Version: 1.0
Last Updated: December 2025
Audience: Executive Leadership, Product Managers, Marketing, Engagement Team, Engineers
Status: Planning Phase (Not Yet Implemented)
The Champion Portal is a dedicated digital platform for Belmont University’s Alumni Champions—volunteers who serve as ambassadors connecting the university with alumni in their communities. It will be hosted at champions.bualum.co as a companion to the internal Alumni Lookup system used by staff.
| Audience | Description |
|---|---|
| Alumni Champions | Volunteers who host events, mentor students, share stories, and represent Belmont in their cities |
| City Leadership Council (CLC) | Champion coordinators who organize activities in their metro area (e.g., Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas) |
| Engagement Team | Staff who recruit, verify, and support Champions |
Today, Alumni Champions have no central home. They sign up through a form, communicate via scattered email threads, coordinate in social media DMs, and have no clear way to host events or share stories. There’s no directory to find fellow Champions, no easy way to get the word out about local gatherings, and no unified place to take action. This fragmentation makes championing feel isolated rather than connected.
The Champion Portal gives Belmont’s Alumni Champions one place to belong. Instead of juggling emails, social media DMs, and separate forms, Champions can log in to a single mobile-friendly site where they can find other Champions in their city, submit events, share stories worth celebrating, and see what’s happening across the network. City Leadership Council members get tools to coordinate their metro area. The Engagement Team gets visibility into Champion activity without adding manual tracking work. It’s the difference between being on a mailing list and being part of a community.
| Pain Point Today | How the Portal Helps |
|---|---|
| “I don’t know who else is a Champion in my city” | Searchable directory filtered by city, grad year, industry, and interests |
| “I want to host an event but don’t know how to get the word out” | Simple event submission that reaches all Champions in your city |
| “I have a great story but don’t know where to share it” | Story submission to celebrate fellow alumni and share wins |
| “I never hear what other Champions are doing” | City-based discussion boards and activity feeds |
| “I don’t use Facebook anymore” | A dedicated space for Belmont alumni—no algorithms, no ads, no drama. Just your Champion community. |
Pitch for Champions:
“Your Champion Portal is your home base. Find fellow Bruins nearby, share what’s happening in your community, and stay connected to Belmont—all from your phone.”
Note: The CLC role is new. These represent anticipated challenges that CLCs would face without proper tooling.
| Challenge Without the Portal | How the Portal Helps |
|---|---|
| “How would I know who’s a Champion in my city?” | See all verified Champions in your city with contact info |
| “How would I review and approve local events?” | Review and approve events directly in the portal |
| “How would I communicate with my city’s Champions?” | Pin announcements to city boards |
| “How would I know who’s actually engaged?” | Activity indicators show who’s active |
Pitch for CLCs:
“Run your city from one dashboard. See who’s involved, approve local events, post announcements, and keep your Champions connected—all in one place.”
| Value Area | Impact |
|---|---|
| Visibility | Real-time view of Champion activity without manual tracking |
| Reduced Admin | Self-service profiles and event submissions reduce email load |
| Verification Workflow | Clear queue for matching new signups to alumni records |
| CRM Integration | Profile changes exportable to BruinQuest in standard format |
| Program Growth | Easier to demonstrate value with engagement metrics |
Pitch for Engagement Team:
“The Champion Portal makes Champions self-sufficient while giving you the visibility you need. Less email coordination, more strategic relationship building.”
| Technical Value | Details |
|---|---|
| Proven Stack | Ruby on Rails 7.1, PostgreSQL, Tailwind CSS, Hotwire |
| Two-Portal Architecture | Shared database, separate domains, clear data ownership |
| Mobile-First | Responsive design prioritizing phone browsers |
| SSO Integration | Google, Apple, Facebook OAuth—no password friction |
| Extensible | Designed for future native app migration |
See development/DECISIONS.md for architectural decisions and development/DATA-ARCHITECTURE.md for data model details.
| Strategic Value | Impact |
|---|---|
| Alumni Retention | Active Champions stay connected longer |
| Decentralized Engagement | Scale beyond what staff can personally coordinate |
| Measurable Community | Quantify Champion participation for board reporting |
| Modern Experience | Mobile-first, social login—meets alumni expectations |
| Lower Cost to Scale | Self-service reduces per-Champion administrative cost |
| Foundation for Growth | Modular architecture allows pivoting as needs emerge; platform can expand to broader alumni population |
Executive Summary:
The Champion Portal transforms a loosely coordinated volunteer network into a structured community platform. It enables Belmont to scale alumni engagement beyond staff capacity while providing the metrics needed to demonstrate program value. The platform architecture is designed to evolve—features can be added, modified, or expanded based on real usage data and changing priorities.
