RFP: Reboot the Gitcoin Community for the 3.3 Era
Issued by: Gitcoin DAO (sponsor: Kevin Owocki, ED)
Date issued: May 2026
Proposals due: Rolling, first review June 1, 2026
Engagement window: June 2026 – Q1 2027 (phased; see milestones)
Budget envelope: Open — propose your number. Bias toward lean, milestone-gated engagements over a single large retainer.
Submit to: kevin@gitcoin.co and/or post a response on gov.gitcoin.co
1. Context
Gitcoin is entering its 3.3 era: a bold new direction, same mission as always. The DAO controls ~$20M in treasury + matching pool; ~12M GTC is held by the DAO and needs to be re-delegated back to a real, engaged community of delegates.
We are looking for one or more vendors / collectives / individuals to run a phased community reboot. You may bid on one, two, or all three. We expect to award multiple contracts.
2. Project A — Delegation: Recruit 10–30 GTC Delegates
Problem
We need to rebuild a credible, decentralized delegate base capable of carrying ~2.5M GTC of voting power across 10–30 individuals — i.e. a target average of ~100K–250K GTC per delegate, with a long tail. Proposal threshold is 150K GTC; quorum is 2.5M GTC (GovernorBravo 0x9d4c63565d5618310271bf3f3c01b2954c1d1639).
Scope of work
- Build a delegate candidate pipeline. Source from: existing Gitcoin community, allied DAOs (Optimism, Arbitrum, ENS, Protocol Guild, Octant), Ethereum public-goods orgs, AI-livelihood-aligned operators, regen / impact orgs, returning Gitcoin alumni.
- Vet candidates against a public rubric (proposed by you, approved by Kevin + Mathilda). Rubric should cover: mission alignment, governance track record, time commitment, conflicts, geographic and ideological diversity.
- Produce delegate profiles (Tally + gov.gitcoin.co posts) for each candidate.
- Run delegate onboarding: GTC mechanics, treasury landscape, Gitcoin 3.3 mission, current open proposals, expectations on cadence.
- Coordinate the actual delegation events — match candidate delegates with GTC holders (Foundation, Kevin, ecosystem holders) willing to delegate and get the txns executed.
Deliverables
- Public delegate rubric and selection process.
- 10–30 onboarded, publicly-profiled delegates with active GTC delegated to them.
- Live delegate roster on gov.gitcoin.co with bios, conflicts, and contact.
- Delegate orientation handbook (one-pager + 30-min recorded onboarding).
- Quarterly delegate health check (participation rate, voting history, churn).
Success metrics
- Quorum is in good shape: ≥ 2.5M GTC actively delegated to non-Foundation, non-multisig addresses within 90 days of contract start.
- Diversity: No single delegate holds > 20% of active delegated supply.
- Participation: ≥ 70% of active delegates vote on at least 80% of proposals in their first 6 months.
What we’ll provide
- Introductions to Foundation, Kyle Weiss, Owocki, existing top delegates.
- Socials foramplification
- Coordination with Mathilda on contract / Governor parameter side.
- A pool of GTC the Foundation and Kevin are willing to delegate (subject to separate approval).
3. Workstream B — Education: Re-onboard the Community to Gitcoin 3.3
Problem
The community that knew Gitcoin as “the QF rounds people” needs to be re-onboarded to Gitcoin 3.3. Net-new audiences — AI-economy operators, livelihood-focused funders, post-Web3 builders — need a first door in.
Scope of work
- A 6-8week educational series across at least three formats:
- Twitter / X Spaces — weekly or biweekly, ~45–60 min. Mix of: Kevin + co-host explainers, debates with critics, deep-dives with builders working on 3.3 mechanisms.
- AMAs — monthly, async-friendly format on gov.gitcoin.co or another platform, with a written summary published within 48h.
- One additional format of your choice — podcast, YouTube longform, in-person at events, IRL salons (RegenHub-style), workshops, university chapters. Pick what you can execute exceptionally.
- Produce a “Gitcoin 3.3 in 10 minutes” canonical explainer (video + written) that all educational content can refer back to.
- Build and maintain an FAQ on gov.gitcoin.co that absorbs questions surfaced in Spaces/AMAs.
- Identify and seed 3–5 third-party explainers (writers, podcasters, video creators) to cover 3.3 in their own voice.
Deliverables
- A published calendar of educational events for the engagement window.
- ≥ 20 Twitter Spaces and ≥ 6 AMAs over the 6-month engagement.
- Canonical 10-min explainer (video + written).
- Maintained FAQ (≥ 50 entries by end of engagement).
- 3–5 third-party content placements.
Success metrics
- Reach: Cumulative attended-live audience across Spaces ≥ 15K; cumulative replays ≥ 100K.
