[5.4.1] [Social] Funding Request: ENS Meta-Governance Working Group Term 5 (Q1/Q2)

Abstract

The ENS Meta-Governance Working Group requests funding of the below to support operations until the September 2024 funding window.

The Meta-Governance Working Group is responsible for providing governance oversight and supporting the management and operation of working groups through DAO tooling and governance initiatives as well as treasury management for the DAO.

This social proposal is submitted to satisfy the requirements set out in Rule 10.1.1 of the Working Group Rules (EP 1.8) and further required by this snapshot proposal in Nov. 2023 modifying steward rules. If this proposal is passed, the funding request will be included in a collective executable proposal put forward by all three Working Groups.

Specification

This specification is the amount requested from the DAO treasury to the Metagov Multisig to fulfill anticipated budgetary needs through September 2024.

| | USDC | ETH | $ENS | | --- |:----:|:---:|:----:| ENS Meta-Gov Main Multisig | 374k | 0 | 105k |

Description

Current Metagov Wallet Balances

(Values expected as of March 5th, 2024 - Use hyperlinked wallet names to see current balances)

| Address | ETH | USDC | $ENS | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ------- | ------ | | ens-metagov.pod.xyz | 85.68* | 362,463 | 15,540 | | ens-endowmentfees.pod.xyz | 0 | 0 | 0 |

*This value includes 22.89 that the metagov safe loaned to the endowment fees payments that will be repaid to the metagov safe with executable that implements the new Endowment fees strategy

Expenditures

Meta-Gov sets aside funds to ensure coverage for mission-critical initiatives. While we strive to estimate term expenditures accurately, the final spending depends on pending initiatives. We anticipate that final expenditures will not surpass the expected expenses allocated for the term.

Expected Expenses through September 2024

| | USDC | ETH | $ENS | | -------------------------------- | ----------- | --- | ----- | | Steward + Secretary Compensation | 294,000 | - | | | Governance | 50,000 | 5 | 105k | | DAO Tooling | 140,000 | - | - | | Discretionary | - | 10 | - | | Total Balance | 484,000 | 15 | 105k |

Governance Distributions

| Recipient Category | Amount of $ENS | Method | | --------------------------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Contributors and Developers | 60k | Vesting contracts | | Elected Stewards | 45k | Change to vesting contracts is planned for the 2025 guidance |

Description of Initiatives/Pods

Steward + Secretary Compensation: Working Group Steward and Secretary compensation as required by revised steard working group rules and totaling $294,000 USDC.

Governance: Fee reimbursements and initiatives related to reducing friction in the governance process. This can also include $ENS distributed in order to lower barriers to the governance proposal process.

DAO Tooling: Developing interfaces and dashboards to improve the governance process and increase transparency across the DAO. An example of DAO tooling spend is our current engagement with Agora as they help build out an enhanced DAO proposal flow to streamline the proposal process.

Discretionary: Funds distributed at the discretion of stewards towards new initiatives + governance experiments. In this cycle, we've consolidated the former DAO Sponsorship category into this discretionary category.

Conclusion

This funding request will allow the ENS Meta-Governance Working Group to continue its essential work in providing governance oversight, supporting the management and operation of working groups, and ensuring effective treasury management for the DAO. The requested funds will enable us to maintain our ongoing initiatives and develop new tools to enhance the governance process. We are grateful for the community's ongoing support and engagement, which is crucial to the success of the ENS DAO. The Meta-Governance Working Group remains committed to serving the ENS community and driving the long-term growth and sustainability of the ecosystem.