[Announcement] NDC Grassroots DAOs and direct funding process for March 2024

Dacha · February 2, 2024, 2:10pm

Grassroots DAOs funding process for March 2024

Funding focus for Grassroots DAOs:

P-1 Widening Adoption of NEAR, Outreach to New Audiences (Referral systems for the ecosystem, Demonstration of NEAR to non-blockchain communities: Education of the local communities, creators, influencers ; Activation of the protocol daily usage through gamification mechanics (for example, leaderboards)) - Continuous outreach to new audiences is the source of new community members and ideas. That’s why we believe this priority is a cornerstone for the NDC. There are many initiatives that fall into this category and we intentionally do not want to limit what is possible.

To evaluate the results, please use the following metrics that will be used for tracking individual initiatives’ performance by DAO.

All the metrics must be attributable to the relevant project/initiative through on-chain activity and off-chain reporting, ensuring GDPR compliance and preserving privacy:

Accounts retention after 1/2/4/8 weeks — the percentage of accounts who continue interacting on the chain over a given time period (higher is better).
Account acquisition cost — budget divided by the number of accounts interacting through the funded initiative (lower is better).
Median number of dApps used by P95 accounts retained for 1+ week (higher is better).
Number of accounts retained for 1+ week using at least three dApps (higher is better)
Social engagement score — some compound metric of the number of posts, likes, and followers/views in social media produced by the users.

Funding process:

You can find a comprehensive guide here:

TL;DR

Forum Posting (1st-7th):

Applicants submit proposals on the NEAR Governance Forum within suitable Grassroots categories (For example, Gaming DAO, Aurora DAO, etc. Near Community and nodes - NEAR Forum ) between the 1st and 7th of January.
Applicants should use the form for their requests: Appendix 1 “Near Digital Collective application form Near Digital Collective Grassroots DAOs, projects, individual contributors funding, onboarding and operations guide v1

GDAO Governance Members’ Review (8th-12th):

GDAO governance members thoroughly assess proposals on the forum between the 8th and 12th of January.

GDAO Governance Members’ Feedback (8th-12th):

Members actively provide feedback and make decisions on proposal support or rejection, publicly posted on the forum between the 8th and 12th of January.

Proposal Decision:

A proposal passes or is rejected based on a minimum threshold aligned with 51% of votes from GDAO governance members.

Proposal Approved/Rejected:

A proposal receiving 51% or more positive feedback is marked as approved [Approved]. Rejected proposals can be revised and resubmitted in the next month.

Closing Proposals:

GDAO governance members can close [Closed] proposals for various reasons. Please request to provide feedback from particular DAO governance members.

Budget Compilation and Submission (12th-13th):

GDAO governance members compile the final NDC budget and submit funding requests to the House of Merit. KYC/KYB processes for approved applicants begin.

HOM Review and Voting (13th-20th):

House of Merit members review and vote on funding requests, providing feedback to Grassroots DAOs and applicants. The House of Merit’s point of contact provides necessary feedback to Grassroots DAOs.

In Case of Successful Approval by HOM:

HOM forwards the request to CoA for on-chain voting.

20th-21th:

CoA reviews and votes on-chain.

If CoA is not creating a proposal to veto within one business day after the approval from HoM, money transfers can be executed;
If CoA is creating a proposal to veto, then CoA members have five business days to vote on this, and money transfers are not allowed until the results of the voting or five business days (which would mean expiration and rejection of the veto proposal).

NDC Trustees Transaction:

NDC Trustees execute the transaction if expenses align with the Trust’s objectives.

Post-Transfer Execution:

Payments are disbursed to Grassroots DAO wallets and then to approved applicants who completed KYC/KYB. KYC/KYB procedures are determined by the House of Merit.

Important Notes:

NDC is not responsible for losses due to Near price changes. Delays may occur beyond NDC procedures and due to force majeure events.
Requesting funds cannot exist in the allocated budget for each subcategory NDC budget final - Google Sheets with and reduced in NDC interim period. Starting of the v1 NDC governance framework [interim period]

Suggested funding hardcaps for each DAO:

She is Near up to $30,000
Near Research Collective up to $6,500
Onboarding DAO up to $25,000
Build DAO up to $50,000
Aurora DAO up to $43,000
Gaming DAO up to $53,000
Degens DAO up to $20,000
Marketing DAO up to $45,000
Globe DAO up to $55,000
NFT DAO up to $20,000
Africa DAO (onboarding poll is pending)
Service DAO (budget is pending)

The direct funding process for March 2024

Funding focus:

P-1 Widening Adoption of NEAR, Outreach to New Audiences (Referral systems for the ecosystem, Demonstration of NEAR to non-blockchain communities: Education of the local communities, creators, influencers ; Activation of the protocol daily usage through gamification mechanics (for example, leaderboards)) - Continuous outreach to new audiences is the source of new community members and ideas. That’s why we believe this priority is a cornerstone for the NDC. There are many initiatives that fall into this category and we intentionally do not want to limit what is possible.