# Group

The Base Protocol provides a smart contract group function for creating, managing, and operating communities. You can also build a smart contract group as a DAO according to your interests or coordination purposes. Every group is created along with the DAO contract generated, so the Group is the DAO. Base Protocol makes it even easier to get started.

### What is DAO

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is a community of people aligned by a common goal where decision making power is distributed and resources are collectively managed. Here's a breakdown of what each part of a DAO means:

<mark style="background-color:purple;">**Decentralized**</mark>\
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Ownership and decision making power is distributed across all members of the DAO. \
\ <mark style="background-color:purple;">**Autonomous**</mark>\
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Smart contracts (coded software) enable automation of processes that execute after a proposal is approved by DAO members \
\ <mark style="background-color:purple;">**Organization**</mark>\
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A group of people that form a community with a shared purpose and resources that are managed collectively.

### Treasury Management and Collective Governance

The Group/DAO program uses Web3 smart contracts to facilitate decentralized decision making among a group of participants. This software allows a DAO to record governance and financial transactions on a blockchain. This means transactions are verifiable and irreversible.\
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Whether you're referring to a group of people using Group/DAO software, or the software itself, the purpose of a Group/DAO is to facilitate coordination. Treasury management and collective governance are two of the most challenging areas for any organization to implement. The Base Protocol Group is an exceptional tool for managing these areas.&#x20;

### Community First

At Base Protocol, we're committed to a "community first" philosophy of development, so it's natural for us to start talking about people. The Base Protocol serves communities of people and provides these communities with super-coordination capabilities.

So when you hear someone say "you should join a Group/DAO," what they mean is that you should join a community, team, or project that uses Group/DAO software to coordinate decision-making.\\

<figure><img src="https://3769561107-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3ZsbSRLLILJuUkMZWPiq%2Fuploads%2FeIbb8OuoOAnQBVCFGtAu%2F%E6%88%AA%E5%B1%8F2023-01-22%2017.08.24.png?alt=media&#x26;token=24ad5e62-f3f4-438c-93a5-da7d85dffb71" alt=""><figcaption><p>Smart Contract Group</p></figcaption></figure>