- Conversion to action: ≥ 100 new gov.gitcoin.co accounts, ≥ 100 new GTC delegations (any size) attributable to educational programming.
- Frame propagation: Independent third-party content referencing Gitcoin 3.3 in their own voice — target ≥ 25 pieces by end of engagement (qualitative review).
- Inbound interest: ≥ 10 inbound asks per month from operators / funders / advisors who cite educational content as their entry point.
What we’ll provide
- Kevin’s time on Spaces, AMAs, and select longform appearances (cap: ~3 hrs/week public-facing).
- Talent intros (researchers, Allo.capital alumni, Gitcoin 3.3 contributors, advisors).
- Brand assets via Ash (in-flight).
- gov.gitcoin.co + Gitcoin social channels.
4. Workstream C — Campaign: Launch Gitcoin 3.3 (Targeted: ~Q4 2026 / Q1 2027)
Problem
When Gitcoin 3.3 is ready to deploy (target unveil window: June 2026 teaser → full launch later in 2026 / early 2027), we will need a coordinated launch campaign that converts the audience built in Workstreams A + B into participation: delegates voting on the budget that funds 3.3, builders entering the arena, funders backing matching pools, and beneficiaries showing up to the mechanisms.
Scope of work
We are not procuring execution of the campaign today. We are procuring the campaign plan, with an option to execute pending mutual agreement closer to launch.
Deliverable: a written campaign plan covering:
- Audience map. Who we’re targeting (delegates, builders, funders, beneficiaries, press, allied DAOs), and the specific call-to-action for each.
- Narrative architecture. How to tell the story over a ~6-week launch window. Hero artifacts (videos, essays, demos, dashboards).
- Channel plan. X, Farcaster, podcast appearances, conference presence (Devcon / Q1), partner co-marketing, paid (if any — justify), press strategy.
- Mechanism activation. How the campaign drives toward at least one measurable on-chain event (a vote, a round, a delegation drive, a treasury commitment).
- Risk plan. Failure modes (low turnout, hostile takes, technical delay, AI-livelihood backlash) and pre-built responses.
- Budget and team. What you’d need to execute. Pricing for the plan should be separate from pricing for execution.
- Success metrics. Your proposed KPIs tied to the Dec-2027 goal hierarchy in §2.
Deliverables
- Written campaign plan (2–5 pages) delivered no later than 90 days before target launch date.
- One review session with Kevin, Mathilda, Julia, Ash, and ≥ 2 advisors.
- Optional: bid to execute the campaign you designed.
Success metrics (for the plan itself)
- Kevin and the working group can read the plan, agree it is executable, and either fund execution or hand it to another vendor without losing critical context.
- Plan explicitly addresses the three Dec-2027 KPIs.
5. Who we want to hear from
Strong fits — bid even if partial:
- Community-organizing operators with DAO governance experience (OpenCivics, Karpatkey-style delegate ops, RnDAO, BanklessDAO alumni, Other Internet, etc.).
- Editorial / media collectives with crypto-native distribution and a track record of moving narrative (not just impressions).
- Individual operators with deep Ethereum public-goods relationships willing to anchor one workstream and partner on others.
- Cross-movement organizers from outside crypto (AI safety, livelihood / labor, post-growth, regen) who can credibly bridge audiences — especially for Workstream B’s net-new audience and Workstream C’s narrative.
Not fits: pure paid-media agencies, “growth hacking” shops, generic web3 marketing firms, anyone whose primary offer is follower count.
6. How to apply
Send a proposal (max 3 pages) covering:
- Which workstream(s) you’re bidding on.
- Team and relevant track record (links > prose).
- Approach: how you’d actually do the work, including what you’d do in the first 30 days.
- Budget and milestone structure. Prefer milestone-gated payments.
- Conflicts of interest (current GTC holdings, governance roles, competing engagements).
- References (2–3 prior clients / collaborators we can ask).
Submit to: kevin@gitcoin.co + a public response on gov.gitcoin.co (we want the bids to be partly visible to the community we’re rebuilding).
Review process: Rolling. First batch reviewed June 1, 2026 by Kevin + Mathilda + ≥ 1 advisor. Shortlisted vendors get a call. Decisions announced on gov.gitcoin.co.
8. Open questions we’d love your proposal to address
- How do you avoid creating a delegate base that’s just our existing inner circle wearing new hats?
- How do you re-engage former Gitcoin community members who left during the 2023–2025 wind-down without litigating the past?
- How does educational content recruit non-crypto-native AI-livelihood operators without alienating the crypto-native delegate base?
- What’s your honest read on the MVP budget that produces real signal vs. theater?
This RFP is a living document. It will be updated as the working groups (education: Julia; funding/recruitment: Mathilda; marketing: Ash) refine scope. Latest version always at gov.gitcoin.co.