Stewardship Proposal

Overview This is a revised version of the Financial Stewardship Proposal (https://snapshot.org/#/evmaverick.eth/proposal/0x876e5da1b8d6450acb4f5c80ecfaf709791bff1fc611fe5f3c102dae092c47d0), originally accepted by the DAO via snapshot vote on 06/23/2022. As per the terms in the approved proposal, the stewardship system was set to automatically expire after an initial trial period unless re-approved by the DAO, potentially with modifications.

This proposal would continue the stewardship system with continuity in the current set of stewards, and modifications to the proposal text to reflect the changing roles and duties the stewards have taken. In particular, the text incorporates the following changes:

• Lengthening of financial periods from three to six months;
• Description of the 3/5 Stewards multisig, as described in https://snapshot.org/#/evmaverick.eth/proposal/0xde917ae35ca7b5d4eaf6f6b57c5e46ae292d7ea9d76e6dc01d7a9ddce91034fb;
• Removal of quorum requirements on votes in exchange for a high 75% approval threshold;
• Naming changes (renaming financial stewards to stewards) and working group formation responsibilities; and
• If a steward is removed or vacates their seat out-of-cycle, filling the seat with a Discord moderator until the next regular vote.

Summary

• Stewards are five elected DAO members who oversee a discretionary budget from the treasury.
• Bi-annual Snapshot votes elect stewards and determine the overall treasury allocation.
• Stewards oversee public treasury records, direct discretionary spending, pursue funding, submit budget proposals, and organize treasury-related votes.
• The 7/11 ManeNet DAO multisig holds the vast majority of the DAOs funds. The 3/5 Stewards multisig holds a minority of the funds.
• Steward terms last two periods, and are staggered. If a steward relinquishes their position or is unseated by Snapshot vote, a special election will be held to choose a new steward for the remainder of the period.

Introduction This is a proposal for ManeNet DAO’s treasury and budget management structure. The intent is to provide a framework allowing the DAO to more easily put its treasury to use in service of its goals. This framework works on the lessons learned from the trial period and subsequent period in 2022. This proposal focuses on two concepts: Stewards and financial periods:

Stewards (or simply stewards) are a group of five DAO members elected by the DAO to oversee its finances. Notably, stewards are delegated authority from the DAO to manage its discretionary budget, held in a 3/5 stewards’ multisig, intended to fund smaller expenses without need for separate Snapshot votes.

Financial periods are six months long (bi-annual); in each financial period the DAO holds a Snapshot vote to determine both the allocation of assets in its treasury and the discretionary budget allocated to the stewards.

The Snapshot vote for this proposal, and all snapshot votes described in this document will have no minimum quorum requirement. Basic for/against and approval votes will require a 75% threshold for acceptance, in order to ensure widespread agreement even when participation is low. Instant runoff ranked choice votes must include an option to reject all other proposed options to similarly ensure consensus. A proposal should run for a minimum of 7 days to be valid.

Stewards In total, the DAO will elect and maintain a group of five stewards. Stewards serve for a term covering two financial periods but may apply and be elected for additional terms. Two existing members are selected to step down early at the end of the financial period, with their seats opening for reelection for terms beginning with the next financial period. Thus, terms are staggered, with 2-3 seats requiring reelections each financial period (detailed below).

The responsibilities of the stewards are as follows:

• Oversee the DAO’s finances, keeping up-to-date records on income, expenses, and treasury status, making this information accessible to DAO members;
• Collectively direct the DAO’s discretionary budget, with authority delegated from the DAO to manage smaller expenses on its behalf (i.e. without a Snapshot vote);
• Make payments from a 3/5 multisig held by the stewards in accordance with their other responsibilities;
• Actively seek out potential funding opportunities that align with the DAO’s goals;
• Provide official recommendations regarding the DAO’s finances to the broader ManeNet community;
• Organize the Snapshot votes for steward elections and treasury/budget allocations prior to each financial period; and
• Organize, oversee, and incentivize working groups

Stewards’ funding decisions include, but are not limited to: donations, grants, bounties, and retroactive funding. This proposal places few requirements on how the stewards carry out their responsibilities. Additionally, discussion between stewards occurs in two spaces: one public Discord channel for sharing updates, taking feedback and vetting ideas, one private channel for brainstorming early stage ideas, communicating sensitive information or investment decisions that are at the risk of being front run. Aside from these restrictions, stewards may organize as they see fit.

If the DAO finds that a steward is not fulfilling their responsibilities, any DAO member may submit a Snapshot vote calling for the removal of that steward. The vote will be conducted as a basic for/against vote. If the vote passes, the steward should be immediately removed from their position, and a Discord mod will take over the vacant position. Afterwards, a special election will be held to fill the vacancy. The replacement steward serves only for the remainder of the removed steward’s term. A similar solution can be used when a steward quits voluntarily.

Financial periods Financial periods are half a year long, beginning on the 1st of January and the 1st of July.

In each financial period, a Snapshot vote determines what should be done with the DAO’s treasury funds. The stewards are expected to produce a report on the DAO’s finances, along with their recommendations for how to proceed. They then solicit and aggregate financial period proposals from the community and create a ranked-choice Snapshot vote, with the winning proposal being adopted for its financial period. A financial period proposal consists of:

• Asset allocation for the entire treasury, may allocate to illiquid options such as RP minipools;
• A discretionary budget to be assigned to the stewards;
• Flat monetary compensation to the stewards themselves; and
• Any additional guidance for the stewards or multisig signers.

Asset allocation and budget may be static (e.g. X ETH) or dynamic (e.g. rebalancing percentages, dependent on revenue, or conditional on future events). Snapshot votes may be submitted during a quarter to alter a previously-approved by a financial period proposal, and should be held as a basic for/against vote in approval in order to pass. Stewards’ monetary compensation should be disbursed at the end of the period evenly between the stewards, and in the event a steward was replaced during the period, both the original and the replacement will be compensated pro rata.

The end of each financial period involves a series of steps to prepare for the following financial period:

• Five weeks prior to the end of the period, stewards should begin collecting applications for the steward seats requiring reelection.
• Three weeks out, stewards should initiate a week-long Snapshot approval-vote to elect replacement stewards.
• Two weeks out, stewards should begin collecting financial period proposals from the community and creating their own.
• One week out, stewards should initiate a week-long Snapshot ranked-choice vote to select the financial period proposal to put into effect.
• On the date the new financial period begins, the multisig executes any actions indicated by the selected financial period proposal, and stewardship is passed from those whose terms are expiring to those who had been newly elected.