| Author(s): | @ange @abbey | | --- | --- | | Type: | Org | | Created: | 2023-11-06 | | Discussion: | https://community.radworks.org/t/discussion-rgp-21-foundation-org-proposal-2024/3404 | | Formal Review: | https://community.radworks.org/t/formal-review-rgp-21-foundation-org-proposal-2024/3420 | | Status: | active |

TL:DR; In response to the feedback on the first draft (https://community.radworks.org/t/discussion-rgp-21-foundation-org-proposal-2024/3404/10) of this proposal, we've incorporated the following changes in this version:

• Restructured committee objectives and timeline to reflect a more lean & gradual approach for tackling Radworks' strategy & governance initiatives
  • Delayed sustainability modeling & distribution of influence objectives by a quarter
  • Added objectives for supporting Org Leads with go-to-market & strategy
  • Removed any "final mile" objectives, leaving 2024 focused on research & experimentation
• Reduced overall budget by 18.5%
  • Reduced legal spend by 30%
  • Reduced marketing budget by 30%
  • Reduced Ops, Strategy, and Governance contributor rates/hours
  • Removed Q3 open hire from Gov Committee

With these changes, the Foundation Org is now requesting $400,877 USDC from the Treasury for 2024 (in addition to the approximately 1,322,310 USDC that will be unspent from the 2023 budget). We hope these changes satisfy the concerns of the community.

Purpose

The Foundation’s purpose is to support the development of resilient and humane software infrastructures.

Since the evolution of the “Radicle Project” into what we now know as Radworks, the term Radicle has become specifically related to the code collaboration protocol & product. In this new reality, the name “Radicle Foundation” no longer reflects the Foundation’s wider purpose, supporting “resilient and humane software infrastructure” beyond Radicle. Therefore, as previously suggested, the Foundation has since renamed itself the Better Internet Foundation (referred to as “Foundation” below). This name is not only more compatible with the Foundation’s purpose, but more accurately reflects its larger vision for promoting and protecting Internet technologies.

The Foundation can, in part, fulfill its purpose by working in partnership with Radworks, which has an aligned purpose: to fund new, resilient, permissionless technologies to cultivate Internet freedom. More on this relationship can be found in the “Reasoning & Analysis” section below.

In 2024, the Foundation requests funding from Radworks with the intention of driving activities that will serve three roles:

1. A Protector: The Foundation supports legal strategy, ensures operational and financial health, and promotes transparency within the Radworks ecosystem.
2. A Nurturer: The Foundation incubates proposals and research to mature Radworks’ decentralized governance system, while also maintaining documentation, improving governance processes, and establishing best practices for the ecosystem.
3. An Advocate: The Foundation advocates for resilient and humane software infrastructures, building networks of individuals, initiatives, and organizations that can educate and push (technical and cultural) adoption of these technologies.

Organizational Structure

The Foundation is governed and managed by the Foundation’s Council, which - at its core - is responsible for ensuring that the Foundation is governed in accordance with its deed (and ESA’s supervision) and spends funds in line with and in pursuit of its purpose. The Council holds several meetings per year, during which it discusses all management subjects and resolves all issues according to the deed.

The Council intends to approve the organization of three committees for 2024: Operations Committee (known as “Operations” or “Ops”), Radworks Strategy Committee (known as “Strategy”), and Radworks Governance Support Committee (known as “Governance”). These committees are created to give greater autonomy to “bodies" of suppliers, which (as a committee) have control over their own budget. These committees are governed by their annual proposals and budgets, which are approved by the Council. Each committee has a committee lead, who is responsible for reviewing invoices falling into the budget of their committee and overseeing the use of the committee budget more generally - including the quality of work being paid for. The committee leads meet quarterly with the Council to report on and discuss the committees’ spend and work.

Timeline & Budget

The Foundation intends to apply any unspent proposal award granted to the Foundation by Radworks in April 2023 (for the Foundation’s work as outlined in its 2023 Proposal for a budget 3,660,992.78 USDC) towards its 2024 budget. Based on the Foundation’s year-to-date spend and the forecasted costs for the remainder of 2023, we can assume that we will have spent approximately 2,338,683 USDC of the proposal award granted in April 2023 in the year 2023. Therefore, approximately 1,322,310 USDC will be applied towards the 2024 budget requested here. Once the accounting has been completed for 2023 (around February 2024), the Foundation will:

1. Calculate a more precise amount of the Foundation’s 2023 Radworks proposal grant used by the Foundation in 2023 and include this as part of a 2023 financial report.

2. Publish a financial and activity report to the Radworks Discourse with regard to how funds were used in 2023 (see Foundation Council “Objectives” above).

💡 NOTE: The 2023 financial report (on spending and status of capital allocated from Radworks in 2023) will be published in Q1 2024 instead of December 2023, as previously indicated in the Foundation Org’s 2023 Proposal. This is because the accounting for 2023 will not be completed until February 2024, and therefore any report created before then would be incomplete.

The Foundation has budgeted 1,723,187 USDC for its work in 2024, as outlined in this proposal; therefore, applying the unspent funds from 2023, the Foundation is requesting a grant of 400,877 USDC. This will enable the work of the Foundation Council as well as the Operations, Strategy, and Governance Committees (which have their own proposals and budgets, approved by the Foundation Council), as well as general Foundation administration costs, through December 2024.

| Component | Requested Budget | | --- | --- | | Accounting & Auditing Costs | $40,414 | | Bank/Gas Fees | $25,832 | | Contributors - All | $1,072,747 | | Legal Expenses - All | $218,456 | | Marketing, Sponsorships, and Events - External | $288,547 | | Offsites/Events - Internal | $48,989 | | Rent & Subscriptions | $28,203 | | Total Annual 2024 Budget | $1,723,187 | | Unspent Grant from 2023 | (-) $1,322,310 | | Requested Grant from Radworks for 2024 | $400,877 |

Fund Management

The requested grant for 2024 would be paid out in one transfer of $400,877 USDC once this Proposal has been approved via Radworks governance. The majority of the funds received by the Foundation will be stored in a multi-sig wallet controlled by the Foundation Council, which requires 3 of 5 signatures. Every month, approved funds will be sent to a separate multi-sig wallet managed by the Foundation Ops Committee (set at 2 of 5 signatures), which is used to pay contributors and all invoices. The Foundation Council remains responsible to assure that all funds are used within the Foundation’s purpose. The amount stored in this second multi-sig wallet is only enough to cover the anticipated cost of invoices for one to two months.

The Foundation Org - also the "Grant Recipient" of Radworks, if this proposal is passed - hereby agrees to use the amount granted by Radworks in support of fulfilling the purpose outlined in the "Purpose" section above. The Grant Recipient understands and acknowledges that the awarded amount may be used only for this Purpose. Furthermore, any part of the grant that goes unused in the calendar year outlined in this proposal (for 2024) will either be returned to the Radworks Treasury (by March 2025) or rolled over into and applied towards the Org's 2025 proposal and future grant from Radworks.

Technical Implementation

The proposal will transfer 400,877 USDC amount to the Foundation multisig, which is controlled by five signers, with a three out of five quorum. The signers will consist of the Foundation Council (@abbey @ange @cloudhead) and Foundation Op Reps (@sllyllyd and @wendy).

https://github.com/radicle-foundation/radworks-governance/blob/main/proposals/foundation_org_2024.proposal

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