Title: BanklessDAO Season 1 Proposal
Authors: wolfehr, 0xLucas, frogmonkee, Kouros, mamer
Created Date: 6/08/2021

SUMMARY

This proposal gives form to the idea of Seasons. It introduces a specification the DAO can follow to operate fluidly by adding some rails to the ride we are on. It also implements a slightly modified version of the spec for Season 1.

Background

In the BanklessDAO announcement post, the Gensis team introduced the idea of Seasons. The term was deliberately vague and the first one was supposed to start on June 4th, 2021. The concept of a season was deliberately vague and left up to the DAO.

This proposal is an attempt to capture the trends and lessons of the past month into an actionable guidebook for Seasons as a whole.

SPECIFICATION

Summary

About Season

• Seasons are three month periods that align the DAOs collective energy to a few key objectives
• These objectives are in the form of funded initiatives that BANK token holders vote on before each season.
• Projects that do not require funding or generate revenue are free to operate with minimal procedural constraints.
• Seasonal proposals that go to snapshot must be comprehensive. They must be thorough in scope, clear in communication, and have a chain of accountability.
• During each season, a Grants Committee of 5-7 people will review and vote on proposals to fund from a multi-sig separate from the DAO Treasury
• Furthermore, Guilds will have their own multi-sigs and can request funding from the DAO as part of the Seasonal vote. Guilds can use this funding for internal projects, contributor rewards, and/or funding bounties.

Special Considerations for Season 1

• Starts two weeks after this proposal is passed on Snapshot
• Two months long, with an option to extend the Season at the one month mark
• Priorities are to complete the Onboard MVP and generate multiple revenue streams
• No Seasonal voting period before launch
• All treasury funding goes through a grant committee, including Guild funding

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Funding Projects

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This section outlines an operational procedure for moving a proposal from its initial stages all the way to vote. The Discord, Forum, and Scope Squad are optional steps, but most projects will go through the entire flow.

This DOES NOT apply for projects that do not require funding.

Methods to Gauge Consensus

Tools like Discord and the forum are great places to gauge and workshop your ideas

• Find the relevant discord channels for your idea. Pitch it, see what people think. Workshop in the channel, or even move it to a private chat. Find people that get excited about your idea. (Example)
• Use the #poll channel to get community feedback (Guide). This is perfect if you think your sample size is small or want the community to help you make a decision. You must include a description of what you want and why. Provide context to help others make the right decision.
• Get your thoughts down on paper and post in the General Forum to discuss in a slower paced environment than Discord

Methods to Confirm Consensus

Projects that feel like they have sufficient soft consensus can now start scoping.

• The Scope Squad phase gathers the gritty details and creates a properly scoped proposal with a chain of accountability. For example, a scoped proposal may include:
  • Identifies a champion(s) responsible for executing on a proposal
  • Guilds that overlap with each proposal have representatives that are responsible for executing their particular function
  • Has a central repository for all information and files related to the project
  • Proposed a timeline and measurable indicators of success
  • A quorum and voting threshold for moving to snapshot
  • A snapshot voting threshold

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(Note: This is when steps become mandatory)

• Create a forum post using the proposal template. Copy and paste that forum post into a Google document for others to provide comments/suggestions.
• Discuss, workshop, and iterate on drafts of the proposal, posting updated copies in the forum. (Example)

Methods to Formalize Consensus

• Once a proposal has been thoroughly scoped and refined, it must go through a quality control filter in the form of a review by the Ops Guild. The Ops guild will:
  • Verify a proposal has met proper quorum and voting requirements
  • Verify that proper formatting has been followed
  • Verify that no information is missing
• A one week Snapshot period to meet the threshold defined in the scope

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Seasonal Projects

Seasonal projects are initiatives that the BanklessDAO has collectively decided to focus resources towards.

Anyone can submit their proposal for funding by adding it to the project page. This allows the DAO to easily view the projects that are planned or took place in a given season. If a project needs funding as part of a season, the squad can add a “Requesting Season [season #] Funding” tag to the Tags column. Project funding can and should include rewards for contributors, including individuals that helped create the proposal but won’t participate in the execution.

