A plain-language guide to a DEP 3 DAO's money — where it comes from, where it goes, and how it stays honest. The mechanics live in the DAO Operations Excellence pages (the Kambria DAOs Framework and the DAO Workbook); this is the overview that ties them together. Each section links to the details.

Two sources of money

A DEP 3 DAO's money comes from two places, and they behave differently:

• The seed — $3,000 from Kambria. Starting capital for the DAO's work, released monthly across execution. It is the DAO's to spend on the agreed collaboration, and it carries no obligation to be earned back. (It is not paid to the project — see below.)
• Revenue the DAO earns. Money from the DAO's own work — services, products, sponsorship — received and split automatically through the framework.

The two stay separate on the books: the seed is planned in the Budget Plan and spent on the DAO's work; earned revenue flows through the split. Keeping them distinct is what lets a DAO see what it was given versus what it made.

Where the seed sits — Kambria’s LP

The seed is Kambria's fund contribution into the DAO. In return, Kambria holds LP — a fund-contribution stake (roughly 1 USDT ≈ 1 LP) — and shares pro-rata in the DAO's revenue through the LP Holders pool, the same way any cash sponsor who puts money in would.

Two things follow, and they sit together without conflict:

• The DAO doesn't repay the seed. There is no revenue target and no loan to return; the DAO spends the seed on its work.
• Kambria participates in the upside. If and when the DAO earns revenue, Kambria — as an LP holder — shares in it through the LP Holders pool, alongside any other fund contributors.

This is an investment into the DAO, not money paid to the project: Kambria's stake is in the DAO the team builds, and it takes no equity in the originating project. (See the Terms & Conditions for Projects, clause 4.)

Where the money goes — two paths out

Money leaves the DAO along two different paths, because two kinds of spending behave differently:

• Contributor payouts — pay-per-task. Members are paid for completed, reviewed-qualified deliverables, from the Microjob pool, settled monthly through the framework. Pay follows the qualified deliverable at its rate, not time spent or volume of activity. See Paying Contributors & Operating Costs.
• Operating costs — a treasury vote. Costs not tied to one person's task — tools, hosting, a venue, community micro-grants — are released by a DAO vote to the DAO Lead or treasurer, against receipts. See Paying Contributors & Operating Costs.

Both are planned up front in the DAO's Budget Plan, split into these two parts against the $3,000 seed.

When the DAO earns revenue — the split

Revenue the DAO earns is received, categorised, and divided automatically by the DAO's standard DEP 3 split into its pools — Order Handler, Microjob, Organizer, Dev Partner, LP Holders, and Treasury. What each pool is for, and the standard shares every DAO works from, are on Categorisation & Revenue Split.

This earned revenue is separate from the seed: the seed funds the work; the split distributes what the work brings in.

The project’s return

For a participant-proposed DAO, the project's return from the collaboration is its solution scaled — more reach, more depth, business development through the community. It is not a cut of the DAO's revenue, and it is not the seed. (The builder keeps its IP; a share of service revenue only ever arises through a genuine co-ownership or licensing arrangement, which is not part of DEP 3 — see Categorisation & Revenue Split and the IP Framework.)

Keeping it honest

Everything is recorded: the framework logs every receipt, split, and payout on-chain; the Workbook's Cashbook mirrors those records rather than re-recording them; and the two are reconciled every month. Nobody has to take anyone's word for the numbers. See Transparency & Reconciliation.

For the full mechanics, see the DAO Operations Excellence section — the Kambria DAOs Framework (receiving, splitting, paying out, on-chain) and the DAO Workbook (Budget Plan, Pay-Per-Task Scheme, Cashbook).