In the realm of innovation and community-building, financial viability isn't just another metric — it's a commitment to longevity and self-sufficiency. For Polkadot Hubs, financial sustainability is paramount. Balancing the ledger isn't about profits; it's about ensuring that these vital spaces can persist, evolve, and serve the Polkadot community indefinitely, based on users financial participation. By achieving financial sustainability, we empower the hubs to focus on their core mission. Every DOT accounted for, every revenue stream optimised, underscores our dedication to this purpose-driven approach.

<aside> 📃 Have a look and in the end build your own plan using this Cash Flow Template

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Operational Costs

Operational Revenue

*Calculation/Estimations will vary depends on the territory, above’s prices are based on Berlin’s example

Polkadot Treasury Funding

The Polkadot ecosystem holds an on-chain treasury, the Polkadot Treasury. Currently, it utilises OpenGov mechanism, where all decisions are made by DOT holders.  Polkadot Community is expected to vote on proposals, and if they are approved, they are enacted automatically. For more detailed information about how the treasuries work, please refer to the Polkadot Wiki.

The Treasury also includes a mechanism called “Bounties”. Since the Polkadot Community can not effectively oversee all funding activities due to time and expertise constraints, Bounties offer a way around these constraints. They are designed to delegate a project or topic to experts, called Curators. Curators oversee all treasury proposals that get funded via the Bounty and ensure that allocated funds are spent appropriately.

There is an existing Bounty worth exploring for events organised or to be organised within Hubs, the Community Events Bounty — Pop-Up Hubs proposals can apply for fundings via this mechanism. Please navigate to this page to receive more information.

<aside> ➡️ In the future, we would like to propose a separate bounty mechanism for establishment and activities within physical locations dedicated to Polkadot - Polkadot Hubs Bounty. Bounties are created for specific purposes and Polkadot Hubs bounty’s case shall be promoting Polkadot physical around the world. This would offer a clear support mechanism for physical locations dedicated to Polkadot, based specific parameters, most importantly their usage rate. We would like to address the problem of planing a roadmap for specific projects from financial standpoint.

This playbook is showing, that Polkadot community members identified a specific need for physical spaces. That requires experts on a different subjects in different areas — from Community management, real estate, business development, project management, marketing, branding, regulatory&compliance, health&safety, workplace planning, … In this case, these community experts would serve as Curators and analyse, review and support ideas from different proponents with the aim of finding best practices and solutions, as well as implementing them. Locations worth exploring for Polkadot face-to-face interactions could be requesting funds, to ensure the delivery of quality product based on the playbook you’re reading. Curation through Curators will provide a way forward for every proposal, but also a roadmap for Polkadot Hubs strategy and vision — accepting proposals aligned with the vision and rejecting the ones not.

Do you have ideas how Polkadot Hubs curators can report back, guaranteeing transparency? Join our Collective!

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