Upe: Empowering Local Communities to Bring the IRL → URL
Read the full report and get links to the grants transactions & attestations below. 
Overview & Objectives
The purpose of this grant for Upe was to host a workshop for local NGOs, focused on exploring the transformative potential of Web3 technologies, in tandem with a community fundraiser event in Costa Rica. The amount of crypto each NGO received was directly tied to their team’s performance during the event, creating an engaging and practical introduction to blockchain for the participating organizations.
The goal of this initiative was twofold: to build trust within our local community through fun, interactive events, and to provide local NGOs with hands-on experience in blockchain technologies. Through this grant, Upe aimed to demonstrate the potential of blockchain for transparent governance and efficient fundraising, addressing key pain points faced by local organizations.
Key Impact Stats:
- 12 local NGOs signed up for the event, with 11 organizations successfully onboarded to crypto with wallets created and funds received.
- 100% of grant funds were used as a matching pool to amplify fundraising efforts for these organizations, and we leveraged these funds to raise more within our own local community.
- 2 crypto workshops were held in both Spanish and English to ensure accessibility.
- 50% of NGOs onboarded struggled with factura issuance due to varying legal and operational hurdles.
- 50% drop in ARB token value during the event period, highlighting the volatility challenge.
- 9 attendees for the Spanish workshop, 16 attended the one in English
- $.08 in transaction fees for ARB funds vs $20.46 in transaction fees for fiat sponsors
- We’re so down with 69. $.69 in fees to create schema and attestations & this grant accounted for 6.9% of Upe’s web3 grant recipients.
Timeline
- Grant Approved: July 19, 2024
- Beer Olympics Community Fundraiser: August 17, 2024 | Recap
- Funds Received by Upe: August 21, 2024
- Onboarding Community Organizations: August 27 – September 12, 2024
- Workshops:
- Final Disbursements & Attestations Issued: September 17 - 18, 2024
- Demo Day with Oasis Onchain: October 11, 2024 | Slides
Methodology
Hands-On Fundraising Event
The Beer Olympics was a community-centered event where 11 NGOs participated. Teams showcased their skills in various beer-related games with a chance to win money for local NGOs. It’s a social event not just about the beer, but also about supporting good causes. While teams are playing for bragging rights and prizes, they also competed to win money for a local organization.
Onboarding Process
The onboarding process began with the creation of crypto wallets for each NGO, followed by the distribution of $10 in USDC to familiarize them with digital currency transactions. Our team walked each organization through the steps necessary to receive, store, and track crypto donations securely.
Workshop Structure
Two virtual workshops were held, each designed to teach the NGOs about the transformative potential of Web3 technologies:
- Onchain governance
- New grant opportunities through blockchain
- Advantages of public-facing data
While the workshops were initially designed for the participating NGOs, we had received requests from others in the community, so we made the invite publicly available and had new crypto curious attendees from other organizations.
Grant Funds Distribution and Attestations
In addition to the two transactions to send the community organizations based on their team’s performance at Beer Olympics, all participating organizations received onchain attestations on the Arbitrum blockchain, marking their involvement and providing transparency. We even included the name of their fiat sponsor. This digital record creates a blockchain-based “paper trail,” boosting trust within the local community.
Challenges and Key Issues
- Due to strict regulations from Fractal ID, Upe was unable, and any other Costa Rican organization unlikely be able to use Fractal ID as a KYC option. Fractal ID requires official documentation with proof of address; however, Costa Rica does not have traditional addresses, and we therefore cannot produce the necessary documentation.
- Holonym zk KYC ultimately provided a feasible solution, allowing users to verify their identity using in-country phone numbers and local ID documents.
- Local NGOs are not permitted to use traditional fundraising platforms like GoFundMe
- 50% of the NGOs could not issue facturas (receipts) for donations, limiting their access to formal fundraising channels. Reasons ranged from paperwork still being processed to some NGOs not being legally able to issue invoices for monetary donations.
- The Clean Wave shared that their bank accounts were frozen for months, halting their ability to pay staff and vendors during this time period.
