Expanding the Community Grants Program

by 0xfe91c0c482e09600f2d1dbca10fd705bc6de60bc

Summary

This proposal aims to expand the range of grant tires in order to support teams and bigger scoped-projects.

Abstract

Decentraland DAO opened their Community Grants program on May 31st 2021. Since then 12 grants have been given for Content Creator, Platform Contributor, Gaming and Community categories.

The current structure is aimed to single individuals:

• Tier 1: One-time payment of $500 - $1500 USD in MANA
• Tier 2: One-time payment of $1500 - $3000 USD in MANA
• Tier 3: Up to a 3 month vesting contract of $3000 - $5000 USD in MANA, with a one month cliff.

This proposal aims to create 3 new tires designed for teams and larger scoped projects.

Motivation

The current tires are good to fit small projects and individual contributions. If more money is needed the contributor can continue requesting further grants to keep up the good work (eg. KevinOnEarth).

In order to tackle bigger projects that require the commitment of a team for many months we need to scale our tire options. This will attract more talent to the ecosystem.

Specification

The proposed new tires are:

• Tire 4: Up to $60.000 USD using a 6 months vesting contract (1 month cliff).
• Tire 5: Up to $120.000 USD using a 6 months vesting contract (1 month cliff).
• Tire 6: Up to $240.000 USD using a 6 months vesting contract (1 month cliff).

These tires allow a team to receive up to 10k, 20k or 40k per month for over 6 months. The amounts represent the maximum requested value per tire and it opens the possibility to request less money, for example with Tire 4 one could ask for 3k USD per month over 6 months.

It’s recommended to teams to start with small tires, get idea’s validation from the community, show some progress and later request a bigger grant to suit the escalation of operations. It will be quite harder to get DAO approval for a massive grant to an unknown team.

Teams should report progress to the DAO Facilitator which will be included in regular reports. The grants are provided via revocable vesting contracts, thus enabling the DAO to cut a program that doesn’t deliver what was promised.

Benefits

There are many ways the DAO benefits from the success of grants:

First, if these grants add value to Decentraland’s ecosystem then MANA should get more general awareness and the price should go up, thus making the treasury of the DAO bigger. So what is good for Decentraland is good for the DAO.

Second, I would love to see projects capable of generating a revenue stream, becoming profitable ventures, and generating employment around Decentraland. Enabling more people to make a living out of Decentraland’s ecosystem is key.

Ultimately, bringing new people on board with skills and mindsets it’s a great benefit for the DAO. We need more active members. Attention and initiative are scarce resources IMHO.

• Approve the inclusion of Tire 4, 5 and 6
• Do not approve the inclusion of Tire 4, 5 and 6
• Invalid question/options

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO