DASH RFP Process
I’d like to create a community driven RFP (Request for Proposal) process that improves the quality, accountability, and success of proposals.
An RFP is a document that defines needs and the kinds of service being sought out to meet them. RFPs are sent out to markets and invite service providers to make competing proposals to solve problems based on documented requirements.
My aim is to enhance existing processes to broaden collaboration on budgetary projects.
A successful Dash DAO RFP process should:
- Involve the right people. All stakeholders who will be impacted by this process should be involved in its creation.
- Be decentralized. Anyone in the Dash ecosystem should be able to participate in the creation of an RFP and its administration.
- Add value to the existing proposal system rather than change or compete with it.
- Be optional. No one should be required to engage an RFP process to either make a budget proposal or vote on one.
- Encourage collaboration between different stakeholder types in the Dash ecosystem.
- Create clarity and shared understanding around strategy, accountability, and how to evaluate success of projects.
Benefits (Why?)
A dash RFP process would support the Dash community both internally and externally.
MNOs will have:
- More confidence because proposals will respond to needs already vetted by MNOs
- Increased security because the RFP will create competition and thereby better proposals
Dash community members will have more concrete processes through which to participate in shaping the longterm success of Dash
Both Dash MNOs and the wider community will be able to:
- Develop strategic projects that meet identified needs.
- Budget for strategic projects that require longer time frames and/or multiple stages of development
- Define accountability structures in advance of proposal submissions
External parties:
- Vendors and service providers outside of the Dash community will become aware that there is value alignment and opportunity to earn revenue through Dash
- Dash can build partnerships with strategic groups that can then bring their experience/work/talent/capacity/etc to dash
Who am I?
I’m a community organizer and projects facilitator that works at the intersections of open source tech and nonprofits.
A number of years back I cofounded a nonprofit arts service organization called C4 Atlanta focused on economic development through arts entrepreneurship programming. To this day it’s the work I’ve been the most proud of.
I have tons of experience working in and around open organizations such as Mozilla and Code for America. What I’ve gained from my experiences in the open source world is a passion for helping organizations incorporate radical participation into their DNA.
(How I work, what brings me to dash, etc)
Process (How?)
How I work
My top priority is making sure this process is community driven.
My work will be open and collaborative with members of the community involved every step of the way.
The community will own all of the outputs of this effort.
Identify key touch points navigated through by people new to Dash in making their first proposal.
Consult with people who have developed RFP processes in different types of organizations.
Do an ecosystem scan/get a snapshot of how the proposal process currently works. Questions:
- How do people find out about the proposal process?
- Who actively participates in
- What infrastructure has been created to facilitate proposal creation and vetting, and where are potential points of collaboration?
Accountability
Budget
My requested budget covers my time, the time of consultants with greater expertise in this area, and costs associated with attending the Dash Conference in London so I can get face-time with collaborators, potential partners, and other key stakeholders in the Dash community. Budget that is unused will be factored into future proposals I submit to the DAO.
This budget assumes 1 Dash = $300 USD
- People
- Me 100 hrs
- $5300
- Dash 17.666666666666667
- Consultants 4x6 hours
- $1272
- Dash 4.24
- How to create an rfp process
- How to engage multiple stakeholders in composing rfps
- How to market rfp
$6572
- Dash 21.906666666666667 + submission cost
Total: 27 Dash.
Pulling text from the pre-proposal thread
Investment. MNO's aren't the only people invested in Dash's future and success. As such, it is MNO's responsibility and in their best interest to work with other invested stakeholders to make sure the DAO budget is allocated as effectively as possible.
RFP processes are a core function of organizations large and small who want to do things they don't have internal capacity to accomplish. They take a lot of work in terms of man-hours as well as conducting discovery, stakeholder engagement, systems analysis, consensus building, and so on. At the end of an RFP process what you have aren't ideas, but vetted strategic opportunities and priorities.
Someone needs to be doing higher level work like this and if MNO's aren't incentivized to do it themselves they should pay people to do it.
In my opinion, the body of MNO's shouldn't simply be vetting ideas, but setting priorities that a larger network of invested stakeholders can put into action. MNO's shouldn't stay stuck reactively choosing between proposals that have no strategic alignment with each other. What I'm proposing is an approach to begin allocating funds in more proactive ways that set Dash up for greater success.
- MNO don't need trust or confidence building. what are you talking about.
I disagree. Trust and confidence building are at the very core of the budgeting process. If MNO's lack confidence that a proposal will have the desired impact, or feel the proposer is untrustworthy, the proposal won't be funded.
LC
Lyre Calliope 8 years ago
Still heavily working on this section