Web3 for Good: Careers in Social Impact & Public Goods DAOs

While much of the Web3 conversation is dominated by finance and NFTs, a powerful and growing movement is using blockchain technology for a different purpose: funding public goods and creating positive social impact. This is the world of Public Goods DAOs.

A "public good" is something that is non-excludable and non-rivalrous—meaning anyone can use it, and one person's use doesn't diminish its availability to others. Clean air, open-source software, and scientific research are all classic examples. Historically, public goods have been underfunded because there's no direct profit motive to create them. Public Goods DAOs are a new model designed to solve this problem.

What is a Public Goods DAO?

A Public Goods DAO is a collective organization that raises and distributes funds to projects that have a positive impact on the world, particularly within the Web3 ecosystem. They use innovative funding mechanisms to create sustainable support for projects that would otherwise struggle to find funding.

How Do They Work? The Gitcoin Model

The most famous and successful example of a Public Goods DAO is Gitcoin. Gitcoin's primary mission is to fund the open-source software and infrastructure that the entire Ethereum ecosystem relies on.

Gitcoin is famous for pioneering the use of Quadratic Funding.

• What is Quadratic Funding? It's a mathematically optimal way to fund public goods based on matching contributions from a central pool.
• How it works:
  1. Gitcoin holds a "matching pool" of funds, often donated by large foundations or protocols like the Ethereum Foundation.
  2. The community donates to individual projects they want to support.
  3. The magic is in how the matching funds are distributed. The amount a project receives from the matching pool is proportional to the square of the sum of the square roots of the contributions received.
• Why it Matters: This formula means that the number of unique contributors is much more important than the total amount they donate. A project that receives 100 small donations of $1 will get significantly more in matching funds than a project that receives one large donation of $100. This creates a highly democratic and community-driven way of allocating resources.

Other Examples of Social Impact DAOs

• VitaDAO: A DAO focused on funding early-stage longevity and aging research. Members vote on which scientific projects to fund.
• KlimaDAO: A DAO focused on fighting climate change by increasing the demand for and price of carbon credits on the blockchain.
• DeSci (Decentralized Science) DAOs: A growing movement of DAOs aimed at fixing the problems in traditional scientific funding and publishing.

Career Opportunities in the "ReFi" Space

The world of Public Goods DAOs and "Regenerative Finance" (ReFi) is creating a new set of career opportunities for those who want to align their work with their values.

• Community & Ecosystem Managers: These roles involve identifying promising projects, helping them apply for grants, and supporting them through the funding process.
• Grant Program Managers: Responsible for the day-to-day operations of the funding rounds, including communicating with projects and ensuring a smooth process.
• Governance Facilitators: Helping the DAO community make decisions about how to allocate its treasury and which causes to support.
• Data Analysts: Analyzing the impact of the DAO's funding. Which projects have been most successful? How can the allocation mechanism be improved?

How to Get Involved

1. Participate in a Grants Round: The best way to learn is by doing. Find a project you believe in during the next Gitcoin Grants round and donate a small amount. Observe the process.
2. Join a DAO: Find a Public Goods DAO that aligns with your passions. Join their Discord, participate in the conversation, and look for opportunities to contribute.
3. Showcase Your Skills: If you're a writer, offer to help a project write a better grant proposal. If you're a data analyst, build a Dune dashboard that tracks the DAO's funding history.

Working in the Public Goods sector of Web3 is a chance to be at the forefront of a movement that is building new, more equitable models for funding the things we all need. It's a unique opportunity to use the powerful tools of crypto to create a tangible, positive impact on the world.