Vanilla DAO Microgrants Pilot — 8 Weeks, Small Bets

Summary

This proposal funds an 8-week microgrants pilot to support a handful of lightweight community experiments before the DAO commits to a larger grants program. Total budget is capped at 2,500 USDC.

Rationale

A full grants program is a significant commitment of capital and operational overhead. Before scaling, we should validate demand, surface strong contributors, and learn what moves the needle. A small, time-boxed USDC pilot lets us fund several low-cost experiments, observe outcomes, and gather the evidence to design a larger program with confidence.

Budget

• Total cap: 2,500 USDC
• Per-grant cap: 750 USDC
• Distributed as small individual grants (minimum ~3 grants)
• Unallocated funds return to the treasury at pilot close

Eligible project types

• Developer tooling and integrations
• Educational or documentation content
• Community initiatives and events
• Small experiments that test demand for a future product or service

Out of scope: ongoing salaries, large infrastructure, anything requiring funding beyond the pilot window.

Review process

• Applicants submit a short proposal (goal, deliverable, requested amount)
• Open application window during weeks 1–2
• A 3-member review group (1 admin + 2 members) scores on clarity, feasibility, and community value
• Grants approved on a rolling basis until the 2,500 USDC cap is reached

Duration

8 weeks from approval: weeks 1–2 applications, weeks 3–7 execution, week 8 reporting and wrap-up.

End-of-pilot reporting

• Each recipient submits a short writeup: what was built, outcomes, learnings
• Review group publishes a summary report with total spend and per-grant results
• Report includes an explicit go/no-go recommendation on a full grants program

Risk note

Pilot scope, 8-week window, and 2,500 USDC cap bound the downside. Main risk is low-quality applications; mitigated by small grant sizes, the review group, and mandatory reporting that informs the go/no-go decision.