01 / Define the community’s purpose
Specify who the server is for, why people should return and what your internal team can provide. Separate an ongoing community programme from a one-off activation, a software build or a paid recruitment campaign.
02 / Agree moderation and engagement coverage
Define English-language US/UK hours, weekend coverage, live-event staffing and incident escalation. Ask who approves responses and how appeals are handled. Automation supports a team; it does not establish round-the-clock human coverage.
03 / Specify technical ownership
Request an architecture and permissions plan. Separate server configuration from custom bot development and third-party integrations. Agree hosting, source-code ownership, security reviews, maintenance, access and handover. Do not put credentials in your brief.
04 / Name the paid inventory
Distinguish partner-server placements, sponsored community activations and official Discord Quests. Ask for proof of the proposed access route, eligibility, deliverables and reporting. A media budget and agency fees should appear separately.
05 / Read evidence in context
Ask for client permission, dates, baseline and metric definitions. Member count, message volume and rewards claimed are different measures. Provider-published cases and partnership announcements are attributed claims; they are not independently audited comparisons.
Your agency-call checklist
- Who delivers the work, in which languages and time zones?
- Which engagement, moderation, development and media tasks are included?
- Who owns the server, bot code, hosting accounts and data?
- What happens during a raid, a live-event incident or a failed integration?
- Which paid inventory is booked, through whom, and with what reporting?
- How are new members activated and retained after a campaign?
- What do fees cover, and what are the minimum commitment and handover terms?
Put it in a common brief
Use the same scope and evidence questions for each provider. The local builder creates a brief you can copy or download and share with any agency.
Build a brief