Two weeks before the start of each season, the operations guild will review projects with the appropriate “Requesting Season [#] Funding” tag for the upcoming season. Projects that do not meet the requirements will have the tag removed and the project Champion will be informed and be provided with the reason the tag was removed. The operations guild can only review for the required information and approval. They cannot remove a funding request tag for any other reason.

The squad can update the proposal and submit it to the Grants Committee if they don’t want to wait until the next season for funding. The operations guild should also attempt to provide feedback on proposals when they are posted so squads aren’t surprised.

A snapshot vote with a seven day voting period starts the next day to approve the projects requesting funding that have been confirmed by the operations guild. The snapshot vote will include a list of projects and a link to the proposal for each. There is one vote for the overall project list and 50%+ approval is required. This method may change in the future but is sufficient for now.

If the vote fails, the operations guild will schedule an emergency meeting to collect feedback and determine the next steps to update the project list and bring it back for a revote. Any projects that are not ultimately approved for a season can try to get funding via a grant.

If the vote passes, the “Requesting Season [season #] Funding” tags are changed to “Approved for Season [season #] Funding” and the approved funds are added to the approved funding column.

At the start of each season, once a project list has been approved, the treasury guild will distribute approved funds to project Champions, who will be required to provide receipts to the treasury guild for the expenditures (e.g., the transaction showing a contributor was paid the reward specified in the proposal). Any unused funds upon project completion should be returned to the treasury.

Funded projects will need to provide at a minimum bi-weekly update. Updates must be included on the wiki project page, and are encouraged to also be provided via a forum post or community call. The update should include

• Funding used
• Updates on KPIs and progress towards goals
• Blockers

Bankless Grants

Grants Treasury

There will be an evergreen project to fund a grants treasury that’s controlled by a Grants Committee. The grants treasury will be used to fund projects that are ready to start mid-season and can’t or shouldn’t wait for the next season for funding. The treasury can also fund projects that don’t align with the current DAO priorities but align with its mission and values and warrant funding.

Each season, the Grants Committee will propose a budget allocation to replenish the Grants Treasury. If the budget proposal passes, requested funds from the Bankless Treasury will be allocated to the Season Grants Commmittee multisig, controlled by all commmittee members. From there, the Grants Commmittee can allocate funding at their discretion based on the budget proposal along with weighing in any input from the community.

Any unused funds from the initial distribution are retained by the grants treasury. It can effectively be considered an interest free loan from the DAO against future seasonal funding.

Generally, each and every project will be allocated funding based on milestones or KPIs. Projects will receive an initial grant upfront, and will be required to complete each milestone or KPI in order to receive further funding.

Project squads can request a grant by adding a “Requesting Grant” tag to their project page and informing a member of the Grants Committee.

Grants Committee

We’re proposing the Grants Committee consists of 5-7 members along with a multi-sig with all commmittee members as signers. Similar to Aave’s Grant Program, this will include a Grants Lead and Reviewers. The Grants Lead will be the key individual responsible for organizing the program and ensure that things move smoothly and efficiently. The lead will likely dedicate a significant amount of time to the program.

The Committee is responsible and accountable for managing the grants system, reviewing grant applications, and managing the grants treasury, with the help of other guilds as needed (e.g., treasury). Grants must be distributed to the project Champion or a Champions multi-sig wallet for larger projects.

The Committee has a quorum with five members, but is otherwise responsible for their own operations. The Committee cannot change the application process to be a Committee member without a snapshot vote and is encouraged to accept the DAO’s proposal template.

The Grants Committee is required to be transparent and communicative with the DAO, such as access to Committee meetings and an opportunity to voice opinions and feedback.

Grants Leads: Key individuals responsible for organizing the program and ensuring that things move smoothly and efficiently. The lead will likely dedicate a significant amount of time to the program. There are two Grant Leads to ensure there is not a single point of failure. Serve a two-year term and can resign at any time.

Reviewers: Process applications, weigh in on discussions surrounding budget planning, ensure that the lead is acting in good faith and is effective in their role, and will operate a 4 of 7 multisig which disburses funds to grantees. The reviewers will also hold the program accountable to its goals and objectives and return any excess funds to the Bankless Treasury. Reviewers are likely to dedicate a smaller amount of time to the program.

