Decisions
Ways Your Group Can Vote
The processes you can choose from today
When you start a Decision, you pick a named process. The process you pick determines whether the result is a temperature check or something the Group is bound by.
Get a read
Nothing is decided. You’ll see where people stand.
- Float an idea
- See whether people are broadly for or against, before anyone writes it up.
- Pick a favourite
- See which option people like best. Nobody is bound by the result.
- Rank the options
- Put the options in your order of preference, so the group can see its collective order.
- Rate the options
- Say how much you support each option on its own. Nobody is bound by the result.
- Set priorities
- Everyone gets the same points to spread across the options. Where the points land shows what actually matters.
A read process can turn into a binding one once it has its answer. Float an idea, for example, is meant to be followed by Vote on a proposal: the temperature check tells you whether the proposal is worth writing up, and the vote is where it actually counts.
Make a decision
This one counts. If it passes it goes on the record — and it can act.
- Vote on a proposal
- Put a specific proposal to the group. It passes if enough members vote for it.
- Hold an election
- Members rank the candidates. Works for one position or several.The result is recorded — granting the position is a separate step.
Hold an election uses ranked-choice voting: members rank the candidates in their own order of preference rather than picking just one. Learn more(FairVote)
Three things a Decision can ask for
When you start one, the first question is what you are asking the group to do. Your answer decides which follow-up questions appear and what happens if it passes.
- Spend
- Money out of the shared account. “Approve $1,000 for marketing.” You add a recipient and an amount, and if it passes, the people who hold the account keys approve the transfer before anything moves.
- Rule change
- A change to how the group works. You pick which rule, and the form asks only about that one. It shows what the group uses today, and anything it does not show stays as it is. Eight rules are reachable this way; they are listed below.
- Action
- Something the group agrees to do. Most of the time the record of the Decision is the whole outcome. “Move our meeting to Thursdays” happens because people agreed to it, not because software did anything. A short second list covers changes to the group itself: pausing, resuming, or beginning to wind down.
The eight rules a Decision can change
| The rule | What it covers |
|---|---|
| How we vote | The voting period, the turnout needed, and the share of votes needed to pass. |
| How a new decision gets posted | Whether voting opens straight away, waits for a short review window, or needs an admin to approve it first. Also whether members can save a draft first, and whether people outside the group can post one. |
| The wait before a passed decision is carried out | A cooling-off period, up to 30 days, between a Decision passing and anyone being able to act on it. |
| How many admins must sign off on big changes | Extra sign-off on admin changes, rule changes, and pausing or winding down the group.Moving money is not on that list: the shared account’s own signers govern that. |
| What someone is allowed to do | Give a member a permission, or take one back.Permission to approve spending is the one exception: that stays on the treasury screen. |
| Joining, and how soon new members can act | Whether joining needs approval, who can invite, and how many days a new member waits before they can vote, start a Decision, or hand their vote to someone else. |
| What the group gets notified about | Which alerts go out, and whether by email, in the app, or both. |
| How money is shared out | The standing rule that future spending is measured against, not a particular payment. |
Related guides
- How Many Have to Vote, and How Many Have to Agree: quorum, pass share, and per-decision overrides.
- What Happens After a Decision Passes: from passed to carried out.
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