And therein lies the rub.
ZCG is not an organization. It is a committee of the Zcash Foundation, whose purpose is to approve major grants to independent teams.
To quote Eran @Tromer, principal author of ZIP 1014, and one of the Seven Scientists who created Zcash:
This is why ZIP 1014 emphasizes that priority should be given to grants “that bolster teams with substantial (current or prospective) continual existence, and set them up for long-term success”.
Others have expressed similar concerns in the past so, just over a year ago, I asked the people who were on the committee at the time whether they would continue to serve if there were no stipend.
All but one told me that they would continue to serve if there were no compensation. One person said that they believed it would be better if everything was totally voluntary. Another stated that, in their opinion, ZCG’s sole focus should be reviewing grants, “not doing additional work”.
During conversations with departing committee members, the reasons that have been cited for stepping down from the committee are the inability to apply for grants (due to the conflict of interest policy) and the time commitment. Nobody has cited compensation as a reason for leaving the committee.