What it does: Lets Champions create accounts and get verified.
| For End Users | For Technical Teams |
|---|---|
| Sign up with name and email, or use Google/Apple/Facebook | OAuth integration with progressive account creation |
| Email verification confirms identity | Two-tier verification: email-verified → champion-verified |
| Profile completion while awaiting full access | BUID matching done by Engagement Team (existing workflow) |
Why it matters: Low-friction signup means more Champions actually complete registration. Social login means no forgotten passwords.
Details: features/01-AUTHENTICATION.md
What it does: Champions control their own profile information.
| For End Users | For Technical Teams |
|---|---|
| Edit name, photo, contact info, employment | Champion-owned data in cp_champions table |
| Choose which info is visible to other Champions | Privacy toggles per field |
| Select affinities (college, major, interests) | Self-reported affinities separate from staff-managed data |
| Update preferred name and maiden name | Shared fields sync to alumni record when verified |
Why it matters: Champions own their information. Staff don’t have to update profiles manually. Changes can be exported to CRM.
Details: features/02-PROFILE-MANAGEMENT.md
What it does: Helps Champions find each other.
| For End Users | For Technical Teams |
|---|---|
| Search by name, city, grad year, major, industry | PostgreSQL full-text search with filters |
| View profiles of Champions in your city | Privacy-respecting profile display |
| Find Champions with shared interests | Affinity-based matching |
Why it matters: The number one request from Champions is “I want to know who else is in my city.” This solves it.
Details: features/03-DIRECTORY-SEARCH.md
What it does: Empowers Champions to take action.
| For End Users | For Technical Teams |
|---|---|
| Submit local events with venue, date, description | Event submission with CLC approval workflow |
| Share stories to celebrate fellow alumni | Story submission with Engagement Team review |
| Participate in mentorship program | Mentor/mentee matching (future) |
| Access giving/donation links | Direct links to donation pages |
Why it matters: Champions don’t just consume—they contribute. These tools make it easy to host events and share wins without navigating bureaucracy.
Details: features/04-CONTRIBUTIONS.md
What it does: Creates ongoing conversation spaces.
| For End Users | For Technical Teams |
|---|---|
| National boards for jobs, mentorship, general discussion | Board hierarchy: National → City → Affinity |
| City boards for local coordination | Auto-generated boards per city |
| Post, comment, tag, mention, react | Standard forum functionality with moderation |
Why it matters: Discussion boards keep the community alive between events. They’re the “always-on” aspect of the portal.
Details: features/05-DISCUSSION-BOARDS.md
What it does: Allows Champions to contact each other directly.
| For End Users | For Technical Teams |
|---|---|
| Contact another Champion through the portal | Email relay initially, in-app messaging later |
| No need to share personal email publicly | Privacy-preserving contact flow |
Why it matters: Champions need to coordinate. This provides a channel without requiring everyone to share personal contact info.
Details: features/06-MESSAGING.md
What it does: Gives coordinators the tools to manage the network.
| For CLCs | For Engagement Team |
|---|---|
| View Champions in their city | Verify new signups and link to alumni records |
| Approve/reject submitted events | Manage all Champion accounts |
| Pin announcements to city boards | Content moderation across all boards |
| Reassign Champions to different cities | Bulk import from database |
Why it matters: Decentralized coordination means CLCs can manage their cities without bottlenecking the Engagement Team.
