Funding Commitment Proposal

The idea of funding commitments is to set aside and protect a set amount of resources with the goal of eventually providing those resources to the project or initiative it was designated for.

The world is full of great ideas.  Unfortunately those great ideas don't always move from a stage of ideation, through project development to project completion and dissemination.  So, when people seek out and request resources, there is risk associated with the process.

The more apparent risk is that resources will be given to those with ideas and there won't ever be anything produced in return.  It could be for any number of reasons, but the issue is that there is no guarantee of a positive return on investment (ROI).

A less apparent risk is at the level of the individual and/or team that works on a project or initiative, spending sometimes countless hours and personal resources to bring something to life, just to find out that the funding that may or may not have been promised, isn't actually available.

It's pretty obvious neither situation is good, so funding commitment proposals are Catalyst's way of mitigating that risk somewhat.

Funding commitments go through the established governance process, but they require a certain level of detail in the form of milestones and payout amounts to ensure a minimum level of planning has gone into any project proposal that will eventually lead to a disbursement of community resources.

They also have built in checks to ensure funding cannot be committed unless the resources exist in the community fund.  When a funding commitment passes, the requested resources get moved into escrow where they remain and can only be disbursed on successful completion of a related milestone.

Like other proposals, funding commitments are initiated through the submit proposals button on the community page.  However, they will also be initiated as part of other processes such as when opportunities are accepted.

Let's take a look at the initial form which simply lets you identify who is applying and how much funding is being sought.  Depending on how this is initiated, the funding amount may already be filled out (and unchangeable).

Applicant Account

Applicant account is the near account that will eventually get the funding.  It could be the individual or team submitting the proposal, but funding commitments may also be submitted on behalf of someone else (as long as it is a valid near account name).

Funding Requested

Funding requested is the amount you are asking to have put into escrow to fund your project or initiative.  Couple things to keep in mind when putting an amount in here:

• Funding commitments require a plan.  We'll cover it more below, but you will need to identify milestones and payout amounts that add up to the total amount requested.  Thus, not a great idea to just swag a number here - ensure it is based off a solid plan of action.
• Funding commitments will not get sponsored or start their way through the governance cycle unless there are enough funds in the community fund to cover them.  You can still make a request that exceeds the funds, but it will sit in proposal/discussion phase until more funds are added or it is cancelled/resubmitted for a lesser amount.
• Your project may very well be super important needing all the funds in the community fund, but also consider that if all the resources go to your project, there's nothing left for anyone else.  Unless the entire community is working on your project, it may be better to split your project into sub-projects and allow multiple initiatives in the community to move forward concurrently.

After submitting the funding proposal, you'll need to provide adequate detail, planning out how the funds are going to be used, when milestones will be completed, and associated payouts.

The key to getting funds committed to your initiative or project is putting enough thought into how you are going to do what you are saying you are going to do.  Don't skimp on the detail, try and answer all the questions someone might have.  Put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would like to know before handing money over to someone.

You can add as many milestones as you like to break your project up into manageable chunks.  However the total amount planned must match the amount of funding requested.  The Submit Details button will remain disabled until all the necessary conditions when submitting detail are met.

Let's cover the fields

Proposal Title

Enter a short title that describes your project.

Proposal Details

This freeform text area lets you describe your project and provide as much information as you feel is necessary to enable the community membership to vote on.  While there is a question/answer capability, would recommend you provide sufficient detail up front to help speed your proposal through sponsorship to voting.

It's a very good idea to make it very clear what the expectation/scope of a completed project looks like.  It will assist with project validation and payout approvals later on.

Milestones

You can view milestones as being important markers on your way to project completion.  They are those sub-components of a larger project that you'll need to complete in order to complete the entire project.

Identifying your key milestones does a couple things:

• Breaks your project into manageable chunks - keeps you from getting overwhelmed and helps improve the rate of project completion
• Provides a quantifiable metric to measure project progress
• Allows funds to be disbursed (via payout proposals)