Creating Your Own DAO: Technical Stack and Governance Templates

A hands-on guide for decision-makers: pick a battle‑tested DAO architecture, wire the right modules, and ship with secure defaults. Below you’ll find concrete stacks, parameters, and templates teams actually use on mainnet today.

Summary

This post shows three production-grade DAO templates (on-chain Governor, Snapshot+Safe, and Nouns-style), with precise parameters, modules, and ops practices. It also covers identity/Sybil resistance, treasury streaming, L2 selection, security, and legal wrappers so you can deploy in 90 days with confidence.

Before You Start: Chain, Accounts, and Risk Envelope

Choose an L2 for governance execution unless you specifically need L1 security for every vote. After Ethereum’s Dencun (EIP‑4844) in March 2024, typical L2 vote costs dropped to cents or less, making on-chain voting economically viable for most DAOs. Multiple industry trackers and post‑Dencun analyses observed sub‑$0.10 typical L2 tx fees with spikes dependent on congestion. (beincrypto.com)
Verify your target L2’s decentralization stage and exit assumptions. L2BEAT’s Stages Framework (2025 updates) requires, for Stage 1, ≥7‑day challenge periods for optimistic rollups and clear Security Council constraints; use this to calibrate governance/treasury risk and withdrawal timelines. (forum.l2beat.com)
Standardize on Safe smart accounts for treasury and operational wallets, then extend with modules:
- Zodiac Roles Modifier for granular, parameter‑scoped permissions (rate limits, function‑level gating, and condition trees), plus SDK/subgraph for auditing. (zodiac.wiki)
- Optional: Delegate routine ops to a lower-threshold execution account or role while keeping a higher‑threshold “root” Safe for critical changes. (docs.roles.gnosisguild.org)

Template 1 — Full On‑Chain Token Voting (OpenZeppelin Governor + Timelock + Tally)

Use when you want enforceable, transparent, parameterized governance on chain.

Core contracts
- OpenZeppelin Governor + Votes (ERC20Votes or ERC721Votes), with Timelock and optional modules: PreventLateQuorum, Settings, and Proposal Guardian. OZ v5 adds counting modules (fractional, overridable) and ERC‑6372 clock for timepoint‑based snapshots. (docs.openzeppelin.com)
Frontend/indexer
- Tally auto‑indexes OZ Governor state, parameter changes, quorum, and supports PreventLateQuorum/ProposalExtended events; deploy via Tally’s open-source governor deployer for a smoother setup. (docs.tally.xyz)
Suggested starting parameters (adapt for your token distribution)
- Voting delay: 1–3 days to allow last‑minute delegations to settle.
- Voting period: 5–7 days for broad participation.
- Quorum: start at 2–5% of eligible voting power, update via governance as delegation grows. (OZ docs illustrate a common 4% quorum fraction.) (docs.openzeppelin.com)
- Proposal threshold: 0.1–1% to avoid spam; raise for larger treasuries.
- Timelock delay: 2–3 days to allow monitoring and veto/guardian reactions.
Live parameter example
- Scroll’s public Governor (powered by Agora) runs with Voting Delay 3 days, Voting Period 7 days, Timelock 3 days, and a 5% proposal threshold; it separates standard vs supermajority thresholds. Use this as a benchmarking reference. (scroll.io)
2025 upgrade notes (emerging best practice)
- Some DAOs now exclude Abstain from quorum math to avoid edge cases where many Abstain votes unintentionally change pass thresholds; Agora proposed such updates for Optimism’s governor. (gov.optimism.io)
- Flexible Voting (ScopeLift): allows delegates (including smart contracts) to split weight across For/Against/Abstain. Useful for tokens earning yield or bridged assets. Available as an OZ extension path; adopted in major ecosystems’ governor upgrades. (scopelift.co)
Concrete deployment checklist
- Deploy ERC20Votes token with checkpoints; deploy Governor with Settings, PreventLateQuorum, and TimelockControl; wire Treasury Safe as the Timelock executor; publish parameters and guardian policies; verify Tally compatibility (events, clock mode). (docs.openzeppelin.com)

When to pick this template: Protocol DAOs and projects that need enforceable execution, on‑chain auditability, and strong, upgradeable rules.

