• 03 Review Criteria & Rating Scale

🥇 7 Review Criteria

Our decision-making process is guided by 7 key evaluation review criteria. These criteria help us identify the projects with the greatest potential of benefiting the Stacks community.

1. Impact Evaluating a proposed project's potential impact can lead to meaningful and positive contributions to the Stacks ecosystem. >> If successful, how would this project benefit Stacks community members? How many community members would it affect? How many builders would it affect? How much impact would it have on the blockchain itself? Usage or otherwise.

2. Feasibility Evaluating the feasibility of a proposed project is essential to ensure that it can be successfully executed. This includes assessing whether the project's goals are achievable with the available resources and within the proposed timeline. >> Is this project achievable with the available resources and within the proposed timeline?

3. Team Experience The experience and expertise of the team behind the project are one of the most important factors. A team with a track record of successful projects and relevant experience is more likely to execute the grant effectively. >> Does the team have relevant experience and a track record of executing other projects successfully?

4. Innovation and Quality We assess the project's level of innovation and the quality of the proposal, recognizing and rewarding innovative ideas and well-crafted proposals. >> Has this been done before? If so, does it meaningfully improve on previous implementations?

5. Self-Sustainability Evaluating the extent to which the proposed project demonstrates the potential for self-sustainability beyond the grant period. It assesses whether the project has clear strategies, resources, and plans in place to continue its impact and operations once the grant funding ends. >> Does the proposal lay out a plan with clear strategies and resources for continuing project operations once grant funding ends?

6. Relevance to Stacks Relevance ensures that the grant funds are directed toward initiatives that benefit the Stacks community. >> Does this project primarily benefit the Stacks community?

7. Community Sentiment Community support and sentiment can play a significant role in grant evaluation. Projects that have garnered interest and support from the Stacks community may be viewed more favorably. >> Has this project already garnered significant interest and support from the broader Stacks community?

🥇 Rating Scale 1 ~ 6

During the review process, applications are rated on a 1–6 scale to indicate their alignment with review criteria.

Stewards provide standardized feedback according to the 7 review criteria, which ensures consistency, transparency, and fairness across grant evaluations.

Rating	Indicates	Description
6	Exemplary	Fully achieves all of the review criteria and beyond to the highest degree
5	Strong	Strongly achieves all of the review criteria to a significant degree
4	Good	Sufficiently achieves all of the review criteria to some degree
3	Fair	Moderately achieves most of the review criteria
2	Marginal	Minimally achieves some of the review criteria
1	Weak	Does not achieve the review criteria

ALL review feedback will be publicly viewable.