[DAO:b3twbgi] [Resubmission] DAO Committee Compensation

Governance
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by 0xd11a019a70986bd607cbc1c1f9ae221c78581f49 (Yemel)

Linked Draft Proposal

DAO Committee Compensation

Summary

Establish a monthly compensation for DAO Committee Members, who are currently acting as a trusted proxy to enact on-chain proposals voted in the DAO.

Abstract

The main responsibilities of the DAO Committee are:

  • Update proposal status in the governance platform (promote to enacted, passed, rejected)
  • Keep updated smart contract lists such as: POIs, BanNames, Catalysts and Linked Wearables.
  • Manage the Grants Program (deploy, fund and revoke vesting contracts)
  • Execute Treasury Operations (do transfers, swap funds).
  • Calculate and execute compensation for the Wearables Curation Committee.
  • Reimburse gas fees to the DAO Committee.
  • Refill gas tank of Polygon Relayer periodically.

Some other tasks related to the role are:

  • Attend bi-monthly Town Halls and provide general community support.
  • Give feedback to proposals, evaluate risks and implementations pathways.
  • Contact external organizations in the name of the DAO.

Motivation

In the past year, one committee member has sent +500 transactions in the name of the DAO. Thanks to the proposal of reimbursement of gas fees , this operation doesn’t have a monetary loss for the committee members. However, each of these transactions required attention to review/sign and those efforts are not being compensated in any form.
Adding to this situation, one of the initial three committee members resigned early this year. It has been hard to find a replacement who can take such a responsibility and willing to do it for free.

Compensate DAO Committee members is fundamental for a sustainable DAO operation.

Specification

Establish a monthly payment of 2,400 USD payable in MANA each month. The amount is established in USD to avoid problems related to MANA’s price volatility.

Each committee member will commit to working 4hrs per week at a rate of 150 USD/hr.

Impacts

Setting compensation to the DAO Committee will attract and retain members with the required know-how to take such a responsibility. Having a strong DAO Committee will ensure the timely operations of the DAO.

This proposal specifies a fixed compensation per month regardless of the activity of the committee member. This might be a risk for a committee with many members, where the work of verifying transactions is done by a sub-set of the group. At the moment the committee only has 2 members and this is not a problem, but it would be interesting to transition to a performance-based compensation in the future (e.g. based on the number of transactions initiated and signed by the member).

Implementation Pathways

The DAO Committee already has control of the DAO Treasury and is responsible for making payments to the Curators Committee and funding Grants voted by the DAO.

The DAO Committee will issue the compensation to itself at the beginning of every month by sending 2,400 USD worth of MANA (using the current market price).

Conclusion

Over the past year, the DAO Committee has been proven essential for the regular operations of the DAO. However this position has been voluntary for almost a year, and it requires substantial work from the members of the committee to cover their responsibilities.

Setting compensation for its members is key to attracting qualified candidates to join the committee and securing the timely operations of the DAO long-term.

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO

View this proposal on Snapshot

3 Likes
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Love this!
Just curious as to why the hours were reduced but the workload seems to be same/greater and the importance of the squad hasn’t decreased?

Previous proposal:
“Each committee member will commit to working 10hrs per week at a rate of 60 USD/hr.”

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Voting Yes, the comittee performs a critical job and needs to be compensated.

Curious about the reasoning behind the “4hs per week 150 USD/hr” numbers.

1 Like
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PAY DA PEOPLE :D!!! they are working hard!!!

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I agree that you should be compensated, but the rate seems outlandishly high for so little required hours and breadth of work. $150/hr USD is WAY and above any normal rate for the most part signing transactions…
I noticed in the draft proposal the rate was 10hrs/wk @ $60/hr. Even that seemed like a lot tbh.
Is this work worth $4,800 - $6,200 a month to DCL? I would imagine half that at most.

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Hi @michi and @Eibriel, thanks for pointing out the adjustment of the hours per week and rate.

Previously: “10hrs per week at a rate of 60 USD/hr”
Revised version: “4hrs per week at a rate of 150 USD/hr.”
Both proposals total $2,400 USD per month per member.

The rationale behind the reduction of hours is Automation. We have been creating tools to address recurrent tasks, reducing the time required to complete our duties. For example, we previously deployed each vesting contract individually and now we are processing them in batches.

Based on the current status, 3 hours per week should be enough to initiate and verify the transactions sent in the name of the DAO. The other hour per committee member should be enough to improve our tools and participate in town halls.

I do invest a lot of time in Decentraland matters, but I like to believe those hours are my choice as a voluntary contributor to the community and not my role as DAO Committee.

Do you have any datapoint of how much other DAOs are paying their trusted proxies? I believe the responsibility of securing a treasury valued in millions of dollars, plus the required knowledge in blockchain, smart contracts, and programming skills are very valuable nowadays.

I do agree that this payment structure scales linearly with the number of committee members. It would make sense to migrate to a performance-based payment scheme before growing the committee from 3 to 5 members.

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Thank @yemel , I just want you and @HPrivakos all the time. No automation can replace that <3

1 Like
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I think this is a very valid point made by @yemel. The fees may seem high at first, however, the DAO Committee is, quite literally, the last line of defense for the DAO. Setting up compensation schemes is an important first step in gradually building out more of an organized framework in the field of community management.

@yemel; just a question to clarify the nature of this governance proposal; is the plan to pass this compensation structure ad eternum? Or will this be passed as a grant every 6 months?

I’m just wondering what the revision process would look like in the future as we continue structuring ourselves.

Also, just an additional note on this:

I feel the approach you’re currently taking (ie, general compensation) is far more suited to this role. I feel we often underestimate how much responsibility rests on the shoulders of the DAO Committee & SAB when it comes to holistically protecting the project, and such actions can’t always be broken down in quantitative means. The ‘amount of transactions initiated and signed by the member’ only tells a small part of a much bigger story/contribution you bring to the community on a day-to-day basis.

Once again, it’s this point that I resonate with the most:

We need this development, not just to attract the right talent to the position, but also to ensure that we have enough of an impetus to then start building more of a tangible framework around our community’s structures and contributions.

1 Like
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A well deserved ‘thank you’ to the DAO Committee (past and present) for working so hard without any compensation this entire time. I think the hourly rate is high, but the fact they have worked for nothing since inception makes it fair in my eyes. Also, I imagine the Committee will likely work more than 4 hours a week as Decentraland grows, so I see this more of a ‘salary’ than an hourly rate (and I want them feeling like they are adequately paid if they may need to work more than 4 hours per week on average). Voting yes.

5 Likes
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Yes, yes and yes. Compensate the gate-keepers of our community funds.
The rate is fine in my opinion, could even be higher. We need to have well-payed administrators in such trusted and security matters, to ensure quality, duty and dedication.

Voting yes, with a big yes.

Thanks for all the work you put in it, Yemel & HPrivakos.

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We appreciate your hard work. Many in this community have been contributing in massive ways without compensation. Without funding our community it can only last so long or go so far. You deserve to be paid for your continued efforts and we thank you for your service and oversight

1 Like
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[Resubmission] DAO Committee Compensation

This proposal is now in status: PASSED.

Voting Results:

  • Yes 99% 9,654,763 VP (84 votes)
  • No 1% 2,110 VP (1 votes)
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[Resubmission] DAO Committee Compensation

This proposal has been ENACTED by a DAO Committee Member (0xfe91c0c482e09600f2d1dbca10fd705bc6de60bc)

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