Fund An Issue on Gitcoin!

How to get started funding your first Gitcoin bounties

We’re back with another helpful addition to our onboarding tutorials. Last time we gave a brief walkthrough of how contributors can get started on Gitcoin. This time we’ll be walking you through the setup process for open source projects to fund bounties on Gitcoin!

Step 1: Connect your Github Account

The first step in funding your first issue is connecting your Github profile to your Gitcoin account.

Simply click the button that says ‘Login with Github’, enter your Github credentials, and you’re all set.

Step 2: Connect to Metamask

Next we need to get your MetaMask wallet unlocked so funds can be posted for the bounty.

In the right-hand corner of your Chrome browser, click on the fox icon. Log in with your MetaMask password and the Gitcoin interface should pick it up automatically.

If you don’t have MetaMask installed yet, you can download it from the Chrome App store.

Step 3: Pick an issue from your repo

The next step is to pick an issue from your Github repo to fund on Gitcoin. Currently, other repo maintainers are funding issues like:

New products / new features

Feature improvements

Bug Fixes

Code review

Tech Upgrades

UX/UI Design

Documentation

Some maintainers are funding other tasks such as idea discussions, contests, and consulting work as well. In our experience, bounties are not the best for tasks like core architecture, something requiring privileged access, or anything that requires a high degree of situational awareness of your product or market (unless well documented elsewhere)

Step 4: Fund your issue

After you’ve figured out which issue you’re going to bounty out, it’s time to fund it.

To start, input the URL for the Github issue, a title for the issue, a brief description, and some keywords to help the right Gitcoiners find your bounty.

Next, define the details of the bounty. There are three types of project types; Traditional, Contest, and Cooperative. In a traditional bounty, one person works on it and only one person is paid out. In a contest, many people work on the bounty, but only one is paid out in the end. Finally, a cooperative bounty has many workers and many are paid out for their work.

After you decide on the project type, it’s time to pick your permissions. Permissionless bounties allow anyone to start work on the issue. Approval required bounties require developers to apply before starting work on the issue.

Finally, decide what kind of experience level your ideal developer should have, how long the project should take, what general bucket this project falls under, and how long you’d like the bounty to be available for pick up.

The next step is to input your contact information. We require your Github username and email address so that contributors can get in touch in order to coordinate on completing an issue. Additionally, you have the option to input your real name as well.

Finally, the last step is to set your bounty price and gas fees. First determine which digital currency you would like to fund your bounty in and then set the dollar amount. For help figuring out what to price your bounty in order to make sure your issue is picked up, please refer to Kevin Owocki’s blog post on proper pricing.

After that, choose your gas fee price. The higher the gas price, the faster your bounty will be posted to the blockchain. So if you’re in a hurry, gas it up!

Step 5: Market it

Congratulations! Your first Gitcoin bounty is now live on the Ethereum blockchain.

From here, we recommend publicizing the bounty to your community to ensure that it gets scooped up in a timely manner. Some typical avenues for marketing include Twitter, Telegram, the Gitcoin Slack, and promptly communicating directly with developers on the issue ticket.

👋 Happy BUIDLing!