation
- Appointment management — receive and approve foster vet requests, schedule and track appointments
- Media review — approve foster-uploaded photos and videos for website and social use
- Adoption pipeline — manage applications, track the full journey from application to finalization, foster-to-adopt pipeline
- Events — create and manage fundraising and adoption events, auto-publish to website
- Reporting — impact stats, adoption totals, medical spend, grant-ready export formats
- Donor records — donor profiles linked to Stripe donation history, Square CSV import after events
- Calendar — org-wide view of appointments, events, and foster vacation holds
Foster Features
- My fosters — dog profile, medical schedule, upcoming appointments, status
- Photo and video uploads — submit directly from mobile with captions
- Messaging — private chat with the FAF team, scoped to their dog
- Community feed — post to a shared board for vacation coverage, supply needs, questions
- Calendar — personal view of upcoming medications and vet visits; submit vacation hold dates
- Appointment requests — submit vet requests directly through the app
- Notifications — email and push notifications for messages, med reminders, announcements
Public Website Features
- Available dogs — automatically populated from the app, no manual updates needed
- Individual dog profiles — breed, age, size, photos, bio
- Adoption application — replaces JotForm, feeds directly into the app
- Adoption contract — e-signature, fee payment via Stripe, auto-PDF confirmation
- Foster application — replaces JotForm, feeds directly into the app
- Donate — one-time and monthly recurring donations via Stripe (replaces DonorBox)
- Events — automatically populated from the app
Phased Build Plan
Phase 0 · Complete
Pre-Build — Design, Domains & Planning
Design system locked. Color palette, typography, and all screen mockups completed. Technical architecture decided. Database schema with all 22 tables defined. Domain setup complete. All planning documents finalized.
Phase 1 · Sessions 1–12 · Starting next
Foundation & Dog/Foster Management
Project scaffold, Supabase setup, authentication, design system components, dog management pages, foster management pages, foster portal, and Shelter Manager data import script (950 dog records, photos, medical history).
Gate: Admin and foster auth working. All 45 active dogs imported with correct foster assignments.
Phase 2 · Sessions 13–19
Communication & Scheduling
Per-dog messaging between FAF and fosters, broadcast announcements, community feed, calendar with vacation holds, appointment request workflow, and push notifications. Replaces group texts entirely.
Gate: Full message flow working in real-time. No group texts needed for any standard communication.
Phase 3 · Sessions 20–22
Media Pipeline
Foster photo and video upload from mobile, media library per dog, admin approval workflow. All photos that appear on the website go through admin approval first.
Gate: Foster can upload from phone. Admin reviews and approves. No emailing photos needed.
Phase 4 · Sessions 23–27
Adoption Pipeline
Adopter profiles, application management, adoption kanban board, foster-to-adopt pipeline, medical records packet email to adopters, adoption contract with e-signature and Stripe payment. Replaces JotForm and DonorBox entirely.
Gate: Full adoption flow end-to-end. E-signature and payment working. Contract PDF emailed automatically.
Phase 5 · Sessions 28–37
Website, CMS, Reporting & Donors
New furangelfoundation.org replacing Wix. Auto-fed dog listings, events, and stats from the app. Keystatic CMS so FAF can edit page text and press articles without a developer. Stripe donations replacing DonorBox. Grant reporting export. Donor CRM with Stripe sync.
Gate: Website live and auto-updating. Dog published in app appears on website automatically. Keystatic editor working for FAF.
Phase 6 · Sessions 38–40
Launch, Quality & Monitoring
Error monitoring, uptime alerts, privacy-friendly analytics, accessibility audit, privacy policy, DNS switch from Wix to new site. ASM decommissioned after 30-day parallel period.
Gate: All monitoring active. Accessibility passing. DonorBox and Wix fully retired.
What This Is Not
- Not a public app. The foster portal is invite-only. The public uses the website only.
- Not a shelter management system. FAF has no physical shelter. Kennel management, check-in queues, and animal control features are not included.
- Not a social media tool. The app builds a media library and feeds approved photos to the website. It does not post to Instagram or Facebook directly.
- Not replacing Square immediately. FAF can continue using Square at events. The app supports both Square (manual entry) and Stripe Terminal — the decision can be made after launch.
Accounts for FAF to Create
| Account | Priority | Why | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Mandatory | All payments — donations, adoption fees. Requires EIN, banking info, and a signatory. | Before Phase 4 |
|
Google for Nonprofits |
Mandatory | Free Google Workspace — Gmail, Drive, Calendar for the org. Apply directly at nonprofit.google.com. | Early |
| Stripe Nonprofit Rate | Recommended | Reduces Stripe rate to 2.2% + $0.30 for verified 501(c)(3). Apply at stripe.com/docs/tax/tax-exempt — needs EIN and determination letter. | Before Phase 4 |
| TechSoup | Optional | Nonprofit tech marketplace — unlocks discounts on other software. Not required for Google Workspace. | Anytime |
| Canva for Nonprofits | Optional | Free Canva Pro. Apply at canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits. Usually approved within a few days. | Anytime |