Citizen Grants Program Updated Strategy
After the initial pilot of the Citizen Grants Program, and 3 Citizens Retro rounds, it has become clear that we need to redefine what the program is, what we aim to achieve with it, and set more long term goals and objectives to ensure its success for Gitcoin and our community. After an exercise using our own Grants Canvas, as well as internal discussions, the below is how we plan to move forward with the program.
TL;DR
- Conclude the Citizens’ Innovate and Forward by the end of July as part of the pilot as scoped in the original proposal.
- We are moving towards a selective RFP & Direct Grants, simplifying the process.
- Citizens Retro will spin out of the Citizens Program and spin into Gitcoin Grants. We will not host a Citizens Retro round in 2024, moving to hosting the next one in Q1 of 2025 alongside GG23.
- We will update the content on the gitcoin.co/citizens page to reflect the updated direction of the program.
- Run internal and external retrospectives every 3 months as an ongoing period of reflections to iterate and learn. Here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t, and here’s how we’re moving forward. Learning, iterating more actively and regularly, ensuring that the community has their voices heard will be an important part of the future of the program.
Roles & Responsibilities - Program Overall
Owner/Driver: @MathildaDV
Executive Sponsor: @deltajuliet
Consulted: @owocki @Sov @sejalrekhan
Timeline
Where We’ve Come From
After running a pilot, the following challenges have been identified in the greater adoption of the program:
Undefined Problem Spaces:
- Lack of clear problem definitions within Citizens Innovate leads to confusion and ineffective citizen engagement.
- Need for deliberate focal points to encourage community collaboration on shared challenges.
Limited Context for Proposal Writing:
- Insufficient understanding of Gitcoin’s goals and challenges hinders effective contributions.
- Ongoing education on Gitcoin’s technology stack, governance, and strategic priorities is necessary.
“First Mile” Barrier for Engagement:
- The initial engagement process for RFPs and GCPs is cumbersome, deterring participants.
- A more user-friendly interface is needed to facilitate smoother initial interactions.
Limited Distribution:
- Limited awareness of the Citizens Forward initiative impacts participation and proposal quality.
- Improved outreach and communication are required to boost community engagement.
Funding Issues:
- Imbalance in funding: some DAO Citizens had too much funding, leading to inefficiency (Parkinson’s Law).
- Others had too little, causing talented contributors to leave for other ecosystems.
Next Steps:
- Conclude Citizens Innovate and Forward by the end of July as part of the pilot as scoped in the original proposal.
- Pay off earned grants (i.e., prorated for completed milestones) to active grantees (Karma, Grants Portal)
Citizens Grants Program 2.0
The Citizens Grants Program aims to enable citizens to contribute to Gitcoin’s mission by fostering community-sourced innovation. The program focuses on growing the usability of Gitcoin’s ecosystem, making Gitcoin a leader in the space again, and strengthening the feedback loop between value creation and value capture. Additionally, it seeks to bring competitors closer by encouraging them to build on Allo.
In our move to Gitcoin 2.1 and the re-evaluation of the program, below are the objectives that we plan to achieve in the program moving forward.
Define
*Good = actually has GMV potential
Audience:
| Target Grantees: | Beneficiaries: |
|---|---|
| Ethereum Builder Community | End users |
| Program Managers & Round Operators | DAO Contributors |
| Developers | Token Holders |
| Innovators |
Funding
Currently, we’re at:
- 450k GTC, with $64k spent for Citizens Forward & Innovate
- $70k for Retro
CoachJ & Laura will be removed as multisig signers, and MathildaDV will be added.
Funding Mechanisms
| Proactive: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Direct Grants | Broader scope. | Run Direct Grants rounds with a specific theme through an ad hoc process. |
| RFP’s | ||
| (Scoped by internal Gitcoin contributors) | Narrow scope. Standalone and independent of anything else. | Keep it simple. Create a separate section on the gov forum. Post to citizens and amplify on external channels. |
| Who? | B | How |
| — | — | — |
| Program Managers | Trained on and using Gitcoin’s tools | Education & pilot rounds for running rounds using Gitcoin’s tech stack. |
| Innovators | Build your mechanism on Allo | Novel funding mechanism integration to Allo |
| Developers | Building on Gitcoin’s tech stack | Builds that innovate on or increase distribution of Gitcoin’s tech stack in identified problem spaces |
| Researchers/Educators | Experience in web3 research and educational flows | Providing research & education & tools that elevates Gitcoin’s product/program knowledge |
What do we plan to fund?
