ImpactLink — Crowdfunding Platform

ImpactLink is a full-stack crowdfunding web application that empowers individuals and organisations to launch campaigns, raise funds, and make a real-world impact — securely and at scale.

Features · Tech Stack · Project Structure · Getting Started · API Overview · Security · Deployment

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✨ Features

For Users

• 🔐 Secure Authentication — JWT-based login, signup, password reset via email OTP, and token refresh
• 🚀 Campaign Management — Create, edit, and delete fundraising campaigns with rich details, goals, and deadlines
• 💳 Integrated Payments — Donate to campaigns via Razorpay (UPI, card, netbanking) with server-side payment verification
• 📊 Personal Dashboard — Track your campaigns, donations made, and funds raised in real time
• 👤 User Profile & Settings — Manage profile details, avatar, and account preferences
• 🔍 Search & Filter — Discover campaigns by category, goal, and progress

For Admins

• 🛡️ Admin Dashboard — Overview of platform-wide statistics (users, campaigns, donations)
• 📋 Campaign Moderation — View and manage all campaigns across the platform
• 👥 User Management — View and manage registered users
• 📬 Contact Submissions — Review and respond to contact form messages

Platform

• 📧 Automated Email Notifications — Transactional emails via Nodemailer with asynchronous processing via BullMQ + Redis
• 📅 Scheduled Jobs — Automated campaign status management via node-cron
• 📈 Error Monitoring — Real-time error tracking via Sentry (v10)
• 📝 Structured Logging — HTTP and application logs via Morgan + Winston

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🛠 Tech Stack

Frontend

Technology	Purpose
React 19	UI framework
Vite	Build tool & dev server
React Router v7	Client-side routing
Framer Motion + GSAP	Animations & micro-interactions
Axios	HTTP client
Recharts	Data visualisation (dashboard charts)
Lucide React + React Icons	Icon libraries
Bootstrap 5	Component styling base
React Toastify	Notifications

Backend

Technology	Purpose
Node.js + Express.js	REST API server
MongoDB + Mongoose	Primary database (ODM)
Redis + BullMQ	Job queue for async email delivery
JWT	Authentication & session management
Razorpay	Payment gateway integration
Nodemailer	Transactional email delivery
Helmet	HTTP security headers
express-rate-limit	Rate limiting (auth + general routes)
express-mongo-sanitize	NoSQL injection prevention
Winston + Morgan	Application & HTTP logging
Sentry	Real-time error tracking & performance
node-cron	Scheduled background jobs
bcryptjs	Password hashing
envalid	Environment variable validation

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📂 Project Structure

crowdfunding/
├── impactlink-frontend/          # React + Vite SPA
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── pages/                # Route-level page components
│   │   │   ├── Home.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Campaigns.jsx
│   │   │   ├── CampaignDetails.jsx
│   │   │   ├── CreateCampaign.jsx
│   │   │   ├── EditCampaign.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Dashboard.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Profile.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Settings.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Donations.jsx
│   │   │   ├── AdminDashboard.jsx
│   │   │   ├── AdminUsers.jsx
│   │   │   ├── AdminDonations.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Login.jsx / Signup.jsx
│   │   │   ├── ForgotPassword.jsx / ResetPassword.jsx
│   │   │   ├── About.jsx / Contact.jsx
│   │   │   └── NotFound.jsx
│   │   ├── components/           # Reusable UI components (Navbar, Footer, etc.)
│   │   ├── context/              # React Context providers (Auth, etc.)
│   │   ├── services/             # API service layer
│   │   ├── utils/                # Utility functions & Axios instance
│   │   └── assets/               # Static assets
│   ├── index.html
│   └── vite.config.js
│
├── impactlink-backend/           # Node.js + Express REST API
│   ├── server.js                 # App entry point & middleware setup
│   ├── routes/                   # Route definitions
│   │   ├── auth.js               # /api/auth
│   │   ├── campaign.js           # /api/campaigns
│   │   ├── donation.js           # /api/donations
│   │   ├── payment.js            # /api/payments (Razorpay)
│   │   ├── dashboard.js          # /api/dashboard
│   │   ├── admin.js              # /api/admin
│   │   ├── admindash.js          # /api/admin/dashboard
│   │   ├── user.js               # /api/user
│   │   └── contact.js            # /api/contact
│   ├── controllers/              # Business logic handlers
│   ├── models/                   # Mongoose schemas
│   │   ├── User.js
│   │   ├── Campaign.js
│   │   ├── Donation.js
│   │   ├── Token.js
│   │   ├── Contact.js
│   │   └── Admin.js
│   ├── middleware/               # Auth & error middleware
│   ├── config/                   # DB, Redis, env validation
│   ├── jobs/                     # node-cron scheduled tasks
│   ├── queues/                   # BullMQ queue definitions
│   ├── workers/                  # BullMQ worker processes (email)
│   ├── utils/                    # Winston logger & helpers
│   └── scripts/                  # Database seed scripts
│
└── README.md

