In the proposed new structure, we will create a dedicated pool of funds (up to $125K quarterly) available to support âmatching on matchingâ pools. Communities with any amount raised for matching and meeting the round criteria can apply for up to $25K in funding from Gitcoin to go toward their matching pool. The GG20 Community Council (a Gitcoin DAO-elected external council) will proceed to review applications and vote on which communities to fund in the upcoming round.
The below outlines the minimum viable criteria we have set for community rounds in the past (with a few added pieces). We want to hear from the community whether these criteria should be adjusted for GG20. Please review this post and drop your feedback in the comments. We will leave this open for comment until February 20th, thereafter making any relevant changes and ratifying it through a Snapshot vote.
Eligibility Criteria for Community Rounds
TLDR: How to get a âCommunityâ Round Approved
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Identify the Round Operator and at least two other partner team members who will be reviewers and/or be involved in managing the round.
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Every round must raise their own matching pool (no minimum)
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The round should align with Gitcoinâs Mission and Essential Intents
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All rounds must comply with Gitcoinâs core rules, which include no fraudulent activity, no quid pro quo, hate speech, or other activities out of alignment with Gitcoinâs essential intents.
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Show proof of funds in a multisig (similar to how anyone can view the funds in Gitcoinâs multisig)
- We highly recommend that proof of matching funds and any further plans for funds raised by communities be provided by the time applications are in review. This will help council members review applications more easily.
Before the Round
The 1-2 months leading up to the round require an intentional blitz and dedicated owners who can drive the responsibilities below forward. For smaller first-time rounds, all these may fall on the Round Owner if the round owner is operating in a near full-time capacity â but generally, we recommend building out a small team to assist the round Operator as well as a small group of stakeholders from the community to be an Advisory Team of committed people to help generate ideas, gather feedback and provide support throughout the round.
Round Eligibility Document
A Round Owner should create an eligibility criteria doc for what projects qualify for acceptance.
While this can evolve if needed, the first version should be created before going out and fundraising and recruiting grantees so that it is clear to parties what is eligible & what isnât for the round.
The first-order mission-critical areas include:
- Allocating or otherwise raising funds for the matching pool
- Grantee recruitment & onboarding - (Runbooks will be made available with guidance for this process on the new Gitcoin Grants Stack tools)
Then, once a Community Round is approved into the round, the phases would be the following:
During the Round
Responsibilities include:
- Marketing the Round
- Supporting Grantees and Donors
After the Round
Responsibilities include:
- Overseeing the payouts and KYC process (if required) to ensure smooth facilitation and address questions or issues.
- Conducting a retrospective of the round to assess what worked and what can be improved and sharing feedback as appropriate with Gitcoin.
- Hereâs a great example of a previous Community Roundâs retrospective.
- Hereâs a template for a retro.
- Matching funds must be released within 3 weeks. If not, will not be eligible for further matching or participation in GG rounds.
- Ongoing support and communications with Grantees are often required as the round concludes.
REMINDER: This is the minimum for a viable round. The Run Book provided to Round Operators will include much more information about how to run the best possible round.
Community Round Partner Offerings - GG20
Gitcoinâs Agreements:
- Gitcoin Marketing Support: Includes the following:
- Highlighted on our grants website
- Each community round will also receive a GG20 designed banner/assets to add to their round.
- Highlighted in our announcement post
- All open shill spaces are open to the program & community (round operators get to book slots on these)
- Partner logos on the main funder banner grants website & shared in all Gitcoin Grants Round emails
- Each Community Round will receive a unique Canva deck with unique round-specific assets for the partners to market their round with and share with their grantees. Gitcoin will amplify these posts.
- Each partner will receive a marketing best practices handbook and any resources needed to run their round successfully.
- Highlighted on our grants website
- Responsive Grant Ops Support: Our dedicated Grant Ops team is available for general questions and support.
- A dedicated support group with selected round operators will be set up
Partnerâs Agreements:
These are non-negotiable.
- Publish a fleshed-out proposal on the gov forum
- The elected GG20 Community Council votes on the proposals and allocates matching funds (up to $25k p/Community Round)
- Meet all eligibility criteria for running a Community Round
- Round donation and application periods to align with GG program round (OSS)
- Be responsible for outlining your roundâs eligibility criteria
- Owning marketing and grantee & donor support of your round
- A post-round retrospective report released 30 days after closure of GG
- Complete security training with Gitcoinâs security consultant
- Round operators should provide clear feedback to all applicants with a short rationale on their approval/rejection.