[6.6.2] [Social] April Funding Request - ENS Public Goods Working Group Term 6

🏛️ Public Goods
1

Abstract

The Public Goods Working Group exists to fund initiatives that advance public goods funding within the wider ecosystem. We support builders, stewards, and community members working on public goods that are aligned with the values and goals of ENS.

This social proposal is submitted to satisfy the requirements set out in Rule 10.1.1 of the Working Group Rules (EP 1.8). If this proposal is passed, the funding request will be included in a collective executable proposal put forward by all Working Groups requesting funding.

Specification

This specification is the amount requested from the DAO treasury to the Public Goods Multisig to fulfill anticipated budgetary needs through the next formal funding window in October 2025.

USDC ETH $ENS
ENS PG Main Multisig 521k 0 0

This amount will cover all expected expenses outlined below while leaving a prudent reserve to ensure continuity if future funding is delayed.

Description

Current Public Goods Wallet Balances as of April 2, 2025

USDC ETH $ENS
ENS PG Main Multisig 139k 24.6 200

Updated balance information can be found at enswallets.xyz

Expenditures

The Public Goods Working Group allocates funds to support the public goods ecosystem through strategic grants, builder grants, and discretionary initiatives. While we aim to estimate expenditures accurately, actual spending may shift based on new opportunities or unforeseen needs.

Expected Expenses through October 2025

USDC ETH $ENS
Strategic Grants 450k - -
Builder Grants 150k - -
Discretionary (10% buffer) 60k - -
Total Balance 660k - -

Description of Initiatives

1. Strategic Grants: High-impact funding for initiatives aligned with the long-term vision of ENS and the broader public goods ecosystem. We are working on developing strategic initiatives focused on foundational infrastructure alongside our existing grants.

The pilot for Strategic Grants is our funding of the DRC. Since they are also receiving external matching funds for any contribution, our funding of 150,000 USDC equates to $300,000 in total funding dedicated to advancing decentralization advocacy and policy engagement.

Strategic Grants will be characterized by:

  • Larger Funding Amounts: Providing substantial support to initiatives that require more significant resources to succeed
  • Internal Expertise Utilization: Leveraging the expertise of our elected stewards rather than outsourcing key decision-making
  • Focused Impact Areas: Targeting underfunded yet critical areas such as developer tools, core dependencies, and infrastructure
  • Measured Outcomes: Establishing clear criteria for success and impact measurement from the outset

2. Builder Grants: Support for builders at all stages of their journey in building public goods. The platform will feature USDC payments as of next month so better accounting and higher amounts of funding can easily be distributed through the already tested and successful mechanism.

3. Discretionary Buffer: A 10% margin to provide flexibility for time-sensitive or emergent opportunities that align with the working group’s mandate. This may include hackathon sponsorship or event support.

Conclusion

This funding request will allow the Public Goods Working Group to continue its essential work in stewarding public goods funding. These resources will help us support a diverse set of builders, projects, and community-driven efforts, ensuring long-term sustainability and alignment with ENS values.

We are grateful for the ongoing support and engagement with our work.

7 Likes
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It would be nice to see these proposals getting at least a short temp check period on the forum where people can ask questions, before they go to Snapshot. Temp checks are also essential to get more eyeballs on proposals and detect and correct mistakes.

2 Likes
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The previous funding request from October 2024 was for $236k, so this current request amounts to more than double the working group’s previous funding levels.

Should we be increasing public goods funding to ~$1.3m/year at a time when the DAO’s income is below revenue, and below our run rate? Our revenue continues to exceed expenses for now, but only due to the ongoing impact of long-lived registrations.

2 Likes
4

The spend in Q1 was 236k so it is going to be much less than 1.3 million.

The budget as posted here was a result of feedback in 2024 that spend on PG funding was less than delegates would have liked to see so the efforts made at the end of 2024 to consolidate funding efforts and diversify the recipients of funds has been a key part of our strategic planning for 2025. This is the result of those conversations and the work - including the Builder Grants platform built with Build Guild - that we have focused on to address the concerns brought in 2024.

It is clear from conversations today - which could have happened during the forum post discussion window but a lot has been happening - that concerns around overall DAO spend given current dynamics are entirely valid. From experience in other DAOs, high spend could indeed have detrimental effects so a slightly better pacing can be beneficial. As we are very much focused on being intentional on what we fund and how, we want our funding contributions to be much more meaningful yet also mindful of funding request cadence and general ecosystem dynamics. When scoping out this budget, we intended to skip the funding window in October so will be adjusting this budget slightly for this window and may seek further supplementation later in the year.

The budget adjustment will be for the Strategic Grants category and will still enable us to fund projects we have already earmarked and maintain a buffer should a valuable strategic opportunity present itself between now and the October funding window.

It is important to continue the valuable impact PG funding is clearly having while also being mindful of overstretching the very source of that funding so the PG working group will be reposting a revised budget to Snapshot. Again, with full confidence this will not affect what we have already set out to do in the next six months.

3 Likes
5

Looks like the changes proposed bring the total funding request down from $521k to $356k with Strategic Grants being reduced by $150k, and discretionary funding being cut by $15k.

Any thoughts you and the stewards can share around why $165k was the right number to reduce?

I personally would support a larger Strategic Pool in the future

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As detailed above, it is the amount that enables us to effect what we have already set out to do in the next six months.

And as above, we appreciate delegate support for larger pools of funding and it is why the înrolă budget was posted. Yet as detailed in my response a slower cadence of funding requests seems opportune at this moment in time given the other commitments coming out of the treasury.