Committee Member Elections

When there is a vacancy on the Grants Committee, there is a two week period where anyone can volunteer by submitting an application on the proposals section of discourse that includes

• Discord handle
• Role
• Reason for applying
• Qualifications
• Sponsor(s) (i.e., someone who will second your nomination)

Any candidate that receives 30+ votes and 66%+ approval moves on to a snapshot vote for a final decision from the DAO.

If one DAO member qualifies for a snapshot it is a hire or do not hire vote that requires 66%+ approval to pass. If there is more than one candidate there is a runoff in discourse managed by the operations guild where the candidate that receives more votes moves on to a snapshot vote.

Any candidate that isn’t approved can collect feedback, improve their resume, and reapply for future vacancies. Multiple vacancies that occur at around the same time (e.g., Committee genesis) can be grouped into one snapshot vote. Runoff votes are based on the number of hire votes.

Committee members can be recalled with a 60%+ snapshot vote. Committee members can leave the Committee at any time by submitting a written resignation note to the Committee.

If there are not two Bankless LLC employees on the Grants Committee, their applications will be given preference until there are two employees on the Committee. Both committee members may not be Leads.

Genesis Committee

A one-week application period will commence upon approval of this proposal.

• If 4-7 candidates pass the discourse application, they move on to a snapshot vote to be the genesis committee
• If 8+ candidates pass the discord gate there is a runoff and the seven candidates with the most hire votes move on to a snapshot vote. Voters will be allowed to place four votes. Up to two Bankless LLC employees will be given preference. If more than two Bankless LLC employees apply, the two with the most votes will be accepted and the remaining will be included in the runoff for the remaining five positions.
• If less than four candidates pass, the application period will remain open until there are four candidates that pass the discourse application.

DAO Contributor Rewards

There will be an evergreen project funding DAO Contributor Rewards that is allocated funding each season.

At the end of each season, DAO member can opt in to an “epoch” in Coordinape and claim 1000 GIVE tokens to allocate to the DAO members they think contributed to the DAO during the season and haven’t yet been rewarded for their contributions. Tokens must be allocated to other people; you cannot allocate tokens to yourself. There will be a seven day voting period.

A Contributors Dashboard will be created to help people make informed decisions. This will include information about contributions (e.g., projects on the wiki) and rewards (e.g., grant payments).

Guild Funding

Every guild will get an allocation of funds each season for them to pay for operating expenses, bounty boards, and rewards contribution as they see fit. Some example use cases might be to fund bounties or do seasonal Guild Contributor Rewards.

To be allocated funds, the guild must have a section on discord, page on notion, and a multi-sig wallet with the wallet holders approved by the guild. For smaller guilds, operations can fill in as a signer until the guild is able to find enough guild members to control the wallet. The guild should request this assistance if needed and can replace the operations guild singer at any time.

Guilds must request funding as part of seasonal funding to receive an allocation. They can do this using the process outlined in the DAO Seasonal Projects section. The expectations will be different from standard projects in that there will be financial implications like funding for bounty boards or salary for people who perform operational tasks within the guild

Managing Budgets

The DAO projects page will have columns for “Available Funds” and “Allocated Funds”.

When funding is allocated, the team allocating those funds (e.g., Grants Committee for grants, Operations Guild for seasonal projects, guilds for guild funding) will add those funds to the “Allocated Funds” column.

At a minimum of bi-weekly, the squad or guild that was allocated those funds must update the “Available Funds” column to indicate how much funding remains.

The DAO will not micromanage budgets.

Special Handling for Season 1

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There will be no Seasonal Funding for Season 1. Instead, our collective objectives are aligned towards:

1. Onboard Project MVP
2. Generate multiple revenue streams

Funding within the Season will follow a special one-off process where Bankless Grants will fund all DAO activities. This is to allow us to start funding projects and rewarding contributors right away.

The Committee will be allocated 11M $BANK to fund projects, guilds, and DAO contributors during that time period. Any funds left after Season 1 will be considered a free loan from the DAO treasury that is a lean against future seasonal funding starting in Season 2.

