This document lays out standards which shall apply to all bounties funded through Polkadot OpenGov. The basic intention is to ensure that minimum standards are upheld before a budget is granted. It defines how these executive bodies should handle budgeting, transparency, and compliance.
Bounties are required to provide the following materials for transparency:
These are additional questions we have received and considerations we have discussed. They are not included in the on-chain proposal (to keep the proposal minimal) and are intended to help you interpret the intention of the proposal.
A strategy is much bigger. Objectives are the first part of a strategy. So yes, a proper strategy contains objectives. However, a list of objectives doesn't yet make a strategy.
Yes. Bounties need to be able to adapt to changing circumstances. However, if a bounty promises to do work to achieve a certain goal it should not take the granted money and do something different with it. If it wants to change what the money is designated for, it should have to request a change.
Likewise, it is easy for a bounty to change the objectives for future funding, because it is submitting a funding request anyways. In the context of requesting new funding, it can also communicate changed objectives.
In general it would be very helpful to measure against hard metrics. The problem is that it is really hard to arrive at reasonable metrics and very often people come up with bad metrics just so that they can provide KPIs. We have chosen to not include a requirement for metrics yet, because the ecosystem as a whole is not yet mature enough to have agreed on the right metrics. A good first step is to start finding the metrics that make sense before prescribing that metrics have to be used.
In the past, OpenGov has shown to just close bounties when they stopped performing. We don't think this has to be explicitely defined.
It is still up to OpenGov, but the idea is that OpenGov shall question bounties that do not provide these things. We suggest OpenGov denies funding requests if proper scoping and transparency criteria are not fulfilled.
The objectives long-term and generic in nature. The quarterly budget is focused on specific projects. It might touch only some of the objectives or with different priorities. It is more specific. The idea is to communicate specific plans for how the money is used, not some general ambitions.
There are 2 parts to transparency: summary and details
When we talk about transparency, both aspects are needed: summary and details.
Yes, dealing with other peoples money requires making it transparent what you did with the money.
You don't need a dedicated website. Updating the description on the bounty pages in governance explorers like Subsquare/Polkassembly is very much fine. It even helps casual observers find your information quickly.
The same is true for summaries, reports, etc. Keep them short and simple and save everyone time.
The overview page can be a the Subsquare/Polkassembly page, a dedicated website, Notion page or similar. See examples below:
Events Bounty
UX Bounty:
Financial statements should provide detailed explanations and metrics of bounty operations. See examples below:
Events Bounty
PAL
Summaries can be short bullet point summaries that gives the general idea of progress for public oversight, they dont have to be as detailed as quarterly reports.
Polkadot OpenGov has set standards for bounties to ensure they meet minimum requirements before receiving funding. These standards cover objectives, funding, curators, recipients, and transparency.
Bounty Objectives: Bounties must have clear goals that the community can judge their success by. Funds can only be used for the objectives they were requested for.
Funding: Bounties can request funding once per quarter. Requests must include a budget breakdown, timeframe, and transparency reports on past activities. They must be discussed for at least 2 weeks before a vote.
Curators: Curators must have a verified identity and payment terms must be outlined. They cannot sign payments for their own work, except for compensation. They must declare conflicts of interest and report any issues.
Recipients: Recipients must have a verified identity and cannot claim compensation for work they've already been paid for.
Transparency: Bounties must provide materials like a public communication channel, an overview page with objectives and contact information, a spending policy, a table of child bounties, monthly progress summaries, and quarterly financial statements.
The document also discusses the importance of having clear objectives, the ability to change them, and the challenges of setting success metrics. It emphasizes the need for both summary and detailed transparency, and provides examples of how bounties can meet these standards with simplicity and efficiency.
This document lays out standards which shall apply to all bounties funded through Polkadot OpenGov. The basic intention is to ensure that minimum standards are upheld before a budget is granted. It defines how these executive bodies should handle budgeting, transparency, and compliance.
Bounties are required to provide the following materials for transparency:
These are additional questions we have received and considerations we have discussed. They are not included in the on-chain proposal (to keep the proposal minimal) and are intended to help you interpret the intention of the proposal.
A strategy is much bigger. Objectives are the first part of a strategy. So yes, a proper strategy contains objectives. However, a list of objectives doesn't yet make a strategy.
Yes. Bounties need to be able to adapt to changing circumstances. However, if a bounty promises to do work to achieve a certain goal it should not take the granted money and do something different with it. If it wants to change what the money is designated for, it should have to request a change.
Likewise, it is easy for a bounty to change the objectives for future funding, because it is submitting a funding request anyways. In the context of requesting new funding, it can also communicate changed objectives.
In general it would be very helpful to measure against hard metrics. The problem is that it is really hard to arrive at reasonable metrics and very often people come up with bad metrics just so that they can provide KPIs. We have chosen to not include a requirement for metrics yet, because the ecosystem as a whole is not yet mature enough to have agreed on the right metrics. A good first step is to start finding the metrics that make sense before prescribing that metrics have to be used.
In the past, OpenGov has shown to just close bounties when they stopped performing. We don't think this has to be explicitely defined.
It is still up to OpenGov, but the idea is that OpenGov shall question bounties that do not provide these things. We suggest OpenGov denies funding requests if proper scoping and transparency criteria are not fulfilled.
The objectives long-term and generic in nature. The quarterly budget is focused on specific projects. It might touch only some of the objectives or with different priorities. It is more specific. The idea is to communicate specific plans for how the money is used, not some general ambitions.
There are 2 parts to transparency: summary and details
When we talk about transparency, both aspects are needed: summary and details.
Yes, dealing with other peoples money requires making it transparent what you did with the money.
You don't need a dedicated website. Updating the description on the bounty pages in governance explorers like Subsquare/Polkassembly is very much fine. It even helps casual observers find your information quickly.
The same is true for summaries, reports, etc. Keep them short and simple and save everyone time.
The overview page can be a the Subsquare/Polkassembly page, a dedicated website, Notion page or similar. See examples below:
Events Bounty
UX Bounty:
Financial statements should provide detailed explanations and metrics of bounty operations. See examples below:
Events Bounty
PAL
Summaries can be short bullet point summaries that gives the general idea of progress for public oversight, they dont have to be as detailed as quarterly reports.
Threshold
Threshold