- A 50% drop in ARB token value from $0.77 (on grant approval) to $0.51 (on workshop dates) resulted in significant slippage, impacting the funds available for NGOs. We mitigated this by converting funds to USDC soon after receipt.
- While banks do not accept crypto-related transactions, we do have an offramp here: Tamarindo has a Bitcoin vending machine that dispenses colones. The presence of an offramp helps build confidence that cryptocurrency is indeed real. Choosing a wallet that allows users to easily swap ARB to BTC was a top priority for us. After reviewing several wallets (and starting out with the Coinbase Wallet only to discover it doesn’t function the way we need it to), the Exodus wallet is now our recommended wallet for onboarding locals here. It’s easy to set up, multichain and has a clean user interface.
Lessons Learned
Throughout the workshop and community fundraiser, several key insights emerged that helped shape Upe’s ongoing efforts in promoting Web3 adoption:
Establishing trust within the community proved essential to onboarding NGOs and encouraging their engagement with blockchain technology. Upe’s strong relationships with local organizations, built over time through community coordination, eased concerns about adopting crypto. These trust-based relationships, combined with tangible proof of success through blockchain grants, made organizations more receptive and curious about the potential of Web3 technologies.
Upe’s experience with Web3 grants and funding provided tangible proof of the opportunities that blockchain offers. We didn’t just talk about what was possible—we showed the results. The grants we’ve received and the transparent, traceable transactions on the blockchain offered undeniable credibility.
The hands-on, competitive format of the Beer Olympics was an effective way to introduce blockchain concepts. By tying the amount of crypto each NGO received to their team’s performance, we created an interactive and practical learning environment. This approach was more engaging than traditional workshops, allowing NGOs to immediately see the value of blockchain in action while participating in a fun and community-centered event.
The participating organizations were overwhelmingly supportive and enthusiastic about the initiative. NGOs were eager to set up crypto wallets and came with insightful questions that not only enriched their understanding but also empowered Upe to refine our path for local crypto adoption. Their curiosity and openness to learning confirmed that the community is ready to explore and embrace decentralized technologies.
Next Steps and Emerging Opportunities
Onchain Voting and Decentralized Governance
Upe is exploring how to continue to bring their existing weekly community vote onchain, as the next step in decentralized governance for local communities. We aim to create trust-based decision-making systems that empower community members.
Scaling Upe’s Model to Neighboring Communities
We are developing a blueprint to allow neighboring communities to replicate Upe’s event structure and decentralized model. Several communities in Costa Rica have already expressed interest in adopting this framework.
Expanding Web3 Adoption through Workshops
Based on the success of the first set of workshops, we plan to continue offering crypto education sessions. Marina Flamingo has offered to host future workshops, which will focus on onboarding businesses and NGOs to the blockchain.
Chain-Agnostic Platform Development
Upe Impact, currently built on Base, will be developed into a chain-agnostic platform, making it adaptable to various blockchain ecosystems, enhancing flexibility for future community events.
Final Thoughts
The Beer Olympics fundraiser, alongside our workshops and onboarding efforts, demonstrated how Web3 technologies can solve real-world problems for NGOs. Despite the challenges encountered—such as KYC hurdles and token volatility—the success of the event has laid a foundation for further exploration of blockchain technologies in Costa Rica’s nonprofit sector, with hopes that local businesses will be next in line. The NGOs involved not only gained access to alternative fundraising models but also learned how to leverage the transparency of blockchain for governance and project tracking.
Trust proved to be the most valuable currency throughout this journey.
Upe has established itself as a trusted partner within the community, building relationships through coordination and collaboration. Whether it’s amplifying NGOs’ content on our platform or co-hosting local events, Upe has become synonymous with community-driven support. This trust has been crucial in easing concerns around new technologies like blockchain.
Our blockchain-based receipts served as proof of concept, demonstrating the real-world impact of these technologies and making our invitation to explore Web3 all the more compelling.
As we move forward, these trust-based relationships and the verifiable transparency of blockchain will be the foundation upon which we continue to expand our mission. By leveraging these strengths, we aim to deepen Web3 adoption within Costa Rica and empower even more local communities to explore the transformative potential of decentralized technologies.