• 5M $BANK allocated for projects
• 5M $BANK allocated for Guilds
• 1M $BANK allocated for contributor rewards

Guilds could request a grant during Season 1 once they’ve become eligible (see #Guild Funding). The Grants Committee will fund DAO Contributor Rewards at the end of the season at their discretion based on the outcome of the Season 0 experiment.

NEXT STEPS

• Vote on snapshot
• Update notion based on this proposal
• Properly scope existing projects
• Begin Genesis Committee Process
• Create Grants Treasury multi-sig wallet
• Transfer 11M $BANK to the Grants Treasury

HELP NEEDED

• Treasury
  • Distribute approved funds
  • Provide guidance and advice during planning on the impact of projects on the treasury.
  • Contributors Dashboard
  • Assistance with financial requirements on proposal template
• Operations
  • Managing planning
  • Confirming seasonal projects have the required information (i.e., squad, financial implications, and brand usage)
  • Recruiting a Grants Committee
  • Inform treasury of approved budgets so they can distribute funds
• Analytics
  • Contributors Dashboard
• Development
  • Contributors Dashboard
• Grant Committee
  • 2x grant leads
  • 5x reviewers

Wow. A lot of work gone into this. I gotta say, seeing everything spin up so quickly is incredible to watch. Really in awe of the levels of effort and coordination. You guys are absolute weapons!

Thanks for writing this up. The depth of this is incredible. As well as the speed at which you guys write this up. It used to take us years to build these in traditional institutions.

Thanks!

The proposal template needs to include a Financial Implications section where you ask for the budget you need if any.

We’ve discussed and agreed that no need to provide receipts, as most of the things we pay for won’t have receipts. Also, is it the Treasury who is going to control this or the Grants Committee?

I would advise not to provide updates on spending via community call unless requested to do so. The information should be available in Notion.

This was discussed and we thought this should be the case when forming the first committee. Going forward all members that wish to apply to the Grants Committee should follow the same procedures no matter if you are a Bankless LLC employee or not.

I would call it Genesis Grants Committee.
Also you have omitted the process of electing the Grants Committee leads.

Not sure if the Contributors Dashboard should be reconciled by the Treasury.

@frogmonkee @Kouros

I think the proposal template should be replaced with this one, which includes some additional sections like squad, financial implications, and brand usage. Project Proposal Template - Google Docs

I support removing the receipts requirement, given Treasury doesn’t think they’re necessary.

I’m also fine only giving Bankless LLC preference for the genesis committee. Thoughts @0x_Lucas?

In this draft, a special process for the grants leads was removed, and now reviewers and leads would use the same application process and indicate the role they’re applying for in the application. I said I was okay with that, but I obviously proposed a different method and am okay flipping back to that.

I thought treasury might provide some assistance on a contributors dashboard to help surface things like funds distributed, but maybe analytics can handle all that stuff? I don’t think that part is central to the proposal. I was just trying to think ahead as to what help would be needed to implement the proposal.

This is great to see, very well formulated. Well done!

The treasury might populate data on Guild Budgets granted and maybe contributors rewards from previous season. But the analytics will probably play a central role in this matter.

Going back to the receipts part. I don’t think they are necessary at this stage however the Treasury, the Grants Committee or other members of the DOA can scrutinise the budget holder for information about the budget management. It is in the best interest of budget holders to manage the budget properly as this will set precedents and reputations.

Fantastic job everyone involved.

Great work. I only have 1 suggestion: We have 2 weeks to approve projects for seasonal funding, and snapshots are 1 week. If we have multiple projects that’s a lot of snapshot votes at once (potentially)

How are you mitigating that? Or is it something we’re okay with (having multiple snapshots up at once)?

In this proposal, projects for season X+1 are approved throughout season X via forum posts in the proposal section. Then prior to season X+1 starting there is one snapshot vote for all the projects that have been approved via forum proposals.

The thought process is that those projects already have confirmed support, so we’re mostly just doing one final on-chain vote to confirm the overall scope since funding is involved, which in theory should pass since all the projects that are included in the vote have already have support.