Management System — Documentation

System Overview

The Coptic Aid Foundation management system is a planned internal web application that will replace the current manual tracking processes. It manages the full lifecycle of beneficiary families and university students across Egypt — from initial screening through monthly payments, annual reviews, and graduation.

• System URL: app.copticaidfoundation.org (planned)
• Login: Google Workspace accounts (@copticaidfoundation.org) — no separate passwords
• Status: In design phase — not yet built
• Estimated cost: ~$0 to start / ~$25–50 USD/month at scale

Geographic Hierarchy

The system mirrors Egypt's administrative structure, anchored to the Coptic Church network:

Governorate → City/District → Neighbourhood/Village → Church → Family

Each service area is anchored to the nearest local Coptic church. Money transfers go to the diocese or bishop's bank account as standard practice. When starting a new area, a temporary manager from another area can be assigned until the local structure is complete.

Team Roles

A person's title (Father, Deacon, Bishop, Mr., Ms.) is their ecclesiastical or civil title and is entirely separate from their functional system role. Any person with any title can hold any system role.

Egypt Team

Canada Team

User Creation Approval Chain

Role to create	Who approves
Admin, President, Board Member, Treasurer, Secretary, Sponsor	Admin only
Area Director, Coordinator	Sponsor / Board Member / President / Admin
Volunteer	Coordinator / Area Director / Admin

Programs & Services

Program	Details
Monthly Financial Aid	EGP 1,000/month per family. Disbursed at start of each month without interruption — even if a donor stops giving.
University Student Stipend	Equal to monthly family payment (EGP 1,000/month). Activated on university enrollment, stopped on graduation or dropout. No cap on students per family — each receives a full stipend.
Feast Grants	EGP 1,300 × 2/year — Christmas and Easter.
Emergency Relief	Emergency cash transfers, clothing, shelter for acute need.
Small Business Projects	$200–$500 CAD per project. Sewing machines, tools, livestock, grocery supplies. Goal: family independence.
Community Support	Marriage support (~10 years active). Housing needs (no roof, no sanitation, no furnishings).

Financial Summary

• Monthly payment per family: EGP 1,000/month
• Annual support per family: ~CAD 340/year
• Administrative overhead: less than 2% — 98¢ of every dollar reaches families

Beneficiary Lifecycle

Family Status Values

Status	Meaning
Pending Bulk Approval	Awaiting board vote on area quota
Pending Screening	Bulk approved; individual profile submitted, awaiting Sponsor review
Active	Fully approved and receiving regular monthly payments
One-time	Received a single grant with no recurring commitment
Transferred	Family relocated — full history moves to new area
Graduated	Conditions improved, no longer eligible (reversible)
Archived	All family members deceased

Acceptance Process (Two-Stage)

1. Stage 1 — Budget Approval: Coordinator submits bulk request (number of families + estimated cost) → Board votes (majority) or President approves for urgent cases
2. Stage 2 — Individual Screening: Egypt collects full data → Coordinator submits to Sponsor → Sponsor reviews each case individually and approves or rejects

Beneficiary Data Collected

• Family head: Full name, address, DOB, marital status, employment, National ID, linked church, sponsoring priest, assigned follower, aid distribution method
• Dependants: Name, DOB, relationship, employment/income, education level, medical conditions, monthly medical costs
• Housing: Ownership type, property type, condition, monthly rent
• Income & Expenses: Sources (government welfare, pension, employment, other charities), monthly medical expenses per member

Key Workflows

Financial Transfers

• Transfers sent in CAD or USD, received in EGP (or partially held in foreign currency)
• Deposited to diocese or bishop's bank account (standard); priest's personal account in rare temporary exceptions
• Each transfer covers 3–6 months of expected spending
• System tracks balance in EGP, CAD, and USD simultaneously
• Every exchange transaction recorded with rate and fees
• System alerts when area balance approaches minimum threshold

Transfer Approval Chain

1. System alert → Sponsor submits justified transfer request
2. President approves
3. Treasurer executes transfer and sends PDF documentation
4. Area Director records: date, exchange rate, amount received

Payment Values

Payment amounts can only be updated by Treasurer, President, or Admin — with board approval, board meeting minutes reference, and effective date. System retains full history of all value changes for accurate historical calculations.

System Rules

• National ID is the unique identifier for every person — no duplicates allowed
• Every vacated slot (death, transfer, rejection) is immediately available without new board vote
• A family cannot appear in more than one monthly report — system enforces this technically
• Month cannot close until all active families are covered in reports or explicitly skipped with documented reason
• Every rejection permanently archived with reason code, optional comment, date, and name of decision-maker
• Custom fields: users can add extra fields from an admin-managed library — fields cannot be invented freely
• Audit trail: every major action (status change, transfer, approval, rejection, role change) logged with name and timestamp
• Minor profile edits (phone number, address) are NOT logged in audit trail
• Notifications configured per role by Admin — both in-app and email channels

Technology Stack

Component	Choice	Notes
User Interface	Next.js	React-based, fast, SEO-friendly
Database & Storage	Supabase (PostgreSQL)	SOC 2 certified, encrypted, region-configurable. Standard PostgreSQL — fully portable.
Hosting	Vercel	Free tier available, scales with usage
Login	Google Workspace	@copticaidfoundation.org accounts — no separate passwords
System URL	app.copticaidfoundation.org	Separate from public website
Estimated cost	~$0 to start	~$25–50 USD/month when scaled

Open Items

The following are not yet finalised and will be addressed in upcoming sessions:

• Full list of expense categories (to be provided by team)
• Full list of life event types and special grant types (to be provided by team)
• Complete notification triggers per role
• MVP planning and project roadmap
• Database schema design