Community Project Funding

The inaugural meeting

Nimiq is an open source project, dedicated to creating a top performing, browser-based, decentralized payment protocol and ecosystem focused on ease of use. We know that community support is key to realizing this vision and that’s why on October 29, 2018, we announced our intent to create our community funding initiative. The idea was simple: To enable anyone in the community to submit a proposal to receive funding for their efforts and contributions to the Nimiq ecosystem.

What action has been taken?

Today, we’d like to announce that the six seats for the Nimiq Community Project Funding Board have been successfully filled by:

Nimiq Community representatives

• SirChef
• Chugwig
• Smitop

Team Nimiq

• Richy — (richy@nimiq.com)
• Marvin — (marvin@nimiq.com)
• Sören — (soeren@nimiq.com)

How were the community representatives elected? Well, we were aware that many Nimiq community projects needed funding as quickly as possible. With this in mind, Team Nimiq decided to move fast and internally elect community reps from the list of applicants we received.

All three community representatives are long time Nimiq supporters and this inaugural board will establish the democratic system to govern future elections.

The inaugural community fund meeting

Held on the November 28, 2018, this first meeting focused on establishing and agreeing upon the operation rules of the board, processes, methods of communication, proposal requirements, and the project review process.

We’d like to thank SirChef, Chugwig, and Smitop for taking the time to participate and for their contributions to laying the initial foundations for the Funding Board. Without further ado, we’ll jump into what was discussed:

Nimiq Funding Board rules

The following rules were established and agreed upon in the meeting:

• The board will be made up of six members: Three community representatives and three members of Nimiq Team.
• Funding proposal approvals require >50% acceptance from the board to pass.
• A total of up to 40 million NIM and infrastructure vouchers (max combined value of $50K equivalent) are allocated to fund projects in the first period of six months.
• Priority will be given to projects that can leverage and motivate developers with NIM and NIM’s potential rather than short-term cashing in on them; and delivering applications and infrastructure for the Nimiq ecosystem that will increase usage and circulation of NIM, bootstrapping the Nimiq Economy.
• Funding proposals will initially be reviewed once every two months and the meeting agenda will be prepared one week in advance of the meeting.
• Community representatives each serve on the board for at least six months. New representatives are elected at the end of the term via a community vote.
• The assignment of each Nimiq team representative will be decided internally and there is no defined maximum or minimum term for these board members.

Systems & processes

To get this initiative off the ground, the Funding Board had to create and agree upon a set of operational rules. These were talked about and developed during the call.

• Each board member is to independently carry out their own due diligence and assessment for each funding proposal made to the board.
• A dedicated Discord channel shall be set up to allow board members to communicate with each other and suggest optimizations to the proposals received.
• All community representatives authorize the Nimiq community to contact them.
• A dedicated Trello board will be used to increase transparency of board actions and enable community voting on proposals.
• Documents related to the initiative will be housed in a shared folder and made available to all board members.
• Each funding board meeting will be minuted and these will be shared with all board members before making this information public knowledge.

How can you submit a funding proposal?

It was agreed that funding proposals are to be submitted by the applicants to proposals@nimiq.com. Proposals sent to this email address are made accessible to all members of the funding board.

The format for proposals is laid out as follows:

1. Project name & description
   A short sentence or two about the proposed project.
2. Project team
   A list of proposed project contributors. We do respect the right to privacy, however, Nimiq will require at least the Discord or Telegram usernames of anyone intending to be involved in the project. In addition, we also require means to verify the qualifications of team members (e.g. GitHub link). For the project lead (responsible for funding) proper contact information is required including username and email. Additional means of contact information will be considered a plus.
3. Requested funding
   The proposal should state the support, services, and funds required. Team Nimiq wishes to support community projects beyond just mere financing and will consider lending its expertise and professional networks to further strengthen select community projects.
4. Funding will not be available in fiat money. Therefore, the proposal should state the amount of financing required in NIM. It will also be viewed favorably if proposals include ways that NIM will be actively used to complete the proposed project.

Aside from operational funds, proposal submitters should not expect any funding before starting work. If ongoing support is required, a vesting schedule should be included for unlocking the funds.

1. External funding
   Please provide us with details on whether you have or intend to raise additional funding from other sources, intend to monetize or receive donations. We’d love to hear about any current balances or projected revenue numbers.
2. Project type
   We’d like to know if the project is open-source, decentralized and distributable.
3. Detailed project plan
   Finally, please do include details on how the funds will be used, the target audience of your project, the reasoning behind the proposed vesting schedule and the value it will generate. We encourage that as much detail as possible is provided for this to help us better understand and evaluate the proposal.
4. The Nimiq Team realizes that we have a responsibility to ensure that funds are allocated appropriately. This means that any community project approved for funding will have their performance frequently evaluated and that no one-time funding requests will be approved. In the event that a project does not deliver what was promised, Nimiq reserves the right to make adjustments or terminate funding at any time.

Other than funding, what else can be requested?

We appreciate that every project proposal will be different and will require different types of support to make its vision a reality. If you wish to make a promising project happen and need help in a particular area, please do let us know and the Nimiq team will evaluate if and how it can support you. The help may include:

• Mentorship
• Development advice
• Leveraging the professional network to benefit your project
• References to higher educational institutions
• Coupons for server hosting services

How will proposals be reviewed?

It is envisioned that the Nimiq community will play a key role in the proposal evaluation process. Proposals will be made public on the community Trello board and allow anyone to review them. One up or down vote is allowed per person per project. The Nimiq community is also invited to reach out to their favorite board member to share their thoughts on proposals in more detail. This community feedback will be taken into account when the board makes their decision on funding proposals.

Review process

• For a proposal to be discussed in one of the monthly board meetings, the initiative must be public at least seven business days before the board meeting, so that it can be placed on the agenda.
• During the monthly meeting the board may choose one of three proposal outcomes:
  1) Accept.
  2) Reject. Rejections may occur if the proposals have excessive expectations or the Funding Board concludes that the applicant cannot execute the work outlined.
  3) Change request. The board may request changes to be made for the proposal to be considered in the next meeting. Applicants have time until the next meeting to implement changes or it will be dropped from consideration.
• The decisions made by the Board will be shared with the community. If funding is secured, work on the project will commence as outlined in the roadmap.

What else was discussed?

The board also discussed solutions to help better fund community projects. This included the suggestion of providing projects with hosting vouchers (in addition to NIM). It was agreed that the provision of vouchers should be pursued where possible and that this initiative would help further support projects.

Next steps

It was agreed that mid-January would be the target date for the first official board meeting. So, if you have a great idea to add value to the Nimiq ecosystem then get writing! Proposal submissions are open right now.

The entire Nimiq team and Funding Board are very excited about this initiative and supporting the contributions and efforts of community members. All board members are looking forward to hearing your ideas and getting to know you better. A follow-up post will be made shortly after proposals have begun to be lodged and the Trello board has been set up. Note that the program is subject to change given its early stage and additional unpredictable economic factors.

Thanks for reading and being part of the community. You are a big part of what makes Nimiq great.

DISCLAIMER: None of the statements must be viewed as an endorsement or recommendation for Nimiq, any cryptocurrency, or investment product. Neither the information, nor any opinion contained herein constitutes a solicitation or offer by the creators or participants to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments or provide any investment advice or service.