In addition, Gitcoin itself will dogfood our own tools through everyday DAO contributors knowing what Gitcoin is doing and how to use our tools. This is important to have empathy for our customers.
Eligibility Criteria
Adapted to the round/program we run.
Something to note which would be a good implementation is that receivers of these grants were aware of common knowledge of Gitcoin and could be credentialed in some way for doing so:
- Reading Gitcoin Whitepaper
- Read Grants Program Design book
- Read OCAH
Direct Grants
Owner/Driver: @MathildaDV
Consulted: @owocki @Sov @sejalrekhan
Broader scope.
We will host a Direct Grants round post Devcon 2024, where we will fund Innovators and Developers.
From time to time, we will host Direct Grants rounds, which will be categorized according to eligibility criteria and specific timelines.
RFP’s
Owner/Driver: @owocki @deltajuliet
Consulted: DAO
Informed: @MathildaDV
Narrow scope. Standalone and independent of anything else. Scoped by internal Gitcoin contributors.
We plan to simplify our Request For Proposal strategy, where the Gitcoin team will (on an ongoing basis) post RFP’s to the Gitcoin Forum and promote it out to our community to attract engagement and builds.
Execute RFPs selectively using existing templates where there are:
- an internal owner(s) accountable for scope, quality, oversight
- a well-defined scope that can be decoupled with minimal dependencies on internal priorities
- a known preferred list of at least 1 to 2 teams willing to bid for work
In order for this to be successful, the Gitcoin POC uploading the RFP needs to ensure that there is enough context already built into the RFP, as the lack of this has been a problem space in the past. Teams need to know enough and be well equipped to respond to said RFP.
Retro and learnings on what’s working and what isn’t, and iterate from there. Ensure that we have high quality RFP’s, with good budgets attached, with a very clear scope in order to attract high quality citizens.
GCP’s
Owner/Driver: @MathildaDV
Approver: Grants Council
Consulted: Grants Council
Informed: DAO
Grants Council will include high-context, active Gitcoin Stewards:
@Sov, @meglister, @deltajuliet, @owocki, @ccerv1
Citizen Grants GCP’s encourages community participation and innovation towards achieving the program’s objectives. It allows Gitcoin community members to propose actionable steps and ideas (GCPs) that align with the Citizen Grants Program’s funding personas. The program utilizes direct grant funding to foster ecosystem growth through proactive contributions from its community.
Proposals undergo a structured evaluation process, including community feedback and assessment by the Grants Council.
We have simplified the GCP process. Process outlined here.
Citizens Retro
Owner/Driver: @MathildaDV
Consulted: @owocki @Sov @sejalrekhan
Early 2025, late Q1, within GG23. The Citizens Retro will spin out of the Citizens Grants Program and spin into Gitcoin Grants. We believe that the Retro should align with Gitcoin’s goals, and unlock a more robust opportunity space for citizens.
We are currently putting our Citizens Retro round on hold. Citizens Retro #4 will not take place as currently scheduled in September, rather kicking off early 2025. This decision did not come lightly, but we believe it’s important to ensure that the Retro aligns to our goals and creates more clarity for community members on where their contributions will create the most impact in the Gitcoin Ecosystem.
As part of Retro Round design in EasyRetroPGF, suggestive categories and scope of work should be offered that align with internal priorities ahead of the round. With time, this approach will raise awareness amongst citizens about these priorities.
Suggested categories for Citizens Retro 4 (early 2025):
Budget:
Currently, $70k is allocated towards Citizens Retro #4.
Conclusion
Through utilizing Gitcoin’s own tool, the Grants Canvas, to redefine and reshape this program exemplifies our commitment to dogfooding our tools to continuously improve and iterate based on our learnings. We are excited to kick off RFPs immediately to start building momentum for this new outlined strategy.
Given our strategic shifts to make the Gitcoin 2.0 vision a reality, this redesign ensures the program further aligns to our goals and creates more clarity for community members on where their contributions will create the most impact in the Gitcoin Ecosystem.
