# Grants Tracking

The Grants Tracking process requires accurate, updated information that is distrubted across DAO membership while also being frictionless to access and update. As grants move through the lifecycle, DAO members need updated information that can be accessed quickly at a glance so that they're able to be informed about the status and details of each grant proposal.

Potential grant receipients also need to be able to move through the process in a timely way, receiving feedback and input on their proposals from stakeholders within the DAO. Information assymetry and operation costs can add unnecessary friction for both parties, and having a DAO-native grantee relationship manager can reduce operation costs and potential coordination issues resulting from inaccurate information.

## Problems

- Operational costs are prohibitive to conduct thorough life cycle tracking for grantees
- Unclear processes for updating grant information as they move through the life cycle, resulting in potential coordination failures or information assymetry
- Only a few folks are able to access and update the information due to a web2 permission structure -- this relates to, and extends, the prohibitive operational costs issue
- i.e. using a tool like Airtable results in a dilemna where only a few folks have access and are responsible for updates OR access is spread across many folks, increasing payment costs due to the billing structures

## Solutions

- Token-gated grantee relationship manager (CRM) modeled after the grant life cycle
- Easy APIs for building additional tools on top of the CRM:
- Example: Building a custom dashboard app that highlights certain features
- Database with data model that supports the primary goal: managing a grant and all of the metadata that needs to be available and updateable throughout the life cycle

## Benefits

- Record keeping is distributed across membership for easy access to impact, results and outcomes
- Reduction of information assymetry:
- DAO members meeting appropriate token threshold are able to access grant information, reducing information assymetry
- Grant information updates throughout the lifecycle can be updated by anyone who has the proper permissions, allowing for greater participation in the grant life cycle while reducing reliance on a few key members with proper permissions and access (i.e. to an Airtable)
- Feedback mechanism throughout the grant life cycle
- DAO members able to access up-to-date information will know where to locate information about grants, and can learn more about each project and provide feedback to the potential grantee or leave internal comments for fellow DAO members, allowing for more distributed insights and decision making
- Opportunity to rethink the data model holistically to determine what is needed at each step in the grant life cycle. For example, we can build our data model, categories, taxonomies, and feedback loops in a way that addresses the key problems outlined

## Trade-offs

- New system requires training and documentation
- Process will work best when DAO members are engaging with the tool
- Will need training (can be async through documentation) to encourage adoption
- Updates and comments will be more distributed
- Gating via DAO membership would remove granularity of Airtable/web2 SAAS permission structures that we currently use, which
- Potentially a trade-off as this would allow for more insight and updates into the grants process but can introduce points where folks alter information unintentionally
- More web3/DAO native tooling = potential for more updates (a net benefit, but a different approach than our current process which places trust in a few folks who have elevated access and permissions)

## User Stories

These are initial attempts at user stories. We can refine as we do additional research.

`As a DAO member I want to be able to see up-to-date information about all of the grants moving through our grant-giving life cycle so that I can provide informed feedback to both the DAO and the grantees.`