Template 2 — Off‑Chain Voting + On‑Chain Execution (Snapshot + Reality/“SafeSnap”)

Use when you want gasless voting UX and guarded on‑chain execution via a multisig/Smart Account.

Components
- Snapshot for gasless signature voting with 400+ strategies (combine up to 8; Pro up to 10), plus optional delegation strategies. (help.snapshot.box)
- Zodiac Reality Module (aka SafeSnap) to turn approved Snapshot proposals into Safe transactions after oracle resolution + cooldown. Configure bonds, liveness, and a post‑resolution cooldown (commonly 24h). (docs.snapshot.box)
Strategy tips
- Use erc20-votes, erc20-balance-of, NFT balance, or weighted multi-strategy mixes. Codify proposer/voter allowlists and minimum scores with Snapshot validators.
- If you rely on delegation, ensure the space uses a delegation-aware strategy; otherwise delegation won’t be counted. (docs.snapshot.box)
Operations guardrails
- Require proposal “transactions” payloads in Snapshot to match the multisend bundle the Reality module will execute; set meaningful bonds to deter frivolous claims; establish a playbook to invalidate malicious Reality answers via the Safe if needed. (zodiac.wiki)

When to pick this template: Ecosystems prioritizing UX, frequent off‑chain polling, and progressive decentralization with a Safe‑backed treasury.

Template 3 — Nouns‑Style On‑Chain Auction DAO (Builder)

Use when you want continuous membership issuance (via auctions), simple 1‑NFT‑1‑vote, and a constitution‑like proposal process.

Basics
- Continuous auctions (daily by default) fund the treasury; 100% of sale proceeds go to the DAO, with optional founder distributions on set cadences. Builder provides no‑code launch flows and governance scaffolding. (nouns.com)
Safety valve (V3 fork/ragequit pattern)
- Nouns V3 introduced a fork mechanism: if a 20% cohort signals to fork, the DAO freezes spending for a period (e.g., 7 days), then forkers split into a new DAO with proportional assets; fork DAO members can “rage quit” funds. This materially changes governance risk for holders. (coindesk.com)

When to pick this template: Community‑brand/public‑goods DAOs that want durable issuance, simple governance, and an escape hatch.

Identity, Eligibility, and Sybil Resistance

Human/Gitcoin Passport (now “Human Passport” under the human.tech suite) offers model‑based Sybil scoring used in large programs (120+ projects; $430M+ guarded capital flow), with Passport signals integrated into grants and governance. Consider it for gating proposal rights or weighting votes. (passport.human.tech)
MACI (Minimum Anti‑Collusion Infrastructure) enables privacy‑preserving, bribery‑resistant voting; increasingly used in grants/retro rounds. Useful for high‑stakes elections. (github.com)
EAS (Ethereum Attestation Service) to encode “eligibilities” on‑chain—e.g., “KYC‑verified contributor,” “Badgeholder,” or “meets program criteria”—and gate proposal creation or extra voting weight. Production deployments exist across mainnets and L2s, with public explorers. (attest.org)
Snapshot strategies and validators can read ERC20 balances, NFTs, EAS attestations, or whitelists; combine with Passport scoring for pluralistic filters. (docs.snapshot.box)

Emerging practice: publish attestations for roles (e.g., “Budget Board member”) and automate rights via Hats or Zodiac Roles; revoke on role expiry to instantly remove proposal/vote powers. (docs.hatsprotocol.xyz)

Roles and Execution: Programmatic Permissions That Scale

Zodiac Roles Modifier on a Safe: assign roles, constrain function params (e.g., only approve spend below X, only call target Y with selector Z), and set rate limits/allowances; manage via SDK, subgraph, and the Roles app. This substantially reduces signer fatigue while keeping granular guardrails. (zodiac.wiki)
Hats Protocol for role‑as‑tokens (non‑transferable ERC‑1155 “hats”), automated eligibility/revocation modules (elections, EAS attestations, token balances), and a per‑role smart account (ERC‑6551) for auditable, revocable powers. Map “Committee,” “Program Manager,” or “Signer” to hats and bind permissions across on‑chain and off‑chain systems. (docs.hatsprotocol.xyz)

