Dedication is the Holy Grail for DAOs

Four nights a week I coach youth sports for my two young sons. It was last Friday night at 9pm, while helping to clean up the baseball field after my son’s game that I realized that the Little League community only works because of the DEDICATION of the contributors at the top. These board members, league heads and coaches dedicate their time, money and emotion to the baseball community receiving nothing in return. In DAOs we’d call these our core contributors, the lifeblood of any DAO. These are the 1%, the doers, those making a difference, dedicators of time, knowledge, and skills for the end cause.

In this article I want to discuss how DAOs can broaden their use of incentives beyond monetary rewards to increase the commitment of their contributors.

But quickly the definitions of “dedication,” and “community.”

Dedication- “the quality of being dedicated or committed to a task or purpose.”

Community- “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.”

There is a significant difference between the two. A “feeling of fellowship,” doesn’t move the needle long term, but being “committed to a task or purpose” certainly does. As we enter Web 3.0 and DAOs start to take center stage, it’s important to remember that sharing a common goal isn’t going to be enough to succeed. Each DAOs needs a process in place to nurture and grow dedication with in the community or risk losing contributors and members to more engaging projects.

Create “Stickiness”

Why do I dedicate my 4 nights a week to coaching youth sports? Time is the most precious resource I have at this point in my life, but still I commit 10hr+ a week to it. The answer is… my kids! Kids are an incredibly strong motivator, but more than that they are “sticky,” as in I will do anything for them. I will continue to coach them until they decide to stop playing or I become unqualified. So, how do DAOs develop this “stickiness” in their community and most importantly with their core contributors.

Non-monetary incentives

Badging — These can only be earned, not bought. The badging acts as a form of credentialing, allowing members to display skill sets, accomplishments and permissionlessly take bounties. The credentialing system will allow for DAOs to make more informed choices when it comes to larger projects, selecting not only the most qualified candidate, but the most reliable.

NFTs — Similar to badging create unique NFTs for accomplishments and completed tasks. These NFTs can be sold/transferred. Whether you earned the NFT or bought it, you directly or indirectly supported the overall cause. Status is very sticky.

Discord Moderation– Many members are eager to help moderate servers. It is a thankless job, but if a member is contributing on other levels, bump their permissions. They’ll feel recognized and appreciative, while continuing to provide more value as a moderator.

Cohorts- Loosely think of this as a pledge class to a fraternity or sorority. The process could be as simple as the pledge class working together to complete a small project for the DAO or as complicated as rolling out new features. I love the idea of having potential contributors onboarded this way. First, you’ll learn a lot about the dedication of those involved, especially when things go wrong. Secondly, the project will build relationships within the class. Why is this important? Because you are far less likely to disappoint someone you have a close relationship with than a Discord filled with strangers.

Unique Token Structures- All token holders aren’t created equal. We can’t have a pool made up of 100% toke holders while no one does the work, incentives are just not aligned.

• Inflationary mechanisms — DAOs should be inflationary, diluting value of holders who aren’t actively participating.
• Changes to voting rights — Reduced voting rights for inactive members. Inactive members shouldn’t have a stronger voice than a current contributors regardless of their token holdings. Recent DAO fundraising rounds have reflected this trend as institutional token buyers have received diluted voting rights in the DAO.

In Web 2.0 we aimed to retain customers, in Web 3.0 we’ll aim to retain valuable members of the community. The most successful DAOs will find creative ways to encourage commitment from their most valuable contributors.

Have other ideas on increasing dedication within DAOs and building stickiness, I’d love to hear them!