Hosted by TechSoup on October 4, 2023. https://events.techsoup.org/e/mzyrw6/ In this third session in our series, we’ll help Makers understand how to take their impact project from idea to reality. We’ll explore how Makers can use DWeb mechanisms to build their projects like hackathons and accelerators, then look at how to fund their impact projects including grants, venture capital, and initial coin offerings. When it comes to impact funding, there’s nobody with more experience and expertise than Azeem Khan. As Head of Impact at Gitcoin, he’s raised millions of dollars for thousands of innovative public good projects. He’ll be guiding you through the various tried-and-tested means with which to build and fund your next impact project. Afterward, you’ll receive a guide with hands-on activity and a takeaway explainer you can share with your organization. You’ll also have access to a live Q&A to clarify any questions you have. This event is supported by an award from the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. Public Good App House is a project of Caravan Studios, a division of TechSoup.

1. Funding and Development
for Impact
How can makers build and fund their visions using new
mechanisms in web3

2. Azeem Khan
Head of Impact - Gitcoin
Azeem Khan is a New York based entrepreneur who’s worked in
biotech, tech, entertainment, esports/gaming, and blockchain.
He’s currently the Head of Impact at Gitcoin, a DAO that’s given
out over $72 million in grants to open-source software
developers since its inception. He’s led raising tens of millions
of dollars that was distributed to thousands of projects. And has
created close to $30 billion in global financial impact.
Azeem is also part of the World Economic Forum’s Crypto
Sustainability Coalition. He led UNICEF’s experiment in
Quadratic Funding, and has worked with notable projects
including Uniswap, Yearn Finance, Gnosis, Protocol Labs,
Optimism, and zkSync.

3. INTRODUCING
What is Gitcoin
➔ Gitcoin was founded in 2017 with the goal
of enabling open source software
developers to be fairly compensated for
their work by Kevin Owocki.
➔ In 2019, after the work of Glen Weyl,
Vitalik Buterin, and Zoe Hitzig we shifted
our grant product to focus on leveraging
Quadratic Funding
➔ Key Concepts
◆ Quadratic Funding
◆ Public Goods

4. What is Quadratic
Funding (QF)
The most democratic form of
capital allocation.
➔ Number of contributors matter more than
amount funded.
➔ Allows for bottom up decision making in capital
allocation

5. QF Multiplies Matching

6. Why Quadratic Funding?
wtfisqf.com
Quadratic Funding is the mathematically optimal way
to fund public(?) goods in a democratic(?) community
1:1 matching: both get $100
QF matching: Grant 1 gets $20, Grant 2 gets $180
Grant 1 Grant 2
$100
$10
$10
$10 $10
$10

7. ● Traditional definition: A commodity
of service that is provided without
profit to all members of a society,
either by the government or a private
individual or organization.
● Web3 definition from a16z: The
classic challenge of decentralized
networks is that they are public
goods. Without a central entity to
control decisions and capture profits,
it is hard to incentivize their
maintenance and development.
Crypto helps solve this problem
through decentralized coordination
and providing economic incentives for
development. Web3 will put power in
the hands of communities rather than
corporations.
Excludable Non-Excludable
Rivalrous Private Goods
Food, clothes,
cars, & other
consumer goods
Common Goods
Fish, timber, coal
Non-
Rivalrous
Club Goods
Cinemas, private
parks, satellite
TV
Public goods
Clean air, open
source software,
privacy
7

8. 8
Launched in 2019, Gitcoin Grants
is a quarterly initiative that
empowers people and collectives
in web3 to allocate funding
toward projects and causes they
believe in.
While we started small, weʼve
kept growing how much we fund
public goods each year.
In 2022, the amount of funding
we raised for public goods was
3000% higher than when we
started in 2019.

9. 9

10. Gitcoin By The
Numbers

11. Gitcoin Case Studies
● Oakland Local Round
● UNICEF
● Optimism
● 1inch

12. 12
Oakland Local Round
➔ 7 non-profit organizations brought
on-chain
➔ $15,000 matching pool + $3791
crowdfunded
➔ Deployed local stablecoin commerce
network
➔ Community driven decision making,
which is central to democracy
“Thanks to Gitcoin, we were able to bring 7
local orgs on chain. Since that round, we’ve
started focusing on deploying a local
stablecoin commerce network. This will
allow our community to generate its own
yield, which could be used to support future
QF Rounds” - Darrell Jones - Co-founder of
Oak