Details: features/07-ADMIN-TOOLS.md
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SHARED POSTGRESQL DATABASE │
├────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│ LOOKUP PORTAL │ CHAMPION PORTAL │
│ lookup.bualum.co │ champions.bualum.co │
│ (Internal Staff) │ (External Alumni) │
│ │ │
│ Roles: Admin, Staff │ Roles: CLC, Champion │
│ │ │
│ Features: │ Features: │
│ • Alumni search │ • Profile management │
│ • Engagement tracking │ • Champion directory │
│ • Champion verification │ • Event/story submission │
│ • CRM exports │ • Discussion boards │
│ │ │
└────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘
| System | Integration Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| BruinQuest (Salesforce) | Export | Champion profile changes exported for CRM import |
| Google/Apple/Facebook | OAuth | Social sign-in for Champions |
| Email (SMTP) | Outbound | Verification emails, notifications, message relay |
cp_championsalumni record via BUIDcp_champions, logged for CRM exportSee development/DATA-ARCHITECTURE.md for detailed data flow diagrams.
| Entity | Purpose | Owner |
|---|---|---|
alumni |
Master alumni records from CRM | Lookup Portal (Staff-managed) |
cp_champions |
Champion portal accounts | Champion Portal (User-managed) |
crm_data_changes |
Unified changelog for CRM export | Shared (all portals) |
cp_posts |
Discussion board content | Champion Portal |
districts |
Metro areas / cities (e.g., Nashville metro) | Shared |
affinities |
Interest/affinity groups | Shared (reference data) |
alumni (BUID) ←────── cp_champions (linked when verified)
│
├── cp_profiles (user-editable info)
├── cp_affinities (self-reported)
├── cp_posts (board content)
└── crm_data_changes (unified CRM export)
| Data | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Verification status | Controls what Champions can access |
| City assignment | Determines which boards and events they see |
| Profile changes | Must be exportable for CRM reconciliation |
| Activity timestamps | Powers “active Champions” metrics |
Champions edit their own tables (cp_*). Staff manage alumni records. The two connect through BUID matching, but Champion activity does NOT automatically update CRM data. Staff review and sync as needed.
See development/DATA-ARCHITECTURE.md for full schema documentation.
Before the Portal:
After the Portal:
Improvement: Goes from “added to a mailing list” to “welcomed into a community” within 24 hours.
Before the Portal:
After the Portal:
Improvement: Multi-day email chain replaced by 60-second approval workflow.
Before the Portal:
After the Portal:
Improvement: Per-Champion verification time drops from 15 minutes to 2 minutes. No more spreadsheet tracking.
| Role | Portal | Primary Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Champions | Champion Portal | Profile, directory, events, boards |
| CLCs | Champion Portal | All above + city moderation, approvals |
| Engagement Team | Both | Verification in Lookup, oversight in Champion Portal |
| Admins | Lookup Portal | User management, data exports, system config |
| Workflow | Frequency | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Verify new signups | Daily | Engagement Team |
| Approve events | As submitted | CLCs (escalate to Engagement if needed) |
| Moderate boards | As flagged | CLCs (city) / Engagement (national) |
| Export profile changes | Weekly | Engagement Team |
| Manage cities/CLCs | Monthly | Engagement Team |
| Issue Type | First Response | Escalation |
|---|---|---|
| Password/login problems | Self-service reset or SSO | Engagement Team |
| Profile questions | Help text in portal | Engagement Team |
| Event submission questions | CLC | Engagement Team |
| Board moderation | CLC | Engagement Team |
| Technical bugs | Engagement Team | Engineering |
| Metric | Target | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Signup completion rate | >80% | Measures onboarding friction |
| Monthly active Champions | >60% of verified | Community health indicator |
| Directory searches per month | 2+ per active user | Core value delivery |
| Events submitted per quarter | 50+ | Champion contribution level |
| Board posts per month | 100+ | Community engagement depth |
| Metric | Target | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Champion growth rate | +20% annually | Program expansion |
| Time to verify new Champion | <1 business day | Onboarding experience |
| Staff time on Champion admin | -50% reduction | Operational efficiency |
| City event density | Events in 75% of cities with established CLCs | Geographic coverage |
| CRM export completion | 100% weekly | Data integrity |
| Metric | Target | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime | >99.5% | Champions expect availability |
| Page load time | <2s on mobile | Mobile-first experience |
| SSO success rate | >99% | Login friction reduction |
| Error rate | <0.1% | Reliability trust |
| Milestone | Target | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot Group 1 | Q1 2026 | Nashville CLCs + 20 local Champions |
| Pilot Group 2 | Q2 2026 | Expand to 2-3 additional cities |
| General Availability | Q3 2026 | All verified Champions |
| Full Feature Set | Q4 2026 | Discussion boards, enhanced messaging |
| Phase | Focus | Timeline | Key Deliverables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Foundations | 8-12 weeks | Auth, profiles, directory, city structure, dashboard |
| Phase 2 | Contributions | 6-8 weeks | Events, stories, mentorship, giving links |
| Phase 3 | Discussion Boards | 4-6 weeks | National + city boards |
| Phase 4 | Messaging | 4-6 weeks | Direct messages, notifications |
| Phase 5 | Advanced Features | 4-6 weeks | Visit mode, map view, advanced search |
| Phase 6 | Reporting | 4-6 weeks | Activity dashboards, city health metrics |
Total Estimated Timeline: 6-12 months
Note on Timeline Estimates: These timelines are based on traditional development approaches. With AI-assisted development tools, we anticipate significant acceleration—potentially reducing weeks to days and months to weeks. Actual delivery will depend on complexity, testing requirements, and iteration cycles.
