Hey Team! 
I have updated this post slightly to reflect some feedback (thank you to everyone who gave input on this initial post â @M0nkeyFl0wer, @Sov, @quaylawn, @umarkhaneth, @Viriya). This was crafted in an attempt to set up some clear processes moving forward where weâre working across workstreams on partnerships.
TL;DR â Here is Gitcoinâs playbook for successful partnerships 
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Below you will find checklists that cover partner evaluation guardrails, communication rituals, and post-collaboration assessments.
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Whether itâs Allo, Grants Stack, or Passport, Gitcoin Grants, our team wants to ensure that every collaboration is well-considered and transparently communicated.
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This document outlines detailed checklists and processes that any partnership & comms team can take on if they deem necessary. Broader partnership policies and guardrails are still WIP and will be separately outlined.
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Any partnership that might deem as âhigh riskâ will be taken to the Gitcoin Steward Council.
The below outlines the processes/steps for the partnerships and comms teams to proactively and successfully work cross functionally and inform the DAO and stakeholders. This was inspired by the recent partnership controversy, but this document is specifically a separate conversation to that. This document aims to outline a better process moving forward so that we can mitigate similar occurences before they may arise.
Partnership Processes
The below are checklists for everyone working through a partnership engagement, whether it be a contractual partnership, or another partnership, such as a community round partner/those building on top of Allo, etc. This includes the partnership and the comms team.
I. Partnership Team Checklist
II. Comms Checklist
III. Processes/DACIs per product/service
Below is a checklist for all partnership teams to follow. You can view the product-specific breakdowns to get clarification on DACIs and processes. Skip over the item if itâs not applicable to the situation.
Decision rights for evaluation & setting up a partnership:
Partnerships team & CSDO
Evaluation Criteria: What are the core values or principles Gitcoin looks for in a partner? Does it fit within the guardrails set for the program/product? This can help in initial screening.
NOTE: Setting clear guardrails and a fleshed out partnership policy is a WIP. This will inform us on who we pursue and who we donât. FYI, my amazing co-worker, @M0nkeyFl0wer, is working on a doc to move this exact policy forward, and itâs open for discussion! Check it out here
After guardrails are put in place, the below will help further refine the eligibility criteria:
- Does it affect the community? Will there be an uptick of support questions?
- Gut check: does something have the potential to be controversial? If the people working on or hearing of it within the DAO think it even has a bit of potential to be controversial then consult with DAO Core & the Steward Council.
- Are we expecting backlash?
- Is there a risk to our brand we need to explore beyond the guardrails already set in place?
- If we didnât inform the community in a gov post, would we expect people to be upset?
- Have we used default language in the contract that protects Gitcoinâs interests?
Important questions to ask the partner to consider (if applicable):
- If this partnership involves a technical integration or product endorsement, have the necessary questions been asked regarding the security/tech?
- Has this been audited?
- Could someone use it to steal funds?
- Who are the right experts inside and outside to consult with?
- External: Has this been checked with Doppel?
- What data will be shared with partners?
- Are there any known vulnerabilities in their system?
Marketing & Comms: What are the key messages that we are driving in this partnership if there is an agreement to do co-marketing?
- Has marketing & PR been looped into the conversation? This is an immediate requirement, with the marketing rep from each âpodâ (see below).
- Does the support team need to be informed? Do you have all the necessary information for them on said integration/partnership? (Generally, a good rule of thumb is to always inform support, unless the announcement will not be affecting our support channels at all).
- Where to send people when they flood our support channels
Post-Partnership Review: After a certain period, how will the partnershipâs success or impact be evaluated? What metrics will be used?
- Have metrics been captured and evaluated?
- Has the impact been captured and evaluated?
- Has a report been created for the partner?
- Do we have an internal report drafted?
Marketing Execution
Overall DACI Breakdown (see detailed breakdowns p/product & service below)
- Driver - MMM
- Approver - Marketing rep from the specific product team/workstream
- Consulting - At least one rep from the team partnering with
- Informing - DAO Core
General Marketing timelines
Below are general guidelines to how long marketing needs for setting up a campaign, including design assets,
| Event | Outcome | Time to completion |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to partner | Creating and presenting a marketing/media plan | Roughly a week |
| Co-marketing agreements | Design asset request/delivery | Design would need 1-2 weeks (larger campaigns) |
Marketing & PR Checklist
Primary/Key Info/Data
- Is the partner aware of the marketing plan outlined and agreed upon?
- If itâs a contractual partnership, are marketing needs/assets baked into the contract?
- If yes, did marketing sign off on these/help curate?
- Have we used/created a template for language we require in terms of comms & expectations? (For eg, be more explicit about limiting the speech of contributors and reserving the right to speak broadly about our objectives.)
- Are we aware of product team priorities and updates?
- Have there been any pertinent strategic decisions made?
- Has the rationale behind these strategic decisions been communicated effectively to DAO Core/all stakeholders?
- What progress toward or deviations from organizational objectives should we account for?
Secondary (Key Messages & Discussions)
- Does this drive the narrative that Gitcoin is credibly neutral? What about each product, and Gitcoin Grants?
