The Global Grants will be evaluated by a committee of technical and business/community focused members.
Initially, the Global Grants Committee will be responsible for monitoring the Grants Forum, processing grant applications, advising Conflux Foundation on final decisions, and reviewing milestone acceptances.
The Conflux Grants Committee will consist of members from the following groups:
- Conflux Foundation
- Shuttleflow
- TOC
- Conflux Global Community
Application Process
Grants will be processed on a rolling basis, with applicants submitting applications directly to the forum for review.
The grant application process, from first application submission to a final decision should take between 1-2 months.
Review Process
Below is the proposed call schedule for Committee calls.
Application Shortlisting
Applications will be shortlisted for final decision by the Grants Committee according to the following process:
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For each application every committee member will score the projects on the above criteria, and give an overall score based on the average of all individual scores.
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The committee will produce an overall score for each application taking the average overall score of each committee member.
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Each month a maximum of 10 grant applications can be shortlisted by the Grants Committee for final decision.
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The Grants Committee may schedule calls with grant applicants as needed.
The Grants Committee will meet for 1 hour every 2 weeks to discuss recent grant applications, their scoring, and decide which applications to be shortlisted for a final review, and if calls are required with any shortlisted projects.
Ahead of every call the committee is expected to be active in the forum, asking questions and posting their scores publicly. After every call, each project will be updated in the forum whether they have shortlisted or not for a final review.
Final Grant Decisions
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Final grant decisions will be made once per month during a monthly call. The call will be organized as follows:
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Initially, the call will be managed by the Conflux Foundation who will set the agenda and finalize any grant decisions.
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Ahead of the call, the Grants Committee will prepare a brief summary of shortlisted applications, and their recommendations.
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The Conflux Foundation will either approve or reject a grant application.
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The Committee will communicate decisions to the community on the forum, and begin processing grant payments for approved grants.
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Gradually, the foundation will devolve power to the Grants Committee in a pathway to decentralize the grants program into a community run DAO.
Final Grant Decisions will be made during a 30 minute call in the last week of every month, with Members of the Grants Committee and Conflux’s founder Fan Long.
After every call, all grant applications will be notified in the forum whether their proposal was approved or not. If approved, the Grant Award Letter will be drafted, signed, and the first payment executed. (ETA 1-2 weeks).
Committee Member Workload Summary
- Regular Forum activity reviewing new proposals and submitted milestones (~8-10hrs per month)
- Bi-weekly Committee calls (~2hrs per month)
- Ad-hoc calls with shortlisted projects (~4 hrs per month)
- Final review calls (~30min per month)
Evaluation Criteria
Grant Applications
The Global Grants Committee will evaluate applications using the following criteria:
- Team Score: 1-5, with 5 being a strong team
- Project Potential: 1-5, with 3 being strong product fit and alignment with Conflux vision.
- Timeline/Milestone Viability: 1-5, with 5 being achievable milestones in a given time frame.
Note: The committee will internally discuss and align on the scoring dimensions taking into account Funding Tier. Frequent reviews and improvements on scoring practices are encouraged.
Funding Tiers
Tier 1
Funding: Up to $15k
Timeline: 0-2 months
Stage: L1, only an idea, and no demo or MVP.
Tier 2:
Funding: Up to $50k
Timeline: 2-6 months
Stage: L2, have a product demo or prototype.
Tier 3:
Funding: Up to $100k
Timeline: ~6 months
Stage: L3, have a working MVP.
Milestone Reviews
Milestone acceptance will be determined on a case by case basis according to the agreed on grant milestones specified in the grant award letter. Grants Committee members will review grant milestones based on their experience and backgrounds.
1. Technical Milestone Acceptance
- Technical Committee members will be responsible for reviewing milestone acceptance for technical milestones and deliverables.
2. Community/ Commercial Milestone Acceptance
- Community/business focused Committee members will be responsible for reviewing all other non-technical milestones, including localisation, commercial and community milestones.
3. Changes to Existing Grant Terms
- Any changes to existing grants will be collectively decided by the Grants Committee before being communicated with grant awardees and the community in the Forum.
Reporting Requirements
The Grants Committee is required to keep records and notify other committee members of any:
- Meetings with grant projects.
- Issues and recommendations for grants applications.
- Issues and recommendations for existing grants agreements.
- Records of Committee meetings, and any decisions made.
Note: If a Committee Member acts unilaterally without consulting the Grants Committee, they will be removed.