Resources
Link to Original Google Docs - Guidelines for Assessment (Latest Version)
Marketing DAO Relaunch Announcement - Gov Forum
How to Use this Guide
These guidelines are split into two categories:
- General Questions that we would ask every project, based largely on the strategic goals from the NEAR Foundation.
- Vertical specific guidelines. These are meant to serve as additional guidance, namely, what sort of questions may we ask to determine whether the General Questions criteria is being met for this specific type of content.
Guidelines have been derived from reviewing performance, challenges and lessons from the past year of operations and ongoing conversations with the NEAR Foundation and the community.
These guidelines are expected to change as the ecosystem evolves. If your project does not fall squarely within these guidelines, contact us so we can discuss.
General Questions
These questions are around establishing the Fundamental Alignment required between projects seeking funding and what the Community Fund is able to fund.
Categories are deliberately broad as we do not want to restrict any applicants. It is up to each project to demonstrate they meet the fundamental alignment threshold.
Will this project help develop a thriving ecosystem of high quality projects?
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NF KPIs to track progress:
- New Projects
- Active Apps
- Weekly Active DAOs
- Active Wallets
- Increase overall education, reach, and drive positive traction in the market
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Assessment by M DAO:
- Does this project create an inspiring, vibrant community that makes people want to join?
- Does the project promote core qualities, characteristics, and progress about NEAR that can educate and inspire others to take action?
- Is this project providing value to other builders and projects in the ecosystem in ways in which it accelerates their growth?
Will this project result in an entry point for Web3 talent?
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NF KPIs:
- Active Developers / Builders
- Number of Community Members
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Assessment by DAO:
- Distribution Channel; is the team well placed to reach new audiences?
- Does the team have enough depth of knowledge about NEAR, what’s happening in the ecosystem, other unique insights and valuable knowledge;
- Is the project or team, able to communicate clearly and concisely complex concepts to new audiences?
- What would potential developers/builders think/feel if they come in contact with content?
4.1 Acceptable: that NEAR is a lea- der in blockchain technology, professionalism, inspired to build, curious to learn more, etc.
4.2 Unacceptable: Scammy, pump and dump, vapourware.
Is this project of reasonable quality to receive capital?
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NF KPIs
- Quality work
- Fair price for the work
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Assessment by DAO
- Would a third party pay for the work at the quoted price?
- Is the price quoted aligned with the industry standards?
- Is the work generating more value to the ecosystem than it is extracting?
Vertical Specific - Content
Content and creativity comes in all shapes and forms.
We do not want to place any constraints on the ways in which you may communicate and amplify key messaging about NEAR.
Below are some of the categories and the set of criteria we will take into consideration to assess each. It is expected that this criteria will continue to evolve over time.
Writing
- Subject Matter - is the core substance of the writing about NEAR Ecosystem?
- Potential impact of content on readers.
- Who is the target audience?
- How are you going to reach that audience?
- Previous Work - quality writing, established audience.
- Depth of understanding and insight on the topic.
- Uniqueness of work (differentiated)
- Is the creator providing adding to public discourse;
- Independent insights, analysis, explanations
- Is the writing being done in collaboration with other projects?
- We are more likely to fund work produced as a direct response to ecosystem needs. i.e. you are in contact with other ecosystem players and creating high quality content for them.
Video
- Subject Matter - is the core substance of the writing about NEAR Ecosystem?
- Depth of understanding and insight on the topic.
- Uniqueness of work (differentiated.)
- Previous Work - quality writing, established audience.
- Production and sophistication
- Leverages tooling available to produce high quality content relevant to an audience
- Editing, subtitles, music, visual effects, etc.
- Leverages tooling available to produce high quality content relevant to an audience
Visual / Design
- Subject Matter - is the core substance of the content about NEAR Ecosystem?
- Is the design visually appealing, easy to understand, without typos.
- Does the visual work link or refer to other sources where people can learn more.
- Custom design or templates?
- Both are acceptable, but we acknowledge that they require different resources and have different costs.
- Is the visual design able to capture complex subjects, trending topics, and other key areas of interest in a simple and concise manner that is easy for anyone scrolling to understand?
- Is the content widely shared in such a way that other members of the ecosystem rely on it to communicate and amplify key messaging around NEAR.
Podcasts
- Subject Matter - is the core substance of the content about NEAR Ecosystem?
- Examples of previous work. Not able to fund brand new ventures.
- Quality of Guests
- Is the podcast building a Brand?
- Visual Design
- Naming
- Presence on Social Media
- Anything that elevates and cements NEAR presence in the world as a result of the podcast succeeding.
- Is the podcast widely distributed and available on major podcasting platforms?
- Is the podcast a suitable avenue for projects in the ecosystem to share their progress, reach new audiences?
Social Media
Out of Scope
- Management of Community Channels.
- Paid Ads on Instagram and other social media.
- Influencer Marketing. This may still be channeled through the NEAR Foundation. Contact them directly if you have an outstanding opportunity you’d like to discuss, https://near.org/ecosystem/get-funding/,
NEAR Foundation Grants Program
In Scope - Content and Distribution
There’s a strong overlap between the Social Media vertical guidelines and the Content specific guidelines listed above.
We are all on social media, a lot. So what do we look for in Social Media applicants?
- Does the Social Media presence amplify and communicate things in such a way that creates a vibrant, welcoming community (the opposite of silence, ghost chains).
- Is the content generating organic engagement? Reach
- Is the Social Media account able to build brand recognition?
- Are the Social Media assets embedded in the community, well known and acknowledged as active contributors
- Ability to reach audiences across a range of platforms, blockchains, grow audience
- Ability to take existing content and create platform specific content that demonstrate skills and mastery on that platform (i.e. Taking content from Blog post to generate short videos or content from Twitter Spaces to generate blog posts, etc.)
- Does the content and social media presence elevates the perception of NEAR across other crypto ecosystem players?
- Content optimized for engagement, SEO, Calls to Action, where applicable.
Questions?
We hope you find the guidelines above useful. We welcome feedback and discussion on the governance forum, and you can reach out to us directly for specific queries relating to your project.
Email - marketingdao@proton.me
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MarketingDAOers
Or DM any of the Marketing DAO Council Members @Dacha @so608 @cryptocredit @Klint
LFG 
