SDIP-19: Squiggle Grants V2 (Formerly Squiggle Tank)

moose

Please find the latest version of the Squiggle Grants SDIP below. For commentary on prior versions of this SDIP, please see SDIP: SquiggleTank

Abstract
This proposal provides a way for the DAO to support small, creative projects that promote the growth and cultural relevance of the Chromie Squiggle. “Squiggle Grants” gives anyone the opportunity to pitch their Squiggle-related idea and receive $SQUIG as a reward.

Motivation
SquiggleDAO has the opportunity to support and empower anyone who wants to further the DAO’s mission. This project will bring together and reward community members, and enable them to bring their ideas to life.

Success Conditions
Creation of Squiggle Grants process documents including;

Submission form
Submission guidelines
Committee responsibilities and project selection guidelines
Project reporting template
Creation of a Squiggle Grants selection committee empowered to select and reward projects. The selection committee is tasked with:
Reviewing and voting to select projects to receive rewards each cycle
Creating at least 2 Discord posts and 2 social media posts publicising Squiggle Grants each month
Ensuring the completion of an end-of-month report on the previous month’s executed project, including KPIs that reflect how the project added value to the community and/or furthered our core mission of Squiggle culture and growth
Creation of Squiggle Grants discord channels

Budget
Up to 1,150 $SQUIG per month:
Up to 1,000 $SQUIG (or $5k/month equivalent) for award recipient(s)
50 $SQUIG per person for 3 committee members

Budget details
Projects may request up to a maximum of 1,000 $SQUIG (or $5,000 USDC equivalent).
All requested rewards and reimbursements should be reasonable and must be documented.
Applicants willing to accept funding purely in $SQUIG (or mostly $SQUIG) will be prioritised.
Projects that can be completed in a 3 week period will be prioritised.
Reward process and details
Successful applicants will receive a $SQUIG reward on successful completion of their projects. Reward amounts are tiered and based on difficulty. The proposed tier list and accompanying rewards are listed below:

Project size
Small, 100 $SQUIG reward, 1-2 hours
Medium, 200 $SQUIG reward, 3-9 hours
Large, 300 $SQUIG reward, 10+ hours

Examples
Small: Squiggle Summer meme basket for social media
Medium: Create an intro-to-Squiggles video
Large: IRL like a pop-up squiggle gallery

_Applicants will be asked to self-select the category that they think fits their proposal best based on their expectations of how much work they will be putting in. The Selection Committee may provide advice to applicants on which tier they think is most appropriate for a given project.

In addition to the base reward, projects may be eligible for reimbursements for material costs such as construction materials and art supplies, tickets to events, travel costs, etc. Applicants will bear responsibility for providing details and receipts for any expense they wish to be reimbursed. Reimbursable expenses are capped at 2X the base reward rate (ex reimbursement is capped at 200 $SQUIG for projects in the 100 $SQUIG tier)._

Launch details
Initial launch

This proposal will be submitted for snapshot vote by Friday, Feb 11th*.
Pending SDIP approval, the first cycle of Squiggle Grants will be targeted to launch on Feb 18* and will run until March 25, 2022. Review and voting on initial projects will last from March 24th to March 31st, with the first project(s) to be selected for execution announced on April 1st. Subsequent cycles will run on a monthly cadence.
*These dates subject to change depending on dates of Snapshot vote
General framework and details for the program
Squiggle Grant submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis. Admissions will be submitted through Google docs initially but may migrate entirely to the SquiggleDAO website at some point in the future. Initially, most of the activity related to this program will take place on SquiggleDAO Discord.
The submissions received in a given month will be reviewed by the selection committee from the 25th to the end of the month (the review and voting period).
The selection committee will make awarding decisions by the last day of the month
Winning projects will be announced at the following Weekly Town Halls
Multiple projects may be funded in a given month, provided that the committee stays within monthly budget
Awards disbursements ($SQUIG or otherwise) will be made upon project completion, as verified by the selection committee.
Any SquiggleTank award recipients will be expected to publicly report on results of their project by the 25th of the month following the award.
Committee details and selection process
The selection committee will be formed from 3 DAO members. Any DAO member may volunteer to be on the committee. Members will be elected by a voting process that will be developed subsequent to this SDIP. Committee members will be asked to serve for a 3 month term, the first committee will preside from Feb 18th to March 31st and will consist of the first volunteers for the program:
```
	@coin☆witch, @Redsicle, @NiftyFifty 
```

