The Knights of Columbus Council #2469 in Gilroy has run an annual crab dinner fundraiser for decades. For most of that time, ticket sales meant phone calls, paper sign-up sheets, and cash or checks collected at church. Volunteer coordinators spent hours managing lists, chasing payments, and answering the same questions repeatedly.
The goal: build a professional fundraising platform that matches the dignity of the organization and makes it easy for the community to buy tickets, make donations, inquire about sponsorships, and volunteer — all online.
Using Claude as the primary development partner, I designed and shipped a full event website for the March 21, 2026 crab dinner — complete with ticket purchasing, real-time countdown, donation flow, and a rich content experience that communicates the council's 100+ year history and charitable mission.
The site uses a modern full-stack architecture — Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Clerk for auth, and Stripe for payments — deployed to Vercel. The design uses the official Knights of Columbus color palette (navy and gold) with mobile-first responsive layouts.
AI-assisted development makes enterprise-grade web platforms accessible to organizations that couldn't previously afford professional development. A fundraiser for youth scholarships in Gilroy now has the same digital presence as a Fortune 500 event — built in days, not months.