The ArbitrumDAO boasts an impressive treasury, consisting of 35% of all ARB tokens and all revenues from Arbitrum One and Nova. This means if you have a worthy idea, not only can you bring it to life, but you can also secure funding for it.
You may be one proposal away from a side gig, a full time role, or a startup that begins its life by serving the ArbitrumDAO.
Proposal Lifecycle
The forum acts as a public platform to facilitate discussion on proposals between the authors, community, and the delegates.
It is up to you to prepare a proposal, post it to the forum, and convince the delegates to vote for it.
Let’s find out how that works.
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Drafting the Proposal: Start by preparing a 1-2 page proposal. You can either:
- Use the proposal template from governance docs,
- Examine previously accepted proposals for inspiration.
- If your proposal requires involvement from any other stakeholders, please make sure that you check in with the respective stakeholder(s) at this stage.
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Community Feedback: Once ready, post your proposal on the forum to initiate a feedback period.
- You should leave at least 7 days for feedback.
- Attend governance calls, pitch your idea, and rally community support,
- Connect with delegates and chat with them about your proposal’s potential impact.
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Temperature Check: Seek a delegate who can post your proposal on Snapshot for a preliminary ~7 day check.
- Be prepared for more discussions; temperature checks often spark additional conversation.
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Preparing Final Proposal: Collect all the feedback gathered to date into a single proposal and be prepared to submit it to the final vote.
- Ask delegates if they want a final review of the proposal
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Contact Arbitrum Foundation. Find out more about any steps that need to be completed, especially if the proposal is seeking funds from the ArbitrumDAO’s treasury.
- Contact compliance@arbitrum.foundation to complete KYC/KYB.
- Sign a grant agreement that will mostly consist of details about your final proposal. Keep in mind that the final grant agreement might have certain amendments compared to the attached template, based on the unique details of your proposal.
- If your proposal requires assistance from the Arbitrum Foundation like signing service level agreements on behalf of the ecosystem, then start the conversation so the Arbitrum Foundation can work out how it can act as the hands to your proposal.
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Final Voting: After incorporating feedback, if you believe your proposal stands a chance.
- Ask a delegate to put it up for an official vote via the on-chain governance smart contracts.
- Additionally, if you have not already done so, please contact the Arbitrum Foundation to complete all compliance and documentation checks.
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Outcome: Your proposal passed?
- Congratulations!
- If not, don’t be disheartened. Take another look at the feedback from delegates. Sometimes, you just need to reimagine the scope, and perhaps dream even bigger!
Proposal Considerations
To give your proposal the best shot of being accepted by the delegates, you may want to consider the following:
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Objective and Rationale.
- Why is this proposal important for the community?
- How did you determine the need for this grant?
- Who will directly and indirectly benefit from this proposal?
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Team and Qualifications.
- Who are the people working on this proposal?
- What makes them qualified to execute it?
- Have you consulted with stakeholders that are relevant to the proposal, before posting it on the forum?
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Budget.
- Why do you need the specific amount you are asking for?
- Do you have a breakdown of how the budget will be used?
- What is the payment schedule for releasing funds to the project?
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Implementation plan.
- How will you ensure the proposal achieves its goal?
- Do you have a step by step plan or a set of milestones?
- Are there any potential risks and how do you plan to overcome them?
- How will you measure the success of your proposal?
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Engagement with ArbitrumDAO.
- How do you plan to keep the ArbitrumDAO updated about the project’s progression?
- How can the community provide feedback during the course of the project?
- Can the ArbitrumDAO halt the release of further funds if the proposal is not going to plan?
Remember, once a proposal is passed by the ArbitrumDAO, the community has endorsed and approved your proposal. The delegates are now your biggest supporters and it is best to consider how to leverage such a community to help you achieve your intended outcome and make sure the project is a success.
We are all in this together.
If the proposal requires involvement from the Arbitrum Foundation, in any way, then we recommend contacting @stonecoldpat, @cliffton.eth, @raam or email compliance@arbitrum.foundation. The Arbitrum Foundation does not endorse any pending proposals, but it is always willing to help when needed and to operationally support proposals passed by the ArbitrumDAO.