Summary
Two successful Public Goods Large Grants rounds having been completed in the past year with 600k USDC distributed to Public Goods initiatives.
In Q3 2024 the Public Goods Working Group is launching it’s third Large Grants round. Continuing the award amount from last term, this program provides a prize pools of 300k USDC to eligible projects.
Q4 2023 Round Details
This Large Grants opportunity from the Public Goods Working Group awards up to 50k USDC to eligible Ethereum or Web3 Public Goods. Submissions will self-determine an award amount ranging from 12k to 50k USDC. This range allows projects to right-size the grant request for their needs, allows us to select more recipients and provides some intention with the award amounts derived.
This purpose of this grant is to provide a pathway for foundational public goods in the Ethereum or Web3 ecosystems to request more significant funding from the Public Goods working group.
The way we view foundational Public Goods in the context of this grant is that eligible submissions must have exceptional usefulness or an established record of making an impact for users or developers.
There is a total of 300k USDC funding available this term as defined in the working group budget.
Applicants will request a minimum of 12k and up to 50k USDC in the submission form hosted on Questbook.
Partnership with Questbook
For this round we have selected Questbook to host our grants process. This platform will consolidate the submission, review and payout process. The aim of this consolidation is to make the grants process less manual for working group stewards, more transparent to our community and easier for applicants to manage.
Questbook will introduce their platform on a Public Goods Working Group call, and synchronous workshop will be hosted by the working group stewards to assist with the process.
Key Dates
Submission Phase (~1 Month)
- June 17th, 2024 - Submission phase beings.
- June 14th–July 18th, 2024 - Submissions reviewed on rolling basis.
- July 18th, 2024 - Applicant Submission deadline.
- July 24th, 2024 - Submissions phase ends. All project selected.
Active Grants Phase (~4 Months)
- July 18th, 2024 - Accepted projects begin completing milestones.
- December 5th, 2024. - All milestones must be completed for review.
- December 12th, 2024. - All payments completed by stewards.
Note: All deadlines close at midnight EST.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this grant, a submission must be a Web3 or Ethereum public good, have been active for at least a year and may not have raised more than 500k in other funding. As in our other Public Goods grants, ENS-centric projects are not eligible.
To be eligible for this grant, a submission must meet the following criteria:
- Is a Web3 or Ethereum Public Good.
- The submission should fall in one of three classifications.
- Infrastructure - Core technical implementations used by developers or enable Web3 or the Ethereum network.
- Tools - Utilities that improve the way we interact with Web3 and Ethereum.
- Education - Information, workshops, or resources that foster a better understanding of Ethereum or Web3.
- Is able to communicate value, reach or impact with supporting information to back it up.
Disqualifying Factors
- Is ENS-centric and should be directed the ENS Ecosystem Working Group.
- Has raised more than 500k USD in funding.
- Has launched a token or advertises launching a token.
- Impact has no connection to improving Ethereum or Web3.
Submission & Evaluation Process
Submissions Process
Submissions will be accepted on Questbook.
Evaluation Process
For the Q3 2024 Large Grant submission period, the working group stewards will review all qualifying submissions on a rolling basis with winning grants announced the last week of each month. For those qualified, they will be evaluated based on the following two parameters:
- Project Usefulness - The usefulness demonstrated. Submission may be essential to the Ethereum ecosystem.
- Project Impact - Value, reach or impact with supporting information to back it up
The working group stewards will utilize the Questbook voting or rubric functions to evaluate and select projects.
Evaluation Rubric
Stewards will use a simple rubric for evaluating submissions:
Communication with Applicants
Questbook will be used to manage all communications. Applicants are responsible for responding to communications on Questbook in a timely manner and before all deadlines.
Summary of Round Changes
Change 1
Change: All submissions and grants management will occur on Questbook.
Goal: To make the Large Grants process less manual for working group stewards, more transparent to our community and easier for applicants to manage.
Change 2
Change: Milestones will be identified at the time of submission.
Goal: This will make the expectations transparent from the time of submitting the application.
How to Apply?
- Submit before midnight EST on July 18th!
- Submissions are now accepted on Questbook here
https://ens.questbook.app/.