Discussion/Proposal for Shutter DAO 0x36: Launching an Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Development of a Governance and Grant Program

Shutter DAO DAO Proposals
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Simple Summary

Shutter DAO 0x36 is a good example of a community-driven autonomous organization. In order to ensure the sustainable development and increase execution speed and -quality of Shutter DAO 0x36, a more elaborate and efficient foundational governance framework for a grant program is needed. This proposal seeks to initiate an RFP to find a contributor to establish a foundational Governance and Grant Program within Shutter DAO 0x36 over the course of six months. The program will encompass four key pillars, which will include a series of proposals: Partnerships development, Marketing/Communications and Community, Product Management and Development, and Grant and Contributor Management. The objective is to lay down the basic structures necessary for kick-starting and ensuring the sustainable future development of the DAO. The ultimate goal is to further develop Shutter DAO 0x36 while at the same time preserving its autonomy.

If this proposal passes, Shutter DAO 0x36 will start an RFP process where contributors can apply to develop the Governance and Grant Program. Shutter DAO 0x36 will allocate up to 30,000 USDC and 50,000 SHU tokens for developing and operating for 6 months a Governance and Grant Program.

This proposal represents a strategic effort to position Shutter DAO 0x36 for success by laying the groundwork for its operations, growth, and fostering its autonomy.

Goals

The goals of this proposal are grounded in a philosophy that prioritizes hands-on execution and values the principle of simplicity over complexity. The governance and grant program should emphasize the importance of identifying the right contributors and establishing effective incentives, ensuring that our efforts lead to tangible outcomes and foster a culture of efficiency and clarity within Shutter DAO 0x36:

  • To Establish Basic DAO Structures: Set up essential frameworks and handbooks across the four pillars to support the DAO’s operations and growth.
  • DAO Enablement: Kick start Shutter DAO 0x36 to operate efficiently after the initial six-month period across the four pillars mentioned.
  • To Attract and Empower Contributors: Identify and onboard skilled contributors and partners who can drive the DAO’s mission forward.
  • To Foster Community Growth: Build a robust community around Shutter DAO 0x36, emphasizing growth marketing and engagement.
  • To Streamline Product Development: Implement best practices in product management and development to ensure the DAO’s offerings are competitive and innovative.
  • To Optimize Grant Management: Develop a systematic approach to managing grants and contributions, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Background on Contribution/RfP

Recognizing the critical need for structured development and governance within Shutter DAO 0x36, this proposal aims to address the foundational gaps by engaging external expertise and contributions and ensuring autonomy at the same time. The DAO stands at a pivotal juncture, requiring strategic investment in marketing, partnerships, community engagement, product innovation, and operational management to secure its future as a decentralized entity. By launching targeted RFPs, Shutter DAO 0x36 is able to collaborate with professionals who can bring valuable insights and execution capabilities across these domains, thus steering the DAO towards its vision of becoming a self-sustaining, autonomous entity.

Scope for the Contribution of a Governance and Grant Program

  • Governance and Grant Framework: Define and design, together with key DAO stakeholders, the structure, objectives, and key areas of focus for the grant program. Design a comprehensive governance framework (incl. handbook) that includes roles, responsibilities, mechanisms, and decision-making processes.
  • Application Process, Monitoring and Evaluation: Develop an application process for grant submissions, including guidelines, templates, and evaluation criteria. Establish a system for monitoring grant-funded projects and evaluating their outcomes against predefined objectives.
  • Operating framework: Definition and design, together with key DAO stakeholders, of an operating framework to ensure autonomy and hand-over to key contributors / sub-groups across e.g.:
    • Partnerships development,
    • Marketing/Communications and Community,
    • Product Management and Development,
    • Grant and Contributor Management
  • Support the development and promotion of relevant RfPs for the DAO regarding the above-mentioned topics. This includes, but is not limited to: content coordination with the DAO, identification of contributors, definition of evaluation criteria, evaluation process, and contributor onboarding.
  • DAO alignment and promotion of transparency within the DAO regarding the progress of the Grant and Governance program

Evaluation Criteria and Proposal Requirements

Evaluation Criteria

  • Proposal Content: Outline of an approach, roadmap and definition of key deliverables.
  • Expertise: Understanding of Shutter DAO 0x36, engagement at Shutter DAO 0x36, expertise and experience with similar tasks, and a portfolio of previous work and/or references.
  • Economic Criteria: Expected compensation for the scope of work.

Proposal Requirements

  • The proposal needs to include at least key information on how the contributor plans to develop the Governance and Grant Program incl. scope of work, deliverables, roadmap/timelines, expected compensation, and contributor introduction/profile
  • The proposal needs to be accessible to everyone in the Shutter DAO 0x36 forum
  • The proposal needs to be handed in on time: Proposals need to be handed in 5-10 days after the RfP has been posted (timeline to be discussed in this thread).

