Program Structure
The CoW Grants Program operates under a structured governance framework as defined in CIP-63.
Committee Composition
The Grants Committee consists of five members:
-
3 Community Members:
-
2 Core Team Members:
The committee operates as a Gnosis Safe with a 4/5 quorum required for approving grants.
Committee Roles
Each committee member may serve in one or more of these roles:
Technical Lead
- Conducts technical assessments of grant applications
- Manages the technical infrastructure
- Provides technical guidance to stewards and grantees
Grant Steward
- Serves as primary point of contact for assigned grantees
- Monitors and evaluates grant milestones
- Facilitates safe and timely execution of payments
- Consolidates grantee updates for the community
Grant Moderator
- Screens applications and ensures timely reviews
- Monitors communication channels
- Maintains order and transparency in the process
Safe Structure
As updated in February 2025, the Grants DAO operates with a streamlined Safe structure:
- The Grants Committee Safe (
gno:0xCA1F000D520c21C47E6c634DD31b92b91A6338bD
) (Gnosisscan) directly manages grant disbursements - CoW DAO acts as the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) of the Committee Safe
- This structure improves operational efficiency while maintaining DAO oversight
Decision Making Process
- Grant proposals are submitted on the forum
- The committee assigns a steward and reviewer
- Community discussion and feedback takes place
- The proposal moves to Snapshot for formal voting
- With 4/5 committee approval, the grant is executed
Grant Lifecycle Management
For each approved grant:
- A steward oversees the grant's progress
- A reviewer (internal or external) evaluates technical milestones
- Monthly payout cycles process approved milestone payments
- Regular updates are shared with the community
Communication and Resources
- Forum: The Grants Program Forum Section is the primary communication channel
- Discord: The #grants channel in the CoW Protocol Discord serves as a secondary communication channel
- Snapshot: All formal votes happen on the Grants Program Snapshot Space
For questions about the program structure, please post in the grants section of the forum.