The selection committee members will each be responsible for;

Reviewing and selecting grant applications to be rewarded
Performing some basic due diligence to ensure that reimbursement requests are realistic and accurate
Promoting the Squiggle Grants program in Discord and on other social channels multiple times a month.
Convening meetings among themselves as necessary
Following up with successful applicants to ensure they report on the outcomes of their work and ensuring that those outcomes are shared and promoted within the DAO
Ensuring that successful applicants receive their rewards
Soliciting new members to the committee if one or more members leaves
Each selection committee member will receive 50 $SQUIG as monthly compensation
A selection committee member must recuse themself from decision making if that person has a pending Squiggle Grants award submission
Other guidelines
Because SquiggleDAO does not yet have a licensing agreement, no Squiggle Grants project can generate revenue. Examples include: merchandise, branded coffee, etc.
Any Squiggles featured in projects should be Squiggles from within the SquiggleDAO treasury

coin_witch

"In addition to the base reward, projects may be eligible for reimbursements for material costs such as construction materials and art supplies, tickets to events, travel costs, etc. Applicants will bear responsibility for providing details and receipts for any expense they wish to be reimbursed. Reimbursable expenses are capped at 2X the base reward rate"

There is an issue with this part. Specifically, how to handle it in the application form. Internally we've been using 1 SQUIG = 5 USD, but afaik we cannot publicly state this conversion

I think the solution here is, for this reimbursement funds portion of the award, list everything in USD but don't explain that it's 2x the base award amount. For example the application form might say:

"Additional Funds (to cover supplies/ transporation/ etc.)
Please list each cost your project will incur in USD. Once your grant is approved, it is your responsibility to stay within this budget or pay the difference yourself. Additional funds are limited to $1000/ $2000/ $3000 for the 3 grant tiers."
...
"For the additional funds, please state whether you would be willing to accept all or part of the award in $SQUIG rather than $USDC" <multiple choice>

And if they respond with all/part SQUIG, the selection committee will have to reach out to them privately about how much SQUIG we can offer based on the USD amount they listed in their costs.

moose

Thanks for that! Really good point, and a great fix for it.
The proposal has been updated to reflect this change.

0xgregory

Is the intention to pay back people who may have spent USD with SQUIG? That doesn't seem to make sense.

moose

Thanks for bringing attention to this. After discussing with the working group, the approach has been revised to the following:

Reimbursements will only be paid out in USDC or ETH, and will be matched to the expense: USDC for USD or other fiat expenses, ETH for ETH expenses.

This limits fx risk on our end and simplifies the process for our committee.

0xgregory

Great work! Can't wait to kick this off

coin_witch

I am relieved to hear this development re: reimbursement money. For those who were suggesting we cap the expenses at 2x the base squig award, do these numbers look right?
standard: 100 squig + up to 1000 USD (or ETH equivalent)
bold: 200 squig + up to 2000 USD (or ETH equivalent)
hyper: 300 squig + up to 3000 USD (or ETH equivalent)
This would keep us just under budget if we max out one hyper project's budget and allow for multiple winners otherwise

moose

Some final updates that I want to propose for the Grants program;

In order to bring the SDIP into alignment with our new SDIP template I have added the following details:
Project lead: moose
Creative approval: Squiggle Grants Committee

As project lead on this program, I will ensure that it runs smoothly and that feedback from the community will be used to inform and improve future versions of Squiggle Grants. We probably didn't get everything right the first time, but we'll get there!

Creative approval refers to whether the nature of a project or its output are in line with what our community expects.

An oversight on my part was not including any reward for Coinwitch and I for the work we put into actually launching this program. The work that we did consisted of planning, coordination and preparing documents and forms, and there's still more to do once approved! I would like to propose that we both receive a one time 250 $SQUIG reward for completion of the success conditions (as detailed in the SDIP). To be paid out upon completion of one cycle of the program (at least one project completed and at least one final report completed).

Look forward to any feedback that people have on this. We would like to launch the program ASAP so if you don't have feedback, but you support the proposed changes, please tell us below!

glorysk87

@moose - looks good to me. Keep us updated on progress on the various success conditions listed above! Excited to see projects start coming out of this.