Implementation/Next Steps

  • Open Call for Contributors: After this proposal passes, a Request for Proposal will be issued to the community. Interested contributors with the requisite expertise are invited to submit their proposals. Each proposal should detail the contributor’s approach to developing the foundational Governance and Grant Program, including timelines, scope of work (and deliverables), execution, expected compensation. Proposals need to be handed in 5-10 days after the RfP has been posted (timeline to be discussed).
  • Evaluation and Selection: Proposals will be reviewed by the DAO and the most suitable proposal will be selected by the Shutter DAO 0x36 through voting via Snapshot.
  • Contribution Milestones and Disbursement: The selected contributor will share deliverables in the proposal and suggest Milestones which are fundamental to the disbursement of funds. The contributor will then receive the disbursement of up to 30,000 USDC and 50,000 SHU tokens from the Shutter DAO treasury (see further instructions below).
  • Deliverable Submissions and Disbursement: Upon completion and submission of the work items/deliverables, the contributor will present their work to the Shutter DAO for review. Upon satisfactory review and acceptance of the work, the disbursement of funds will be made to the contributor. Approval of the funds will be voted via Fractal by Shutter DAO 0x36. Up to 15,000 USDC tokens at the beginning of the contribution, up to 15,000 USDC after 50% of the deliverables have been accomplished and 50,000 SHU after the final submission and quality assurance of all agreed deliverables. All SHU tokens are subject to the same lockup period as the genesis allocation. Approval of the funds will be voted via Fractal by Shutter DAO 0x36.
  • Review and Transition: At the end of the six-month period, the DAO will evaluate the program’s success and make necessary adjustments to transition towards fostering autonomy.

Voting Platform

  • Snapshot

Vote

Members of Shutter DAO 0x36 are invited to vote on this proposal using the following options:

  • Vote “YES”: To approve the launch of RFPs for developing the Grant and Governance Program
  • Vote “NO”: To not approve the launch of RFPs for developing the Grant and Governance Program
  • Vote “Abstain”
8 Likes
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YES! We are just starting here! LES GO TEAM! :blush:

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I like the proposal. Initially I started to write a post which suggested changes and it almost ended up as an rfp response in itself! Instead here are more high level thoughts:

The scope of proposal is quite broad covering governance, operations and grants, these are all interelated so it probably makes sense to include them together however it does make successfull delivery more difficult. Therefore important evaluation criteria (already mentioned), will be familiarity with Shutter DAO but also experience in similar succesful DAOs. It may however also make sense to split this into two, separating DAO governance / ops from the grant process?

I had a bunch of thoughts on the proposed disbursement plan - is it a good idea to pay USDC up front and SHU (which is more volatile) at the end and does this maximize alignment? Is the split betweeh USDC and SHU appropriate from an incentive aligment point of view? Are the payment milestones appropriate, especially given some of the deliverables would be operational support? Instead of suggesting changes here, I think we should include the full payment amount in the rfp and leave it up to the potential contributors to specify the milestones and corresponding payment schedule as part of their proposals.

I think that 5-10 days may not be not sufficient time to allow for interested parties to a) find out about the rfp b) build a sufficient understanding of the DAO and c) to put together their proposal. Maybe 3 weeks+ would be better?

Overall, this is a complex rfp and I think it makes sense to focus heavily on desired outcomes and leave it to responders to specify artefacts to be delivered, milestones etc.

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I fully endorse this initiative.

Establishing a structured system within the DAO is crucial to effectively manage our operations and tasks, minimizing the common challenges faced by decentralized networks of individuals who aren’t constantly engaged in daily collaboration. Moreover, decision fatigue among DAO members is a significant issue, given our diverse commitments to full-time jobs and other communities. Implementing a system will greatly enhance our ability to streamline information dissemination, voting procedures, and decision-making processes.

An excellent step towards developing this governance framework/system is the creation of the Request for Proposals (RFP) linked here: Request for Proposals (RFP): Educational Marketing Initiatives for Shutter DAO. This initiative falls under the purview of the Marketing/Communications and Community sub-DAO.

I am eager to participate in contributor calls and contribute to the advancement of our DAO’s objectives.

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Scope: It would be great to get additional thoughts from the community regarding the question raised about separating DAO governance/ops from the grant process and subsequently launching two RfPs.

Disbursement Plan: I like the idea of including the full payment amount in the RfP and leaving it to potential contributors to specify the milestones and corresponding payment schedule as part of their proposal. Having said that, I would also include this into the evaluation criteria of the RfP responses.

Timeline: Yes, I agree that we need an extended timeline based on the experience regarding the time potential contributors need to respond to the RfP.

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This is awesome to see - much needed improvement to the DAO! I think that the compensation package won’t attract top talent though, we’re talking about paying someone around 5k/month to get a DAO up and running. Our USDC is scarce though, so I think the amount of SHU should be greatly increased to further incentivize the future governance operator. This amount could also be vested over time to ensure maximum alignement.

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hey @jul1an do you know what the next steps of this Prop are?

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hey @Baer_DAOplomats - I will create a vote for this topic soon to move forward with it. I think it was put on hold because other topics were more pressing.

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