Are you or your team working on a NEAR ecosystem common good project and looking for funding? In this post, we will take a closer look at who determines the funding in the NEAR Developer Governance, what factors to consider when proposing the funding amount, and how to submit a funding request.

The NEAR Developer Governance plays a major role in facilitating technical projects and empowering anyone to contribute to the ecosystem. A big part of this is providing financial support to some of the activities that go into bringing innovative projects to life.

Who determines the funding

The funding amount for a proposal is a collaborative and transparent effort between the applicant, the Work Groups, and the Developer Governance DAO moderators.

It starts with the applicant figuring out the appropriate amount to ask for in their proposal based on factors such as project complexity, timeline, and skill levels. Once the applicant posts their proposal on the Dev Gigs Board, various Work Groups evaluate the technical and product aspects of the proposal within their area of expertise. They also assess the project cost considerations, and in some cases negotiate with the applicant. Since Work Groups specialize in different areas, their evaluation may vary. After the Work Groups provide their attestations, the Developer Governance DAO moderators will consolidate the feedback and make the final funding decision. In some cases, the Developer Governance DAO moderators may schedule a public call to meet with the applicant(s) to discuss or negotiate the proposal.

What factors to consider when determining the funding

All parties mentioned above should use the following factors when determining the funding amount.

• Project complexity and duration: Consider the level of effort and the length of the project.
• Seniority and skill required for the task. Consider using Levels.fyi as a guideline to determine the expected hourly rate for each level of seniority and role.
• Temporary nature of the engagement: Adjust for the temporary nature of engagement. Since temporary engagements are less financially secure than full-time job positions, an extra 20-80% markup is potentially justifiable.
• Special skills or experience: If the project requires niche skills, such as a proven knowledge of NEAR protocol internals, a person with such skills can justify requesting more compensation.
• Economic circumstances: While it is difficult to apply geographic compensation calibration consistently in a blockchain space, it is also unfair to recognize that some teams might have a 4x lower cost of the workforce than other teams due to their geographic location. We expect applicants to be open about it and for Work Groups to enforce geographic coefficients when the disparity is drastic.
• Diversification of the NEAR ecosystem: It is in the interests of the NEAR Developer Governance to support multiple entities with funding, rather than giving all grants to a single qualified party. Therefore, in some rare cases, funding may be granted to a party that is slightly less fit but is a newcomer to the ecosystem.

Submitting funding requests on the Gigs Board

The best place to submit a funding request is through a solution post on the Dev Gigs Board. You must first create an idea post, and reply to it with a solution post type.

Funding requests guidelines:

• Project details: Include a clear overview of the project goals, scope, deliverables, and timeline.
• Budget breakdown: To ensure transparency and increase the chances of approval, the applicant should include a budget breakdown with justification based on the various factors mentioned in the previous section.
• Timeline: Projects and their corresponding funding should have a short timeline, preferably under a month. This helps ensure project success by creating a clearly defined scope and minimizing risks. If a project has multiple milestones, propose each milestone as an independent funding request.
• Evaluation before funding: The bulk of the evaluation should happen before the project receives the funding. This helps to minimize the risks and ensure the project meets the desired goals.