[Proposal #16] Community Contribution Rewards (2023 Revision of Prop #7)

Proposal Name: Community Contribution Rewards 2023 Authors: Cooper, Mrsenorhill, Cbruce Link to Discussion: https://commonwealth.im/linksdao/discussion/9407-proposal-16-community-contribution-rewards-2023-revision-of-prop-7

Funding: Up to $42,000/month total (up to $36,000/month for community team leadership (up to 12 “Starters” each paid ~3k/month) and up to $6,000/month for task-based community contributions. For the first six months of 2023 the max would be $252,000 total. This Proposal will be automatically renewed on 7/1/2023 unless replaced by a subsequent proposal.

TL;DR Proposal 7 came in under budget for 2022. Thank you all for your votes and contributions to this organization! As we close in on acquiring our first course, the functional operation of the DAO and community contributor system has never been more important. This proposal continues to fund rewards for community contributors for delivering work that drives our mission while maintaining a responsible and predictable budget. A “pool” of monthly payouts for community leadership and a “pool” of adhoc rewards tied directly to future project or workstream proposals. This proposal sunsets the “Pods” system developed in 2022, and officially replaces it with the five “Pillars” system, consisting of Clubhouse/Play, Community, Marketing, Partnerships, and Core Functions. This shift from over ten Pods to five Pillars has already shown reductions in siloing and increased collaboration, leading to greater organizational efficiency.

Rationale Proposal 7 was a resounding success in experimental organization design. We enabled over 300 individuals to have visibility and 50+ to engage as paid contributors to Links in our first year - in a hybrid DAO model. Enabling folks to contribute what they could, when they wanted, according to our business needs allowed for unprecedented flexibility and for the best, most dedicated producers to elevate to leadership roles. This effort was not without downsides - the open, quasi-permissionless nature of contributions resulted in occasional gaps in communication and mission alignment, particularly in mid-summer. We missed opportunities for clear communication, failed to track & measure results for certain projects, and early in the year lacked full-time support & oversight of community-led initiatives - occasionally leading to scope creep or, alternatively, insufficient resources being committed. This proposal aims to keep the best of Proposal 7, while implementing solutions to the problems identified in 2022.

Proposal Details We will reorganize the pods and contributors around our mission-driven Pillar system in 2023 - this should resolve our missteps and deliver improved output while reigning in on “blanket stipend” costs. Contributors will partake in periodic (no less than quarterly) group and 1:1 reviews with support from Pillar leadership. These reviews will enhance the pathway from lurker > member > contributor > leader > full-time that has been established with the pod system, and allow for check-ins to ensure availability and resources for key areas. We are currently evaluating software options to assist this system, which will be manually administered to start. We have modified the budget in consideration of last years’ spend and enhanced the set of transparent processes for rewarding contributors that deliver meaningful outcomes. Our approach relies on principles that create equitable rewards and are supported by an “upward mobility” process from within the DAO. Community leaders who are hired to full-time positions will open up further 'starter' positions as the year develops. This is not an insignificant financial commitment, but we believe ensuring people have fair and predictable compensation for meaningful contributors is the right investment.

Up to $36,000/month for up to 12 “Starters”

• In the new Pillars, there will be a max of 12 Starters who are responsible for driving outcomes towards the LinksDAO mission at a high quality bar. (list of current Starters below)
• These community leaders may be paid a monthly stipend to ensure their time, attention, and alignment to the LinksDAO mission, based on continued delivery of results and availability, and subject to quarterly review.
• To ensure consistency, we want to reduce the turnover of these individuals while also creating clarity on compensation for this group, while allowing for new contributors to flow into leadership positions as the need arises.
• We arrived at the 3k/month reward by evaluating the median national yearly income for a “Manager” role, dividing by 12 (months), and then scaling back by 50% to reflect a 20hr/week commitment to DAO leadership activities. We feel this is both generous compared to other DAOs with similar structures and financially responsible for our treasury.
• Performance will be peer- and Pillar leader- reviewed to provide more flexibility in 2023.

