Small Grants Committee Creation

Introduction

The Small Grants Committee, inspired by the successful NounsDAO model, presents an exciting opportunity to empower and reward our creative community by

• streamlining the funding process for smaller projects
• encouraging participation from a diverse range of talents
• catalyzing innovation and growth within the Rug Radio ecosystem.
• attracting skilled individuals to the Rug Radio community
• fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas that can lead to unforeseen breakthroughs.

The Small Grants Committee can fund the following:

1. Builders who contribute to the Rug Radio ecosystem
2. Established Committees' activities
3. Retroactive payments in exceptional cases

This proposal requests an allocation of the following from the Rug Radio DAO to fund the Rug Radio Small Grants Committee starting on May 1st 2023 until July 31st 2023: - 3 ETH, - 50,000 $Rug , - 5 Genesis NFTs. - 5 Membership Passes & - 5 CVL PFP NFTs

• Project Summary

Rug Radio DAO seeks to incentivize and recognize the efforts of creators, artists, devs, and builders in the Rug Radio community. Forming the RDAO Small Grants Committee provides another funding avenue (distinct from the Rug Radio Prop House model) where the council appoints y 2-3 Council Members to serve as Small Grants Committee members, and entrusts them to efficiently dispense a flexible pool of funding for the duration of a trial period of 3 months. .

Small grants will be funded from the DAO Treasury (executed by at least 3 established Multi-Sig signatures) upon approval by the Small Grants Committee. The Small Grants process is different from the Rug Radio Prop House process and serves different functions; Small Grants proposals may have a shorter deadline than the funding rounds in Prop House and funds can be released fast by approval of the Committee, will not have predefined criteria and will involve grant amounts so small they don’t warrant a proposal, or in exceptional cases are for projects that are already completed.

In addition, the Small Grants System may be considered a "knowledge base". A method of collecting and storing selected proposals coming from skilled community members retaining a database that can be referred to in the future. The flow of proposals may provide a wealth of ideas coming from community members in an organized manner, for the benefit of Rug Radio, that we may not have discovered or considered. Through the Small Grants Committee, we aim to attract skilled individuals (or groups of people) to join the Rug Radio Ecosystem.

We are building on the innovative concept of the Small Grants Committee from NounsDAO. To get a better idea of how Small Grants Committee works and the kinds of proposals being funded through this mechanism, we encourage you to check out the following link: Nouns DAO Small Grants Committee: https://nouns.center/funding/smallgrants

This proposal requests an allocation of 3 ETH, $Rug 50,000, 5 Genesis NFTs. 5 Membership Passes & 5 CVL PFP NFTs from the Rug Radio DAO to fund the Rug Radio Small Grants Committee starting on May 1st 2023 until July 31st 2023.

• Project Description

Why Small Grants?

The formation of the Rug Radio Small Grants Committee provides another funding avenue (as opposed to the Rug Radio Prop House model), with the goal of attracting great talents and skilled builders to benefit the Rug Radio Ecosystem.

We aim to get the RDAO Holders more involved in governance and therefore RDAO holders will have a say in selecting Committee Members as well as participating in voting by Poll on fund distribution. There will be a community yes/no poll vote for the community (RDAO Holders) to approve or reject the chosen committee by majority vote. While Rug Radio Snapshot Proposals work well for larger projects, the complexity of the proposal process is not ideal for encouraging small, one-off, or alpha versions of projects/tooling. We welcome the wider community members to add to the Rug Radio Ecosystem and would like to reward them for their contributions. The Small Grants Committee will provide for a flexible pool of capital that’s spent at the Committee’s discretion.

Quoting OnChainMonkey:

“We encourage community members to submit proposals that inspire both positive change, as well as, benefits and increased value for our community. The OCM DAO is giving holders, budding creators, builders, and entrepreneurs the opportunity to secure funding to develop projects/businesses that can make a real impact.”

How will it work?

Rug Radio DAO will establish a Small Grants Committee and fund it with 3 ETH, $Rug 50,000, 5 Genesis NFTs. 5 Membership Passes & 5 CVL PFP NFTs to disburse to projects that benefit the Rug Radio Ecosystem. The grants are for projects ranging from 0.1 to 2 ETH. A project can be funded multiple times at different stages, such as piloting a proof of concept before building the product.

