Vision and Criteria for Grant Proposals
The “new protocols and ideas” domain covers such a large and vast array of potential use cases. It can be quite difficult if not impossible to summarize it all, so a non-exhaustive list of in-scope projects includes:
- Creating new protocols from scratch, with special attention to those not currently prevalent in Arbitrum or those that introduce new functionalities and ideas.
- Developing infrastructure/services to enhance the experience of Arbitrum users.
- Adding new functionalities to existing protocols/products already on the Arbitrum chain.
- Expanding or migrating an existing protocol/product from other chains to Arbitrum.
In any of the scenarios mentioned above, or in any other cases, the end result should be a fully functional protocol/product, at least in its basic features, that users can engage with. The proposal’s scope must ultimately offer tangible value to the Arbitrum chain by producing a functional deliverable.
Milestone articulation: the milestones can be presented in either text or chart form. Regardless of the format, all milestones outlined in the following section should be included by the team in the proposal plan, complete with numbers and dates where applicable.
Audit requirement: ideally, the base product should be expanded upon only after it has been audited. If a new product is being built from scratch, planning for an audit is a requirement.
Criteria
- Proposal Aims and Scope: while the ultimate objective of every proposal should be to provide a usable deliverable to the Arbitrum chain and its users, offering tangible value to all stakeholders, it’s essential that each proposal is appropriately scoped in relation to this deliverable. A well-crafted proposal should emphasize the anticipated end result, the starting point in terms of understanding the issue and available resources (including team, finances, tools, necessary external infrastructures, and more), and, if applicable, the model that will be employed to address any context-specific situations.
- Team: the current team has already onboarded the key personnel required to complete the tasks or project for which they are applying for the grant.
- Milestones: the following is a non-comprehensive list of milestones that teams should include in their proposal:
- Define the Project Scope - What is the proposal about?
- Define the Project Schedule and Timeline - Detail the phases and timeline of the project.
- Estimate the Costs and Budget - How much will the project cost? What budget is currently available, both with and without the grant?
- Define a Spending Plan for the Grant - How will the grant funds be utilized?
- Define the Key Project Deliverable(s) - What will be the end result(s) once the project is implemented by the end of the planned timeline?
- Define the Project Goals and Objectives - Beyond the implementation of the deliverable(s), what high-level goals does the team aim to achieve?
- Other factors: factors not listed, which are related to the specific context of the proposal, may be considered and analyzed by the domain allocator to ensure the best evaluation outcome.-
Most approved grants fall within $10,000.00 to $150,000.00 in ARB tokens. Please refer to the (Grant Types)[https://arbitrumfoundation.notion.site/Grant-Types-b8d304453e804deba3a9abd058ed6daf] for more details on how much funding you can request. Larger grant requests are subject to a more rigorous assessment process, and in many cases, would be more appropriately sourced from other funding channels, including but not limited to VCs and/or going through the DAO governance process via a non-constitutional proposal for a grant from DAO Treasury.
Proposal review and evaluation rubric
Proposals in this domain are typically reviewed directly by the domain allocator. Depending on the proposal content, the domain allocator may consult with allocator(s) in relevant domain(s) and may invite other allocator(s) to provide additional review. The evaluation rubric consists of four items that are each scored from 0-5 points:
- Team experience: the highest score will be awarded to teams that possess all the necessary personnel to deliver their project, have prior experience working on simplified versions of the same functionalities, and have expertise in the development of Web3 projects.
- Novelty and quality of the idea: the highest score will be given to ideas that either address gaps in the current Arbitrum ecosystem (e.g., NFT-related infrastructures and projects) or elevate the quality of existing areas (e.g., option aggregators and arbitrage platforms), or a combination of both.
- Completeness of the plan: the highest score will be awarded to proposals that detail the current state of the project, specify the final goal or deliverable to be achieved or implemented through the grant, outline the intermediate milestones required to reach it, present a timeline that clearly indicates when and how milestones and final results will be delivered, and provide a spending plan that itemizes the costs and illustrates how the grant will cover them.
- Feasibility of goals and timeline: the highest score will be awarded to proposals that are realistic in terms of what can be accomplished given the specific size of the grant. Proposals should also include a cost valuation assessment and a time analysis for completing milestones to determine the feasibility of the proposed timeline. Proposals should also include a cost valuation assessment and a time analysis for completing milestones to determine the feasibility of the proposed timeline.
Proposals that score highly in the evaluation rubric are more likely to be funded, but there is no minimum threshold number of points for funding and no threshold that guarantees funding. Grant decisions are heavily influenced by the evaluation rubric but also take into consideration the balancing of project areas, grant sizes, and the community benefits of supporting a diversity of team sizes, from individuals to larger organizations. Further rubrics, specific to the proposal, might be evaluated by the domain allocator.
How to request for a grant:
- Create an account in https://questbook.app/
- Go to the dashboard of the “Arbitrum New Protocols and Ideas” grant program
- Click on the “Submit New” button on the top left of the page
- Fill the form with all the data requested, including name, telegram, grant amount, wallet address, milestones
- Fill the “details” section using the following structure:Template - [RFP] Arbitrum Grant Program - New Protocols and Ideas