💰Finances

How It Works

Finances are primarily overseen by the Stewards in coordination with Civics Unplugged and the Governance Working group. The Stewards are responsible for tracking monthly finances and expenses, along with distributing monthly payments. When we need fiat, like airline tickets or paying a member that cannot accept USDC, we use Civics Unplugged’s bank account. We use a DAO tool called “Utopia Labs” to distribute payments. Utopia Labs allows members to request their payments through a link, and the Steward is able to approve or reject the request. Our finances (grants, money in the bank, monthly expenses, salaries, etc.) are all open-source to DAO voting members.

Why We Created This

Creating systems for finances makes it easier to manage and enables the DAO to financially thrive.

Learnings

It took us a while to create an effective system for our finances. Adopting Utopia Labs and monthly processes was a huge improvement. Keeping our finances open-source to voting members is extremely beneficial. If members know about the status of finances, they can make better decisions when they vote. There are many hard conversations that would not have been as productive as they were if Stewards were more closed-off about DAO finances.