Step 4: Community Organizing
4/7 steps beginners course on how to Impact DAO. Inject the basics 💉
Step 4: Community Organizing - Tools, Documentation, Ops Structure
4.1: Tools
Initially, you only need two tools.
One is a place on the internet for your community to hang out, and the other is for you to start writing - Google Docs/Notion.
And when you have money, you need a multi-sig ( joint bank account on the blockchain).
Ukraine DAO launched with a multi-sig, Google Docs and Telegram group chat.
Pact DAO launched with Discord and multi-sig.
IDM with Discord and Google Docs.
Discord and Telegram are hugely popular amongst DAOs. Think of them as your DAO's office on the internet. Your community lives there, and anyone looking to meet you will come there.
Discord vs. Telegram
If you're gathering to get work done, I suggest Discord.
For the community vibe, Telegram is great, quick, and lightweight. Most DAOs end up using both.
Two tips:
Meet your community where they are; if WhatsApp is what they use, don't force Telegram. Ethelo, a governance tech company that recently transitioned into a DAO with very traditional members, still communicates via email and slowly onboarding to Discord.
Keep it simple, don't go overboard with tools.
My position on tools is if you cannot collaborate in a Google doc, no DAO tool is going to save you - Alona, Founder, Ukraine DAO
4.2 Documentation
Document everything - your why, values, mission, vision, tools, mistakes, wins everything.
As you start growing, a lot of your organization's knowledge will live on Discord, have a plan to organize from there.
Tools you'll use Google Drive, Notion, and Zoom (video records).
Your goal should be to make everyone self-starters, so document in a way that your community can self-start.
Ukraine DAO does a fab job with documentation, and so does Impact Market.
4.3: Ops Structure
What's the best structure for your org is something you'll learn over time as you gain more DAOing experience.
DAOs are either organized as workstreams or pods or 1: 1 (individual contributors)
Pods > Workstreams: The pod is the smallest unit of operating. Keep pods small of five to six people, with one direct report individual who ensures things get done as planned.
At IDM, we are adopting the OSS model of individual contributors using Github and CharmVerse to track contributions.
Remember, whoever initiates the DAO has to do most leg work as most DAOs in the initial stages are volunteer-driven. So the core team of initial founders has to keep marching forward whether they have 10, 5, 1, or no contributors.
DAOs have a concentric structure unlike the hierarchical structure of traditional organizations. All the Impact DAOs in our study had a similar organization structure.
Recommended Podcast:
Recommended Twitter thread: Discourse on Effective DAOs Ops Structure.
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