💰 Treasury Management: Balance the Budget
Learn how DAOs allocate funds across development, marketing, and operations
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0 / 5 completed💰 DAO Treasuries: The War Chest Problem
DAOs raise millions—sometimes billions—in their treasuries. Then what? Most treasuries sit 90%+ in their native token, burning through funds with no revenue model. When token price drops 80%, treasuries crater. Runway shrinks from 10 years to 6 months. Treasury management is existential: manage well and the DAO thrives for decades; mismanage and it dies within a year.
🎮 Interactive: Treasury Runway Calculator
Model how long your treasury lasts. Adjust spending, revenue, and treasury size to see sustainability in real-time.
Treasury can sustain operations for 2+ years at current burn. Time to optimize or diversify.
📊 Treasury Composition Reality
Average DAO holds 90%+ of treasury in its own token. When token drops 80% (common in bear markets), $100M treasury becomes $20M overnight. Single point of failure.
Most DAOs have zero revenue. Spending $2M/month on contributors, grants, operations—but earning nothing. Pure burn with no income stream.
2022 bear market: DAOs with $50M+ treasuries faced 6-12 month runways. Mass layoffs, program cuts, emergency diversification. Survival mode.
💡 Core Problem
DAO treasuries are concentrated, revenue-free, and poorly managed. Unlike corporations (diversified assets, revenue models, CFOs), DAOs typically hold one volatile asset and spend without sustainable income. This works in bull markets (token value rises, treasury grows), but fails catastrophically in bear markets (token crashes, runway collapses). Next, we'll explore how to build resilient treasuries through allocation strategies, diversification, and sustainable funding models.