GG23 Community Rounds Eligibility Criteria
The updated Community Round process was first introduced in GG20. For more context, you can read the retrospective, and it is being improved via Gitcoin â25 Governance Revamp.
Read the Gitcoin Grants 2025 Proposed Strategy to gain context on changes to GG23 and future rounds that are being implemented.
- Application Period: Feb 5 - March 2, 2025
- [NEW]: Round Selection: The Council will vote on the proposals leveraging Grants Ships, a pluralistic approach ensuring Accountability, Capture Resistance, and Progressive Decentralization of the Gitcoin Community Rounds via 100% On-chain Voter Participation; the council will decide on the amount of rounds & how to allocate matching funds depending on the quality of applications received.
- Funding: There is a total of $150k+ (pending governance approval) from Gitcoin to be allocated across the top selected rounds.
- Timeline: GG23 is from the last week of March into early April.
- NOTE: There is a minimum of $5k matching that teams need to raise in order to be eligible to apply.
- NOTE: If you want to experiment with a different funding mechanism (e.g., Direct Grants, Simple QF, Cluster Matching QF, Tunable QF, Conviction Voting, MACI QF, etc.), include this in your proposal for council review. For more information, visit the Grants Stack Resource Hub.
Eligibility Criteria for GG23 Community Rounds
- Team Requirements:
- Identify at least one experienced* Round Operator and at least two partner team members who will act as reviewers or assist in managing the round.
- It is mandatory to have at least one Round Operator on your team who has experience in running rounds on Grants Stack (proof to be provided), or to have gone through training and received a certificate.
- If your team has no experienced round operators, you may engage an available experienced round operator from a pool provided by Gitcoin, OR your team needs to undergo training hosted by Gitcoin.
- Matching Pool & Proof of Funds:
- Every round must raise its initial matching pool, with a minimum of $5k raised by the proposed round.
- Show proof of funds in a multi-sig wallet, similar to how funds are visible in Gitcoinâs multisig.
- Proof of matching funds and plans for raised funds should be provided by the time applications are reviewed to assist council members.
- Mission Alignment:
- The round must align with one of the following intents:
Helping to advance Gitcoinâs mission & vision
Supporting builders building on top of or integrating with Gitcoinâs tools
Scaling and growing the Ethereum ecosystem
- Compliance:
- All rounds must comply with Gitcoinâs core rules, which include no fraudulent activity, no quid pro quo, hate speech, or other activities out of alignment with Gitcoinâs essential intents.
- Marketing Plan outlined:
- All rounds to provide a detailed marketing plan for their round.
Information on Grant Ships
Applications, reviewing and voting will take place on the Grant Ships platform.
Grant Ships is an evolutionary grants framework designed to refine and advance best practices through a dynamic mix of competition, collaboration, and skill-sharing among grant programs. Selected grant programs â known as âShipsâ â innovate and engage in a public arena, where they are observed and evaluated by the community and/or designated judges. These assessments set each Shipâs starting position for the next round, rewarding top performers and allowing new Ships to join. This iterative cycle drives continuous innovation, leading to ever-improving strategies and outcomes.
Watch a Youtube short from a Green Pill appearance for more info.
Once applications are live, we will release further instructions and support on how to apply.
Before the Round
- Preparation:
- Ensure dedicated owners are driving the responsibilities forward. For smaller first-time rounds, these tasks may fall on the experienced Round Operator.
- Use Gitcoinâs AI Checker tool for application reviews and consider building a small team to assist the Round Operator.
- Form an Advisory Team of committed community stakeholders to help generate ideas, gather feedback, and provide support throughout the round.
- Go through the Gitcoin Grants Canvas to prepare your round with its goals, mission, and design.
- Familiarize yourself with the details of operating and running a round before considering applying.
- Round Eligibility Document:
- Create an eligibility criteria document for project acceptance before fundraising and recruiting grantees to ensure clarity on what qualifies. While this can evolve if needed, the first version should be created before going out and fundraising and recruiting grantees so that it is clear to parties what is eligible & what isnât for the round.
- Mission-Critical Areas:
- Allocate or raise funds for the matching pool.
- Recruit and onboard grantees using guidance from the Gitcoin Grants Stack tools.
During the Round
- Marketing:
- Promote the round effectively. Reminder: Gitcoin merely supports marketing efforts during a round. All Community Rounds are responsible for their own outreach & marketing.
- Compliance:
- Undergo KYC if receiving matching funds from Gitcoin. As per Gitcoinâs policy, for any funds +$15k we distribute, parties need to undergo KYC.
- Support:
- Support grantees and donors, with dedicated grantee portals, Office Hours, onboarding documentation, etc. Note: if needed, Gitcoin may advise.
After the Round
- Payouts:
- Oversee the payout and KYC process (if required) to ensure smooth facilitation and address any issues.
- Matching funds must be released within 4 weeks of the round ending; delays may result in ineligibility for future rounds.
- Retrospective:
- Conduct a retrospective to assess what worked and what can be improved, and share feedback with Gitcoin.
- Ongoing Support:
- Continue communication with grantees as needed.
REMINDER: This is the minimum for a viable round. The runbook provided to Round Operators will include much more information about how to run the best possible round.
Community Round Partner Offerings - GG23
Gitcoinâs Agreements:
- Marketing Support:
- Round highlighted on our grants website and in announcement posts.
- Open shill spaces are available for ecosystem rounds and community rounds.
- Partner logos are featured on the main partner banner on the grants website and in Gitcoin Grants Round emails.
- Each Community Round will receive access to design assets for the round.
- Gitcoin will amplify partner posts and provide a marketing best practices handbook.
- Grant Ops Support:
- Dedicated Grant Ops team is available for general questions and support.
- A support group with selected round operators will be set up.
Partnerâs Agreements (Non-negotiable):
- Publish a fleshed-out proposal on the governance forum.
- The Community Council will vote on proposals, selecting the top 8 and allocating matching funds to the top 5 rounds.
- Meet all eligibility criteria for running a Community Round.
- Align donation and application periods with GG23 dates set by Gitcoin.
- Outline your roundâs eligibility criteria.
- Own marketing, grantee, and donor support for your round.
- Release a post-round retrospective report within 30 days after the round closes.
- Complete security training with Gitcoinâs security consultant.
- Use Gitcoinâs âCheckerâ tool and provide clear feedback to applicants with a rationale for approval/rejection.
Resources
- Example of a strong Community Round retrospective
- Another example of a strong Community Round retrospective
- BioFi Pathfinders Grant Round: Retrospective Analysis and Reflections
- [GG22 Retrospective] - Allo Builders Advancement Round
- Retrospective template
This structured approach will help ensure clarity, compliance, and success in running a Community Round for GG23.