Up to $6,000/month for community contributors (ad hoc, across projects, ~1.2k/Pillar/Month)

• Unused starter funds will be considered available for discretionary / ad hoc contributions.
• New onboarding flows will be established to welcome aspiring DAO contributors into the system. A “bounty board” will be made available for current projects / needs, in addition to specialist and/or full-time job postings (not part of this proposal budget) like the Social Media Manager role.
• Pillars will be responsible for generating projects (or workstreams) that create value for the community and further the LinksDAO mission. (for example: Course design, culture, features, and naming projects, and recently delivered projects like the GGA, Pro-shop, NFTNYC, Members’ Bounce, SXSW events, etc.)
• Each project will have a “contributor” budget clearly outlined in its proposal. That money will come from this fund.
• Community contributors who’ve established a reputation by completing projects will be eligible to become a member of the Pillar team.
• Each project participant shall receive a proportion of the contributor budget for that project (or in some cases workstreams).
• Payouts will occur upon successful completion of a project’s deliverables after being evaluated by Pillar leadership to ensure payout proportions are equitable compared to the initial proposal. Longer-term projects may be paid out upon completion of agreed upon milestones.
• Proposal 7, Pods, and Pods M2 demonstrated significant “upward mobility” into leadership positions and core-team roles. We aim to improve onboarding and talent allocation through improved systems utilization in 2023

Current Starters

• alanglinais7#3176 - Analytics (Core Functions)
• barbs#7712 - Mulligan Creator & Editor (Marketing)
• BLL01#2800 - Pro Shop, Member support (Core Functions, Community)
• db#8253 - Moderation, Special Events (Community)
• Eth#5397 - Membership rewards, Support (Clubhouse/Play, Marketing, Community)
• gabbie#6081 - Onboarding, Operations, Grow the Game (Marketing, Partnerships, Core Functions)
• JenS#0401 - Grow the Game, Pro-Shop (Partnerships, Community)
• ryan.prickette.eth#8740 - Events, Golf Concierge, Org & Ops (Clubhouse/Play, Community, Core Functions)
• Ryanskeff#9046 - Operations, Gaming, Support (Core Functions, Clubhouse/Play, Community)
• Tungsten#5400 - GGA, Quizhouse / MC, Special Projects (Clubhouse/Play, Community)
• JKirby#0776 - Gaming, Special Projects (Community)

Major Milestones:

• M1 (April 2022): “Onboarded” Pod Leaders formally to their roles (set expectations for each role and set them up for success)
• M2 (April 2022): Pod Leaders defined and shared clear OKRs for each Pod. Our rationale for doing this AFTER the proposal passed is that each pod leader should be compensated for the work necessary to create these goals and they were aligned and incentivized to see those OKRs through.
• M2 (April 2022): Provided bi-weekly text updates to the community on plans, progress, and problems related to OKRs
• M3 (May 2022): Launched task management software that organized pod activities into projects and tasks, which also creates transparency on execution and contribution rewards tied to projects and workstreams.
• M4 (December 2022): Completed a formal review of pod performance and shared results with the community. Rationale is that pod leaders should have a runway of six months to demonstrate results in their roles. Delivering outcomes will dictate keeping pod leadership roles.
• M5 (January 2023): Formally transition to the PIllar model, adopt proposal 16, and launch new contributor onboarding flow.
• M6 (March-April 2023): Complete Prop 16 reviews with all Pillars and contributors.
• M7 (Early-Mid 2023): WAGBAGC

Starter Responsibilities

• ~20hrs/week expectation for Pillar projects and community team leadership responsibilities
• Consistently engage within leadership team and Discord community
• Define goals for projects and maintain a bi-weekly cadence of updates to the community (text or via community calls) about progress towards goals
• Onboard new members to pods by creating “upward mobility” from membership to meaningful contribution
• Oversee the identification of projects that meet Pillar/DAO goals and help steward proposals from idea, to definition, to RFC, to vote, and ultimately through successful execution.
• Manage the approved contributor budget for projects and workstreams
• Develop the talent of contributors within Pillars so “upward mobility” is clear and achievable for all members who want to contribute
• Maintain the health of the DAO’s culture

Effort: Medium Voting: Yes: I support allocating up to a max $42,000/month of treasury funds towards a contributor budget.

No: I do not support this allocation.

Abstain: Neither for nor against, but recording this vote counts toward reaching Quorum.

What Happens After the Vote: If Yes, the results will be sent to the multi-sig. If approved, Finance / Core Functions Pillar will ensure funds are spent responsibly.

If No, nothing happens.