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+ and npm
• MongoDB (local or MongoDB Atlas)
• Redis (optional — for email job queue)
• A Razorpay account (for payment features)

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/atharvashivari/ImpactLink.git
cd ImpactLink

2. Backend Setup

cd impactlink-backend
npm install

Create a .env file in impactlink-backend/:

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=your_jwt_refresh_secret

RAZORPAY_KEY_ID=your_razorpay_key_id
RAZORPAY_KEY_SECRET=your_razorpay_key_secret

EMAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USER=your_email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASS=your_app_password

REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379       # Optional
SENTRY_DSN=your_sentry_dsn             # Optional
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:5173

Start the backend:

# Development (with hot reload)
npm run dev

# Production
npm start

3. Frontend Setup

cd impactlink-frontend
npm install

Create a .env file in impactlink-frontend/:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000/api
VITE_RAZORPAY_KEY_ID=your_razorpay_key_id

Start the frontend:

npm run dev

The app will be available at http://localhost:5173.

4. Seed the Database (Optional)

To populate the database with demo campaigns, users, and donations:

cd impactlink-backend
node scripts/seedDatabase.js

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📡 API Overview

All API routes are prefixed with /api.

Route	Description
POST /api/auth/signup	Register a new user
POST /api/auth/login	Login and receive JWT tokens
POST /api/auth/logout	Invalidate refresh token
POST /api/auth/forgot-password	Send password reset OTP
POST /api/auth/reset-password	Reset password with OTP
GET /api/campaigns	List all campaigns
POST /api/campaigns	Create a new campaign (auth required)
GET /api/campaigns/:id	Get campaign details
PUT /api/campaigns/:id	Update a campaign (owner only)
DELETE /api/campaigns/:id	Delete a campaign (owner only)
POST /api/payments/create-order	Create Razorpay payment order
POST /api/payments/verify	Verify payment & record donation
GET /api/donations	List user's donations (auth required)
GET /api/dashboard	Get user dashboard statistics
GET /api/admin/dashboard	Admin platform statistics
POST /api/contact	Submit a contact form message

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🔒 Security

ImpactLink implements a multi-layered security approach:

Measure	Implementation
HTTP Security Headers	helmet — sets CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, etc.
NoSQL Injection Prevention	express-mongo-sanitize
Rate Limiting	Auth routes: 15 req/15 min · General: 100 req/15 min
Password Hashing	bcryptjs with salt rounds
JWT Authentication	Access token + refresh token rotation
Payment Verification	Razorpay signature verification server-side
Input Validation	Server-side validation on all sensitive inputs
Environment Validation	envalid — prevents startup with missing env vars
Error Monitoring	Sentry for real-time exception tracking

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☁️ Deployment

The project is configured for deployment on:

• Frontend — Vercel (vercel.json included)
• Backend — Render (render.yaml included)
• Database — MongoDB Atlas
• Cache / Queue — Redis Cloud or Upstash

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📄 Documentation

File	Description
docs/PRD.md	Product Requirements Document — features, data models, user roles & roadmap
docs/TECH_STACK.md	Full tech stack reference with package versions & key design decisions

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👤 Author

Atharva Shivari

• GitHub: @atharvashivari
• Email: shivariatharva@gmail.com

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_{Built with ❤️ by Atharva Shivari}