Is your DAO community healthy?
What is a DAO community?
Like any other community, every DAO has a group of people who may have different language and culture, but they are after the same goals. DAO community can be defined in different scopes: either a wide group (everyone who’s interested in your project) or a narrow one (only those who work on the project itself). DAO community might appear to be an ambiguous subject. You won’t be in the dark about what your community should accomplish or how it might benefit the company, though, after you create clear and actionable limits around it and what you want it to be.
What makes a healthy community?
By default, the concept of a healthy community is arbitrary. An investment DAO is probably not healthy for a social DAO, and vice versa. Early on, you should establish your own health metrics to assist you to plan how to develop your community. Here are a few ecosystem health metrics obtained from various locations.
- Everyone is working toward a single goal
A community that has a goal and actively works to achieve that mission is one indicator of an effective community. According to Alima, a community manager with expertise creating groups like A0KIVERSE and CryptoTechWomen, one of the best ways to gauge the health of a community, is by “going towards a common purpose.” Communities must base their activities on this common goal since it directs the DAO. This is not all that dissimilar from the web2 world’s purpose-led enterprises. By including the community directly in the purpose rather than allowing them to observe from the sidelines, Web3 takes the concept of shared purpose to a new level. Does my organization have a clearly defined purpose? might thus be one indicator of the health of your community. If so, are members of the community working together to achieve it? A group that is splintering in a million separate ways to accomplish a million different goals, frequently motivated by ego, is unhealthy or inefficient. A strong community is one in which members can set aside their differences of opinion and cooperate to achieve the organization’s ultimate goals.
- The community is a desirable area to stay in
Do people want to work in the community you have created? Are there new members who keep around? A high-gravity community is a wonderful metaphor for a location where people want to be since it draws them in, becomes more and more gravitationally powerful as it expands, and eventually engulfs everything nearby. Make a space that is specifically suited to the demographic you want to draw. More of those folks will visit your place if it’s a good fit.
- Engagement is valued more highly than progress
There is no justification for member recruitment only for member recruitment’s sake. It is preferable to have engaged, strongly mission-aligned members than inactive ones who only sign up for a day. Therefore, a community that has high participation is healthy, albeit it need not have great growth. Emile Kormienko, a seasoned community builder in both web2 and web3, advised community managers to measure the health of their community by involvement rather than growth. A small, active community is more preferable to a huge, inactive one, according to Idkcrypto, community builder of WGMI and former member of Mycelium. There is no guarantee that all 10,000 of your members are actual community members just because you have 10,000. I like 1,000 members who participate 900 times every week. Your community’s cohesiveness among its members may make or break it. The web3 community is likely also off if the vibes, which are frequently off, are off. While maintaining participation is important, you can go further by making sure that participation is meaningful. Even if people aren’t sticking around for long, if you are interacting with them, listening, and helping them it is still beneficial” said Shawn, community builder at Aragon and formerly Index Coop. “It creates an imprint in their mind about the organization, which they will use when recommending the product or service in the future. Word of mouth is the strongest form of advertisement.” A community that is actively engaged in meaningful interactions may repurpose itself into a sales crew, which is more than just a healthy community — it’s the community that effectively drives sales back to your DAO!
So, how is your DAO’s health?