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSO provider changes API | Low | Medium | Standard OAuth libraries, multiple providers |
| Database performance at scale | Low | High | PostgreSQL proven; optimize queries as needed |
| Mobile browser compatibility | Medium | Medium | Progressive enhancement, test on real devices |
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low Champion adoption | Medium | High | Pilot with engaged Champions first; iterate on UX |
| Alumni Team bandwidth for administration | Medium | Medium | Start with light moderation; automate where possible; phased rollout |
| CLC bandwidth for moderation | Medium | Medium | Start with light moderation; automate where possible |
| Feature creep delays launch | Medium | High | Phased delivery; MVP first |
| Primary developer is also Director of Alumni Engagement | Medium | High | Cross-train future Advancement Services team member; document architecture thoroughly; success of platform will justify dedicated resources |
| Dependency | Risk | Contingency |
|---|---|---|
| Google/Apple/Facebook OAuth policies | API changes or restrictions | Maintain email/password fallback |
| BruinQuest/Salesforce import format | Format changes | Versioned export templates |
| Champion program priorities | Shift in university focus | Modular features can be paused |
For the Champion Portal to succeed, we assume:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Alumni Champion | A volunteer alumnus who actively represents Belmont in their community through events, mentorship, storytelling, or other activities |
| BUID | Belmont University ID — the primary identifier for alumni in university systems |
| BQID (Contact ID) | BruinQuest ID — the identifier used in Salesforce/CRM, format: C-000000000 |
| Champion Portal | The external platform at champions.bualum.co for Champion self-service |
| City | The metro area where a Champion is based (e.g., Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas). Technically maps to a “district” in geographic hierarchy, but we use “city” in user-facing language for simplicity. |
| CLC (City Leadership Council) | Champion coordinators who organize activities in their metro area. Each city has one or more CLC members who approve events, moderate boards, and support local Champions. |
| District | Technical term for metro area grouping (e.g., “Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN”). In user-facing language, we say “city” instead. |
| Email Verified | Account status after confirming email — can log in but has limited access |
| Champion Verified | Full account status after Engagement Team links BUID — full portal access |
| Engagement Team | Belmont staff who recruit, verify, and support Alumni Champions |
| Lookup Portal | The internal staff tool at lookup.bualum.co for alumni search and engagement tracking |
| Region | Large geographic area used by Advancement Services (e.g., “Southeast”, “Northeast”). NOT used in the Champion Portal — we use “city” instead. |
| SSO | Single Sign-On — logging in with Google, Apple, or Facebook instead of a separate password |
| Visit Mode | Feature allowing Champions to temporarily view another city’s content |
Facebook groups work for casual conversation, but they don’t provide:
The Champion Portal coexists with Facebook groups. Champions can use both. But the portal provides structure and data that Facebook can’t.
LinkedIn is excellent for professional networking, but:
That’s today’s approach. The result:
The Champion Portal’s value isn’t any single feature. It’s the integration:
One place, one login, one community. That’s what existing tools can’t provide.
| Document | Purpose | Audience |
|---|---|---|
| README.md | Technical overview and phase planning | Product, Engineering |
| development/DECISIONS.md | Architectural decision log | Engineering, Product |
| development/DATA-ARCHITECTURE.md | Data ownership and table design | Engineering |
| phases/ | Implementation phase documentation | Engineering, Product |
| features/ | Detailed feature specifications | Engineering, QA |
Document maintained by the Alumni Engagement and Engineering teams. Last updated December 2025.