13. UNICEF Alpha Round
➔ More than $150,000 distributed to 10
projects with a $50,000 matching pool
➔ Over 15,500 unique donors
The Results
➔ All 10 projects invested in by the
UNICEF Venture Fund
➔ Important to note individual donations
were large than the original pool
“Our experience taught us that crypto is the beer and more eicient way to receive capital. The Quadratic
Funding method is great. Community-driven ideas have the potential to double their impact, and this is the
best way to drive them through.” - CEO of XCapit Jose Trajtenberg
“Most of the time when you’re raising capital you have to wait for the donor organizations and their internal
processes to get the money and transfer. With Quadratic Funding, donors are directly funding your wallet and
you have access to the money in real-time. That was really amazing.” - CEO of SimpleMap, Julio Rejón

14. Optimism (OP)
Outcomes
➔ Joined Grants Round 1
➔ > $3 billion in gas fees saved for
users
➔ > $2b in on chain value lock in
Optimism
➔ Graduated from grantees to
repeat funders
"We’re not sure who you are, but every time you all tweet about our work, donate to our Gitcoin Grant, or
encourage others to support us, the whole team gathers around one screen to read your words and we aack
the day with renewed vigor." - Optimism Team
"Those donations helped keep us going, but it’s not just the money: it’s a sense of community and a show of
support. The validation that we received from seeing so many members of the community contribute
was just as valuable as the money they gave." - Optimism Team

15. 1inch
Outcomes
➔ Raised over $60,000
➔ > $254b in trading volume
➔ More than 25m total trades
➔ > $750m market cap
“Gitcoin played a huge role in shaping our destiny” - Serjeg Kunz,
cofounder 1inch

16. Hackathons
Events where developers and other stakeholders come together to solve specific challenges in a limited timeframe, often with
rewards.
● Crowdsourcing
solutions to problems.
● Engaging a tech-savvy
community.
● Raising awareness
about the nonprofit’s
mission.
Benefits
● Need for technical
oversight.
● Intellectual property
considerations.
● Short timeframe might
lead to undeveloped
solutions.
Drawbacks
● Opportunity to collaborate
with tech community.
● Potential to find innovative
digital solutions to
mission-related challenges.
Relevance for Nonprofits
Examples: ETH Global, BuidlBox, Zuzalu,

17. Accelerators
Programs that oer funding, mentorship, oice space, and resources in exchange for equity in startups.
● Intense focus on
growth and
development.
● Access to networks of
mentors and investors.
● Often culminates in a
"Demo Day" to pitch to
investors.
Benefits
● Equity stake in the
organization.
● Time commitment
and intense pace.
● Not all accelerators
may be
mission-aligned.
Drawbacks
● Potential for social
impact accelerators
focused on nonprofit or
hybrid structures.
● Platform to scale
technology solutions and
innovative initiatives.
Relevance for Nonprofits
Examples: OrangeDAO, Y-Combinator, Binance Labs, Seed Club, Crypto Packaged Goods, ConsenSys
Fellowship, Alliance DAO

18. Grants
Financial awards given to entities typically for a specific purpose, often without expectation of repayment.
● Non-dilutive capital.
● Potential for
multi-year support.
● Aligns with nonprofit’s
charitable mission.
Benefits
● Competitive
application process.
● Reporting and
compliance
requirements.
● Typically
project-specific, not
general operating
support.
Drawbacks
● Web3 grants focus on
open-source projects,
which could align with
some nonprofit
missions.
● Opportunities for tech
integration and
innovation funding.
Relevance for Nonprofits
Examples: Gitcoin, Native Grants Programs, Optimism RPGF,

19. Venture Capital
Financial investment in startups or early-stage companies in exchange for equity.
● Large sums of
capital.
● Expertise and
mentorship from
VC firms.
● Access to VC
networks and
partnerships.
Benefits
● Equity dilution.
● Potentially
misaligned
incentives.
● Pressure for
profitability and
exits.
Drawbacks
● Potential to fund
tech-oriented social
enterprises.
● Consider hybrid
structures (e.g.,
for-profit subsidiary).
Relevance for Nonprofits
Examples: a16z, Variant Fund, Union Square Ventures, Binance Labs, OKX Ventures, Foresight Ventures,
Hashkey Capital

20. Token Launch
Fundraising mechanism where new tokens are sold to investors.
Benefits
● Regulatory concerns
and scrutiny.
● Potential for scams
and poor management.
● Volatility and market
speculation.
Drawbacks
● Tokenized incentives for
donations or community
engagement.
● Need for legal and financial
expertise.
Relevance for Nonprofits
● Direct access to
global pool of
investors.
● Token economy can
incentivize behaviors
beneficial to the
platform.
● Potential for
significant capital
raise.
Examples: Uniswap, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Solana, BNB,

21. Get In Touch
Email: ak@gitcoin.co
Twitter: @azeemk_
Telegram: @azeemk