Pattern to copy: “Routine Ops” role permitted to rebalance stablecoins, manage payroll streams, and top up program wallets; anything beyond limits escalates to the core Safe. (docs.roles.gnosisguild.org)

Treasury Ops: Streaming, Vesting, and Payments

Sablier v2/v3 for vesting and scheduled distribution:
- Non‑linear “Lockup Dynamic” curves, cliffs, tranched unlocks, and per‑stream NFTs (ERC‑721) make grants legible, transferable, and even collateralizable. Gas benchmarks and stream shapes are documented; bulk creation supports hundreds of recipients. (blog.sablier.com)
Superfluid for real‑time, per‑second streaming (salaries, rewards, subscriptions) using Super Tokens and forwarders; supports one‑to‑many distributions and composability with contracts. Ideal for continuous contributor pay and DAO‑native DCA programs. (docs.superfluid.org)

Practical split: use Sablier for vesting/one‑off cliffs and Superfluid for continuous payroll/rewards. Keep both under role‑gated Safe control and index streams for monitoring.

Data and Observability

Index governance events and treasury activity with The Graph. In 2025, The Graph completed its “Sunrise,” moving subgraphs entirely to a decentralized indexer network; thousands of subgraphs serve hundreds of millions of queries monthly across 55+ chains. Use it for proposals, votes, delegates, role grants, and payment streams. (theblock.co)
Build subgraphs (AssemblyScript) for your Governor, Timelock, Snapshot mirrors, and streaming contracts; deploy and query with GraphQL in your governance portal. (thegraph.com)

Security and Runtime Operations

Timelock roles: restrict proposer/executor/admin per OZ guidance; set Timelock as Governor’s executor; keep admin self‑owned and renounce any temporary deployer admin promptly. (docs.openzeppelin.com)
Monitoring and transaction ops
- OpenZeppelin Defender (notice: new sign‑ups closed June 30, 2025; shutdown planned July 1, 2026) still runs relayers/monitors—plan migrations to OSS relayers/monitors or vendors during 2025–2026. (docs.openzeppelin.com)
- Forta Scam Detector and related bots for threat intel on EOAs/contracts; integrate with ops to flag malicious counterparties before treasury interactions. (docs.forta.network)
Late‑quorum griefing: enable PreventLateQuorum to extend voting if quorum is reached at the last minute, giving others time to react. (docs.openzeppelin.com)
Multisig hygiene: use separate 3/5 “root” and 2/5 “ops” Safes with Roles constraints; enforce spend caps and per‑call conditions; log batched transactions via Zodiac Pilot. (zodiac.wiki)

Legal Wrappers That Align With DAO Mechanics (not legal advice)

Wyoming DAO LLC: codifies DAO‑specific disclosures and allows “DAO,” “LAO,” or “DAO LLC” designation; requires smart contract identifiers in articles. Useful for US‑aligned entities. (law.justia.com)
Utah “LLD/DAO” entity (effective Jan 1, 2024): first-in‑US DAO‑specific entity (not just LLC flavor), with explicit by‑laws and failure‑event/tax treatment sections; registration live at the Department of Commerce. Consider if you need a US domicile but want native DAO statute. (commerce.utah.gov)
Marshall Islands DAO LLC (RMI): recognizes DAO LLCs (for‑profit/non‑profit), accelerates registration, limits certain liabilities, and clarifies token status in some cases; administered with MIDAO support. Strong fit for international, token‑centric DAOs with subDAO series needs. (cointelegraph.com)