The Small Grants Committee and Funding

The Committee will consist of five members, with three RDAO holders elected by the community (RDAO Holders). The Committee will include one representative from the Rug Radio Core Team and one Council member. At least 3 members of the committee, which must include at least either the approval of one Council Member or one Core Team Member, must approve a grant where required.

(i) Appointment of Small Grants Committee Members

• Small Grants Committee members are nominated from within the Council and appointed by the Council.

• The committee will include 2-3 Council Members who either self-nominate or are nominated by the council members.

• The Council may decide to pass on the responsibility to RDAO Holders who will be chosen by the Council.

• RDAO holders may self-nominate or be nominated by the Council.

• The Council may decide to run a community poll to vote for Small Grants Committee nominees.

• Applications may be received by standard application process.

• Once the Small Grants Committee has been chosen, there will be a yes/no poll vote to approve the committee as a whole.

(ii) The Small Grants Committee can fund the following:

1. Current grants by reviewing proposals. Granting funds for the development of small, one-off, or alpha version projects/tooling which benefit the Rug Radio ecosystem. This includes proposals for funding submitted on behalf of committees.

2. In exceptional cases retroactive grants, to recognize those Rug Radio community members who have been building the Rug Radio community and ecosystem from the start.

The Council may ask RDAO holders to determine whether a proposal is to be funded by Poll Vote. RDAO Holders may request a Poll vote to determine whether a proposal is to be funded.

(iii) Decision-Making for Funding

Small Grants Committee members must recuse themselves from granting themselves or their immediate family members any funding, as well as abstain from voting on any project or proposal they are personally involved in.

(iv) Small Grants Approval Considerations

Main points to be taken into consideration when determining whether a proposal should be funded:

• Benefit to the Rug Radio Ecosystem

• Direct benefit to the RDAO

• Return of investment to the Rug Radio/the RDAO

• Skills and experience of the proposer

(v) What can the Small Grants Committee Fund?

Anything which brings added value to the Rug Radio Ecosystem including IRL events for community members to meet up in different geographic regions, projects like creating marketing materials to hand out at events, piloting new ideas that engage the Rug Radio community, rewards for individuals who have already built useful community tools in the past and more.

(vi) How is Disbursement handled?

The Small Grants Committee will review proposals on a rolling basis. They will direct Rug Radio DAO to transfer funds from the Rug Radio wallet to the approved recipients. Recipients of small grants are encouraged to report on status and progress to the Rug Radio community..

(vii) Renewal

If deemed successful by general consensus, the Small Grants Proposal will be renewed without requiring an additional proposal to go through the voting process. In addition, it will be included in the Core Team's future "Long Range Plan" proposals as part of the RDAO Council's budget. The budget to be reassessed if required.

• Project Rationale

With as much participation from RDAO holders as possible, the Small Grants Program seeks to provide an open, effective, dynamic, and transparent procedure for funding distribution to keep up with the rapid pace of the Rug Radio Ecosystem.

The Small Grants System is a faster track for fund allocation which allows for any type of proposal to be submitted as long as it benefits the Rug Radio Ecosystem.

The flow of proposals may provide a wealth of ideas coming from community members in an organized manner, for the benefit of Rug Radio, that we may not have discovered or considered. Through the Small Grants Committee we aim to attract skilled individuals (or groups of people) to join/collaborate with the Rug Radio community.

• Project Action Items

Allocate 3 ETH, $Rug 50,000, 5 Genesis NFTs. 5 Membership Passes & 5 CVL PFP NFTs from the Rug Radio DAO treasury starting on May 1st 2023 until July 31st 2023

Set up a Discord channel for nominations and candidate statements and Candidates' votes. (done)

Set up Pollmaster (or something of the sort) to allow for anonymous voting on Discord, prevent sheeping and allow for either single or multiple votes. (done)

Publish a record of approved small grants and projects

Create a database of proposals to keep a record of community members with specific skills for future reference

Create a customized form for grants applicants to fill in

Set up the committee

• Other Important Points

The Small Grants Committee is not obliged to distribute any funds from May 1st 2023 until July 31st 2023. Allocation of funds will be determined by the Small Grants Committee who may decide to accept and fund proposals and reserve the right to decide to reject all proposals.