- Is there a clear CTA?
- What are the success metrics? (Included in the marketing plan/campaign brief)
- When is best to announce so as to mitigate ecosystem cannibalization?
- Please cross out the following if we have:
- Identified key stakeholders?
- Gauged their temperament?
- Forecasted the reception of the news?
- Has the DAO been informed of any big announcement being released?
- Which announcements require the DAO to be informed ahead of the release?
Tertiary (Execution)
- Has marketing & PR been in communication?
- Has support been notified of the announcement?
- Have those driving the content been briefed?
- Are we highlighting any key wins or impact?
- How does this align with active thought leadership?
- Is there a spokesperson available?
PR Questionnaires:
It is clear that the ever-increasing modularity of Gitcoinâs ecosystem and associated sub-communities requires an adaptable communications strategy. As such, this section reflects the processes that should help inform a well-rounded plan for announcements as they arise. Below are two tables that can be filled out to inform any announcement, big or small.
DACI Breakdown
- Driver - CaolĂĄn
- Approver - at least 1 rep to be nominated from MMM or PGF
- Consulting - steward council
- Informing - dao-core
Internal PR Questionnaire (most important info for the community)
External PR Questionnaire (most important info for media)
Gitcoin Grants
Evaluation Criteria: What are the core values or principles Gitcoin Grants looks for in a partner? This can help in initial screening.
This related to matching fund partners, and community round partners.
Are there sectors/spheres that we really do or do NOT want to collaborate with? This is not outlined yet. [partnership policies WIP] View the discussion on this here:
Partnership pod:
Azeem & Ben from PGF
Mathilda from MMM
DACI Breakdown for comms/marketing
- Driver - Mathilda
- Approver - Laura from MMM & Ben from PGF
- Consulting - Laura & at least one rep from PGF
- Informing - DAO Core
Post-Partnership Review: After a certain period, how will the partnershipâs success or impact be evaluated? What metrics will be used?
Gitcoin
Evaluation Criteria: What are the core values or principles Gitcoin looks for in a partner? This can help in initial screening.
This relates to any other ad hoc Gitcoin partners that doesnât fit into any product or GG criteria.
Are there sectors/spheres that we really do or do NOT want to collaborate with? This is not outlined yet. [partnership policies WIP] View the discussion on this here:
Partnership pod:
TBC within a particular partnership
Mathilda and/or one other rep from MMM
DACI Breakdown for comms/marketing
- Driver - Mathilda
- Approver - One person from partnership team of said partnership
- Consulting - One rep from partnership team & one rep from MMM
- Informing - DAO Core
Post-Partnership Review: After a certain period, how will the partnershipâs success or impact be evaluated? What metrics will be used?
Allo
Evaluation Criteria: What are the core values or principles Allo looks for in a partner? This can help in initial screening.
Partnership pod:
Zakk & Nate from Allo
Alexa from MMM
Allo will follow a case-by-case process on which partners to co-market with.
DACI Breakdown for comms/marketing
- Driver - Alexa
- Approver - Nate / Zakk
- Consulting - Gary/Mathilda
- Informing - DAO Core
Post-Partnership Review: After a certain period, how will the partnershipâs success or impact be evaluated? What metrics will be used?
Grants Stack
Evaluation Criteria: What are the core values or principles Gitcoin looks for in a brand partner? This can help in initial screening.
Partnership pod:
Meg from Grants Stack
Ericka from MMM
Grants Stack will let anyone who complies with basic legal regulations run on Grants Stack. Basic legal regs = no selling unregistered securities, porn, funneling money to OFAC countries, etc.
- Grants Stack actively engages in co-marketing initiatives on community-led rounds. This will be revisited the more we scale. Case studies are usually done on unique / novel cases. Exact comarketing campaigns are handled on a case-by-case basis.
- The future forward looks like co-marketing tiers where organizations receive more marketing support as they pay more.
- We are also looking at having a section on grants.gitcoin.co that features partners running on GS. The intention is that the section will expand to others as adoption increases and more are running programs.
DACI Breakdown for comms/marketing
- Driver - Mathilda (execution), Ericka (planning)
- Approver - Ericka
- Consulting - Meg
- Informing - DAO Core
Post-Partnership Review: After a certain period, how will the partnershipâs success or impact be evaluated? What metrics will be used?
Gitcoin Passport
Evaluation Criteria: What are the core values or principles Passport looks for in a partner? This can help in initial screening.
Normally handled on a case-by-case basis. If itâs a stamp provider, Passport will almost certainly provide co-marketing. Determining who a stamp provider is a separate process.
- Passport doesnât prevent anyone from integrating, but the team does decide on who/how to promote.
Partnership pod:
Jeremy from Passport
Gary from MMM
DACI Breakdown for comms/marketing
- Driver - Gary
- Approver - At least one rep from Gitcoin Passport
- Consulting - Mathilda
- Informing - DAO Core
Post-Partnership Review: After a certain period, how will the partnershipâs success or impact be evaluated? What metrics will be used?
