Community Budget 2023 - treasury proposal #51

Proponent: 44Fsd9iE3Q3FLprsuo2ASxdVPVdjcSYwAAjFcrtmPDMfixQW
Date: January 2023
Requested allocation: 1.75m PHA tokens

Proposal purpose:

The purpose of this proposal is to facilitate the continued advancement of Phala Network. The requested funds will be specifically used to expand Phala’s community and finance Phala’s ambassador programme. Both of which are crucial to enhancing Phala’s brand and invoking the adoption of Phala’s products, and ecosystem.

Context:

Phala ambassadors (ambs) are passionate community members, who are rewarded in PHA for volunteering to perform marketing, community, and content related tasks. This team currently consists of a total of 23 ambassadors, specifically 5 Seniors, 10 Ambassadors and 8 Candidates.

The total allocation in 2022 was 740,000 PHA over the course of 4 separate proposals. The monthly reward pool was 65,000 PHA per month during the later course of the year. The amb programme has gone through 2 different phases and is now entering its 3rd phase, whereby departments, head-ambassadors, league tables and an achievement system will all be introduced.

Expenditure:

This is a biannual request. The 1.75m PHA tokens will be utilised over a 6-month period. Primarily for amb rewards but also other community centric endeavours such as bounties and competitions. The 4 points listed below detail justify a larger allocation of funds:

1) Ambassador team expansion:

Why is this important?

In 2022 ambs played a key role in building Phala’s community. In 2023 they’ll increasingly be an indispensable support system for Phala’s core team.
Phala needs a larger team to foster and support the continued growth of its community.
An increasingly international team globalises Phala’s community. It enables:

(A) The creation of sub-communities in new regions.
(B) 24/7 community support across different time zones.
(C) Translations of Phala’s content increases awareness and growth

How will these funds be utilised?

Enables consistent rewards, despite expanding the team.
The monthly reward pool will be scaled whilst the team numbers increase.
They’ll continue to keep existing ambassadors motivated and active.
Token incentives accelerate our recruitment for high quality ambassadors and enable Phala’s community to expand faster.

How will these funds NOT be utilized?

These funds will NOT be used to ‘buy’ ambassadors.
To be eligible for rewards, all programme applicants need to prove that they’re:

(A) True builders and not freeloaders.
(B) Existing and active community members.
(C) Passionate and knowledgeable about Phala.
(D) Experienced in either marketing, community management or content creation.

This will be ensured with our new application criteria:

(A) A Phala knowledge test.
(B) 1-1 interviews before onboarding.
(C) A 2–3-month unrewarded trial period, aka our 'advocate' period.

2) Head Ambassadors:

What are they?

They’re select and top-performing senior ambassadors.

How will they contribute?

They’ll receive additional rewards for performing unique tasks.
Co-lead, educate, support, police, and mentor our ambassador team.
Create, and execute their department or team’s OKRs.
Produce monthly performance reports.
Are directly responsible for overall performance of their team.

Why are they important?

In addition to the points listed above in expanding our amb team:
(A) Quality assurance.
(B) Departments/League-teams will need dedicated leadership.
(C) I will need direct support when our programme is scaled.

3) Stabilization:

I predict 2023 to be a year of uncertainty due to the macroeconomic climate and having a surplus of funds will be crucial to navigate this period.
If negative price fluctuations occur, it prevents disruptions to our amb programme and community endeavours.
As this is a biannual proposal, if there is a substantial excess of funds, I will request less in my next proposal.

4) Connect Phala Network’s and Phala World’s communities:

Both communities are somewhat siloed and rarely interact.
Funds will be allocated towards facilitating community endeavours, e.g. events, to bridge and connect both communities.

2023 community OKRs:

Recruit 50-100 ambassadors.
Recruit 1-3 head ambassadors.
Increase community engagement and activity.
Grow our follower count across all our social channels.
Successfully bridge Phala Network and Phala World’s communities.