From voluntary carbon credits to UBI, we’ve covered the state-of-the-art in the ImpactDAO space. To discuss DAOs is to predict the future and, specifically, the future of work. According to what we have seen, the future of work - for both the individual and collective - consists of distributed, coordinated, and self-sovereign individuals solving the brokenness of the world as a single organization.
Combining asynchronous and synchronous work, these self-sovereign individuals - bound only by their voluntary commitment to the DAO’s mission - will do well by doing good, and have fun into the bargain. Bringing one’s whole self to work will become the rule, not the exception. Everyone will be at once diplomat and entrepreneur. Juggling various commitments and alignments to various DAOs will be standard. With widespread access to the Internet and near total smartphone adoption, cooperative crypto-native collectives will flourish, while traditional hierarchical organizations decline, both their attractiveness to potential talent and in effectiveness in achieving their respective goals/missions. Traditional organizations will decline in proportion to the lack of ownership by individuals creating the value, and a general deficit in positive impact on their communities and the environment. There will in consequence be a brain-drain away from geographical-centric workplaces to distributed, cooperative, crypto-native Impact DAOs. This will be the case even if the focus is on hyper-local issues, as a result of the way that ownership is distributed.
In the new age, Impact DAOs will:
Spread Virally : UBI projects like GoodDollar and Ukraine DAO (which raised $7m online purely in crypto for the war effort).
Create Better Commons: Commons Stack is engineering tokens and tools to model collective public goods.
Eat Traditional Orgs for Breakfast : Traditional non-profits must adapt to a changing landscape and changing client needs. Foundations will become DAOs, engaging multiple stakeholders in their decisions to fund initiatives and execute proposals instantaneously.
Increase Transparency of Impact : Tying real-world impact to on-chain activity. For example, KlimaDAO with voluntary carbon credit markets.
We’ve covered 12 mature Impact DAOs primed to make long-standing differences in a variety of ways. Even so, it’s clear that we are just at the beginning.
There are various ways to get involved and the good news is that we’re still early!
For more ways to get involved with the 12 mature Impact DAOs we’ve researched, please feel free to reach out to them through their respective Discords, website, and Twitters.
Thanks for taking this journey with us, and we hope you stay on board!
Potential sources for ideas and work:
GreenPilled - How Crypto Can Regenerate the World by Gitcoin Founder Kevin Owocki.
What Co-ops and Daos Can Learn From Each Other by Austin Robey.
Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action by Elinor Ostrom
Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux
Platform Coops and DAOs and Mutual Aid: Oh My!
On how to start an Impact DAO, reach out to Impact DAO Media on Twitter