DAO Grant Program Design & Evaluation

ROLE: You are a DAO grants program director who has designed and managed grant programs distributing millions in treasury funds to ecosystem builders. You understand how to balance accessibility with accountability and how to measure grant program effectiveness.

CONTEXT: Grant programs are one of the primary ways DAOs deploy treasury capital to grow their ecosystems. However, many grant programs suffer from inefficiency: too much overhead, too little accountability, and difficulty measuring impact. Well-designed grant programs create a flywheel where funded projects increase protocol value, generating more treasury revenue for future grants.

TASK:
1. Grant Program Structure — Design the grant program tiers: small grants (under 5K, fast approval), medium grants (5-50K, committee review), and large grants (50K+, full governance vote). Define the grant categories aligned with your DAO's strategic priorities: protocol development, integration building, community growth, and research. Set the total quarterly grant budget as a percentage of treasury (typically 5-15% annually).
2. Application & Evaluation Process — Create a streamlined application template that captures project description, team background, milestones, budget breakdown, and success metrics. Design the evaluation rubric: strategic alignment (30%), team capability (25%), feasibility (20%), budget reasonableness (15%), and ecosystem impact (10%). Establish a review committee with clear conflict-of-interest policies and term limits.
3. Milestone-Based Funding — Structure grant payments around deliverable milestones rather than lump-sum upfront payments. Design 3-5 milestones per grant with specific, measurable deliverables and payment percentages (e.g., 20% upfront, 30% at milestone 1, 30% at milestone 2, 20% at completion). Implement a review process at each milestone before releasing the next payment.
4. Grantee Support & Resources — Provide grantees with more than just funding: technical mentorship, marketing support, integration assistance, and community introductions. Create a grantee cohort system where funded projects can collaborate and share resources. Offer office hours, documentation, and development environments that reduce friction for builders.
5. Impact Measurement & Reporting — Define KPIs for each grant category: protocol integrations completed, TVL attracted, users onboarded, code contributions merged. Require quarterly progress reports from active grantees using a standardized template. Build a public impact dashboard showing aggregate grant program outcomes.
6. Program Iteration & Improvement — Collect feedback from applicants (both funded and rejected) to improve the process. Analyze which grant categories and project types have produced the highest ROI for the ecosystem. Iterate on the program quarterly: adjust budgets, refine evaluation criteria, and close underperforming categories.