Personally, I think this is a very reasonable budget for a starting workstream that aims to continue an existing Gitcoin product concept (kudos) in a more decentralized and arguably more sustainable way. In my view dCompass was the first workstream to do this, and we are already seeing the potential there as we start to discuss the idea of a mutual grant together.
I would definitely recommend that we set precise metrics around outcomes, and answer some of the questions @DisruptionJoe posed though w.r.t. how we fit this into the rest of the product roadmap though.
With respect to the why of soulbound NFTs as an approach, I recognize this is a bit of an appeal to authority but I think it would be natural for Gitcoin to consider them given Vitalik’s support of them here. Ultimately, much of our success has come from bringing ideas that Vitalik has championed to life (such as QF itself) in a way that is practical and meaningful for the Ethereum community. In my view it is worth the risk of experimentation to do that again.