tldr;
- We are resuming operations on November 9, 2022.
- Two core areas of focus eligible for funding: Content and Social Media.
- Education and Events remain on pause.
- PR Creatives, paid social campaigns and influencer marketing will no longer be eligible for funding.
- Introducing Bounties: requests for content from NEAR Foundation or Marketing DAO for key strategic areas.
- Interested in Applying? Read NEAR Community Marketing DAO Handbook
- Questions? Connect with the Marketing DAO on Twitter @marketingdaoers or via email at marketingdao@proton.me
Introduction
We are thrilled to announce that after taking a hard look at the past year of operations and working closely with the NEAR Foundation to assess how we can make the most of the community funding available, we are able to resume operations on Wednesday 9 November, 2022.
The Marketing DAO is one of the community funding verticals that exists to empower our community champions to do more of the work that, collectively, helps NEAR get to 1 billion users.
The review process is far from over. We are resuming operations on an initial, limited scope and budget, and will continue to work with NF to expand this over time.
Areas of Funding
One of the key changes that we are introducing is a much clearer categorisation of all the areas and activities that could fall within the scope of Marketing Activities and a clear delineation of what categories are eligible for funding.
See image below for an overview of all the Marketing Channels:
We’ve broken all the marketing channels above into three categories: Core Focus, Remain on Pause, and Not Eligible for Funding.
More detailed information on the criteria for each category see.
Core Focus - Active
We are resuming the processing of applications for Content and Social Media.
On pause
Events and Education remain on hold while we seek greater alignment with the NEAR Foundation Education and Events team. We expect to be able to meet with all the relevant stakeholders soon. The objective is to avoid doubling up efforts, define clear criteria for what is within Marketing DAO scope, how to assess and ensure quality of applications, and align priorities in general.
Not Eligible
Unfortunately, we are not able to fund everything. It has been determined that all activities falling under Public Relations, are outside of the scope of Marketing DAO.
Funding for events and education initiatives are currently on hold pending conversations with NEAR Foundation team members.
Additionally, a reminder that NEAR Foundation guidelines prohibit us from funding projects involving populations under the age of 18.
Criteria for Funding
Another major change that we are introducing are detailed guidelines for submission of proposals and making public the set of criteria that we are using to assess each application will be released by end of week.
Overall, each application will be assessed based on the subject matter on the content or activity, the quality of the content, and the distribution channels.
Subject Matter
The NEAR Ecosystem must be part of the core subject matter of the content or activity.
Applications that lack a clear and strong connection to the NEAR protocol and that are not able to demonstrate how the activity adds value to the ecosystem as a whole in a meaningful will be rejected.
Quality of Content
We are looking for original content that requires either meaningful amounts of skill, time and effort to produce and/or captures the unique essence of the maker, namely, is truly differentiated.
Some of the indicators of quality may include the depth of understanding and ability to clearly articulate the subject matter, among others.
Distribution Channels
Great content goes viral. We are looking to reward people that are not just able to create great content, but are also able to put that content in front of people and have it spread organically.
Amount Funding Available
As we shift the focus from quantity to quality, we expect the amount of funds to be disbursed per month to be much lower than before.
Even though there is no hard cap on the amount of funds available per month, we do have some initial conservative targets and limits. This means that not only will we be assessing applications based on the merit and criteria based above, but we will also have to consider the total amount of funding available.
Next Steps
We will continue to work with the NEAR Foundation to review progress, expand scope of operations, craft bounties, and increase the amount of funding available over time.
The next immediate steps:
- Resume processing applications on the categories mentioned above.
- Meet with Education Team, define scope and criteria for Education related proposals
- Meet with Events Team, define scope and criteria for Events related proposals
- Release Assessment for Applications Guide (detailed criteria)
- Enhanced Communications and Community Engagement: expect AMAs with Marketing DAO Council members within a week of resuming operations.
Good Job
