Discussion: Hybrid On-Chain School Directory & Donation Flow

[sanaderi]

exploring the best way to integrate our existing school directory with the new on-chain donation system.

Current school directory is already live here: gamatrain.com/school
This page includes detailed information about schools (profiles, metadata, etc.), and we want to connect it with our Anchor-based Solana program.

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Proposed Hybrid Approach

• Keep the full directory off-chain (in our database).
• When a user (donor or school rep) visits a school detail page and starts a donation request:
  • If the school does not already exist on-chain, create a School account that references the off-chain record (site_school_id + optional metadata URI).
  • Then, create the Request account (linked to the School account).
• Verification Step: Each donation request must be approved by the school admin (authority wallet) before it becomes active.
• Donations are recorded on-chain through Donation accounts, ensuring transparency and auditability.

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Benefits of Hybrid

• Reuse our existing school directory without migrating all data to Solana.
• Keep storage costs low on-chain.
• Allow fast updates to school info off-chain.
• Ensure donation requests are verified by school admins, preventing spam/fraud.
• Still achieve full transparency for donations and requests.

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Example Flow

1. User visits a school detail page.
2. Check if a School account exists on-chain.
   • If not → create it.
3. User (student, teacher, or rep) submits a donation request.
4. School admin (authority wallet) verifies/approves the request.
5. Once approved, request is visible and open for donations.
6. Donors contribute → funds tracked on-chain until fulfilled.

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Next Steps

• Define Anchor account structures (School, Request, Donation).
• Implement instructions for:
  • create_school_if_needed
  • create_request
  • verify_request (school admin approval)
  • donate_request
• Discuss whether school creation should be automatic when the first donation request is made, or manual by school admins.

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Open for Contributors

We’d love feedback on:

• The hybrid model (off-chain directory + on-chain donations).
• The verification step by school admins — is this enough, or do we also need DAO/community review?
• The flow design (school → request → verification → donation).
• Any improvements for scalability, transparency, and security.

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What do you think? How should we refine this flow to make it both practical and trustworthy for schools, students, and donors?