Community feedback on grant proposals

Grants applications are instantly posted on the AdvocatesDAO Forum right after clicking the Submit button on the application form and can be viewed without delay by any community member, who is active in the time of submission, or later. This revolutionary approach gives the community a transparent view and opportunity to participate in the entire Community Grant review process.

All the data provided by the applicant will be available for the Grant Committee members, who are responsible for coordinating the process, performing the internal and external review, conducting the interviews, reviews, due diligence and making the final recommendation to the DAO.

The following information will be visible within the Community Grant proposal on the Forum for the broader Community:

• Project name

• Agreement with the privacy policy

• Type and category of the grant

• Who is the recipient of the project

• Amount of the founding request

• Other sources of founding - who they are and amount of the founding

• Your vision

• Past work

• Current/past web 3 experience

• The motivation of contributing to The Graph and web3

Some of the data the applicant is providing cannot be shown on the Forum, these are the information about:

• First and last name

• Email address

• ETH address

• Discord handle

• Social media platforms: Twitter Page, LinkedIn Profile, etc.

• Referral information

The grant application is centred around communication

The review process is done in public and by anyone who is admitted to the Forum and interested in the project. Every community member is free to share their opinion or ask questions regarding any grant application. The grantee is allowed to promote the proposal in different social media platforms (i.e. Discord) and other Communities, however, of course, it is not allowed to directly influence other person's opinion or vote.

Every community member is given one vote to either support or reject a proposal.

After receiving the minimum of 10 "Yes" votes from community members within 7-14 days, the Community Grant application advances to the next stage, which is the presentation, review, and due diligence of the application in the public segment of the weekly Grant Committee meeting.

Community Members are advised to post their questions, feedback, or proposed changes to the grant by replying to the original grant application post in The Forum. The applicant is expected to answer the questions, explain unclarities, provide additional information, add remarks or justifications of the chosen solutions as requested by the community. The communication should remain collaborative, polite and respectful at all times.

Applicants and community members are prohibited from:

• Defamation, abuse, harassment, threatening or other violations of the legal rights of others,

• Publishing, posting, distribution or dissemination of any defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful material

• Uploading or attaching files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary permissions

• Uploading or attaching files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another's computer

• Uploading, e-mail, transmitting or otherwise making available unsolicited advertising of any goods or services, or conduct or forward surveys, contests, "spam" or chain letters; etc.

Community members should share their opinion in a constructive and polite way - this type of feedback is very valuable for Community Grant applicants and the Graph AdvocatesDAO. By cooperating and giving each other this kind of pulse check in the early stages, the Community is growing faster but the applicants are also able to re-design their projects to better suite the current needs. Without feedback organizations are likely to remain stagnant, or even hold themselves back.

As a community member who gives feedback on the grant application:

• Be respectful, focus on communicating always in a positive way and never force your feedback

• Be honest

• Try to correct the exact mistake

• Recognize the effort the applicant has made and the strengths of the idea

• Try to draw objectives to help develop what is valuable in the proposal

As the grant applicant:

• Don't let yourself shut down or become defensive - these reactions are detrimental to the success of your application

• Don't take it personally or in negative way, focus on the improvement

• It is important to learn feedback from different roles and levels within the Community, so receiving many responses means that others care about your work and want you to succeed

• Think about feedback as another source of motivation which helps you set goals and clarify expectations

• Ask for clarification if something is not understandable for you

The Grant Committee has high hopes that following these rules will allow the Community to have meaningful conversations, creating a positive environment dedicated to encouraging people to improve and be productive, which should result in stronger applications over the course of time.

Withdrawing the grant application

Proposals submitted to the Forum can be withdrawn and closed for further engagement, per a request by the applicant, but they will never be deleted from the Forum.