Parameter Presets You Can Use Tomorrow

Small pilot (≤200 holders, L2)
- votingDelay: 1 day; votingPeriod: 5 days; quorum: 2%; proposalThreshold: 0.1%; timelock: 48h; PreventLateQuorum on; guardian: 2‑of‑3 Safe for cancel only.
Mid‑size (1k–10k holders)
- votingDelay: 2–3 days; votingPeriod: 7 days; quorum: 3–4%; proposalThreshold: 0.25–0.5%; timelock: 72h; Flexible Voting; Snapshot mirror for signaling; Snapshot‑to‑on‑chain upgrades disabled. (docs.openzeppelin.com)
Large treasury (> $50M)
- votingDelay: 3–5 days; votingPeriod: 7–10 days; quorum: 5%+ with dynamic tuning; proposalThreshold: 1%+; timelock: 3–7 days; supermajority for high‑risk actions; separate security council or veto constrained by time and explicit scope; bicameral checks for major upgrades (see Optimism’s Token/Citizens Houses pattern). (community.optimism.io)

Bicameral and Program Governance: Copy the Optimism Pattern

Separate “token house” (economic stakeholders) and “citizens’ house” (1‑person, 1‑vote) to reduce capture and align public‑goods objectives. Optimism’s model delegates resource allocation (Retro Funding) and gives citizens vetoes on certain upgrades, with 2025 shifts toward continuous, metrics‑driven rewards. Consider a citizens‑style chamber for grants. (community.optimism.io)

90‑Day Execution Plan (what we run for clients)

Days 1–7: Decide chain, treasury topology (root/ops Safes), legal wrapper, and Template (1/2/3). Draft governance charter and risk matrix.
Days 8–21: Deploy token (ERC20Votes) or NFT (if Nouns‑style). Launch Governor + Timelock + Safe; configure PreventLateQuorum; index subgraph. Wire Snapshot (if template 2). Publish docs.
Days 22–35: Stand up Roles and Hats maps; implement Passport/EAS‑based eligibility; write Snapshot strategies or Governor counting (if needed). Dry‑run proposals on testnets.
Days 36–60: Treasury ops—stand up Sablier/Superfluid, payroll, grant streams; budget sub‑Safes with allowances; Forta monitoring; finalize relayers/memploy ops.
Days 61–90: Run first governance cycle (one routine and one high‑impact proposal); stress‑test cancel/guardian; run post‑mortem; tune quorum, thresholds, and timelocks based on participation metrics.

Pitfalls to Avoid (from recent mainnet launches)

Counting Abstain toward quorum without understanding edge cases—consider removing it from quorum math like recent governor updates. (gov.optimism.io)
Snapshot delegation misconfigurations—using delegation UI without a delegation‑aware strategy means delegated votes won’t count. (docs.snapshot.box)
Under‑specified SafeSnap/Reality parameters—set sane bonds, liveness, and cooldowns; document invalidation playbooks. (zodiac.wiki)
L2 risk mismatch—don’t assume immediate exits; align treasury runway and incident response with your rollup’s challenge/exit windows and Stage designation. (forum.l2beat.com)
No role automation—failing to bind permissions to revocable roles (Hats/Zodiac Roles) leads to signer sprawl and brittle operations. (zodiac.wiki)

Appendix: Concrete Examples You Can Lift

On‑chain Governor params mirroring Scroll: VotingDelay 3d, VotingPeriod 7d, Timelock 3d, Threshold 5%, quorum tuned to delegation; add PreventLateQuorum. (scroll.io)
Snapshot + SafeSnap: Strategies = [erc20-votes, with‑delegation]; Reality cooldown 24h; bond sized to 3x median L2 tx; transactions pre‑baked as multisend; emergency invalidate runbook in the Safe. (docs.snapshot.box)
Nouns‑style fork guardrail: Set a fork threshold of ~20%, freeze period on trigger, and fork DAO rage‑quit; document art/descriptor dependencies noted by auditors. (coindesk.com)

If you want a turnkey deployment and playbooks tailored to your treasury size, compliance constraints, and user base, 7Block Labs can help you stand up one of these templates with audits, ops, and governance UX that your stakeholders will actually use.