AllocationSince 1900

Direct Grants

Traditional grant-making where a committee or individual directly allocates funds to selected projects based on applications and evaluation.

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How It Works

1. Call for proposals is announced 2. Projects submit applications 3. Committee reviews and evaluates submissions 4. Selected projects receive funding 5. Often includes milestones and reporting requirements

Deep Dive

Direct Grants represent the traditional approach to funding allocation, where a committee, foundation, or individual reviews applications and directly awards funds to selected projects. While less "Web3 native" than other mechanisms, direct grants remain highly effective for certain use cases, particularly when domain expertise is needed for evaluation or when rapid decision-making is required. Most foundations and DAOs use some form of direct grants alongside more experimental mechanisms.

Advantages

Fast decision making when needed
Expert evaluation of complex projects
Flexible funding amounts
Can fund unpopular but important work
Simple to understand

Limitations

Centralized decision making
Potential for bias
Less community involvement
Can lack transparency
Gatekeeper dynamics

Apps Using This Mechanism

Arbitrum DAO Grants

Funding the Arbitrum ecosystem

The Arbitrum DAO runs various grant programs to fund the ecosystem. The Short-Term Incentive Program (STIP) distributed 71.4M ARB to 56 protocols in 2023. The Long-Term Incentive Pilot Program (LTIP) is distributing 45.8M ARB with improved measurement frameworks. Additional programs include the Gaming Catalyst Program and Questbook Domain Allocators.

DAOActive

$200M+ funded

Arbitrum

Giveth

Building the Future of Giving

Giveth is a zero-fee donation platform connecting donors directly with verified for-good projects. The GIVbacks program rewards donors with GIV tokens for supporting verified projects. Giveth supports projects on Ethereum, Gnosis Chain, Optimism, Polygon, Base, and other networks with fully transparent, traceable donations.

PlatformActive

$10M+ funded

EthereumGnosis+5

Nouns DAO

One Noun, Every Day, Forever

Nouns DAO is a generative avatar community that funds public goods and creative projects. With one NFT auctioned daily, the treasury (currently over 20,000 ETH) funds proposals voted on by Noun holders. Prop House enabled permissionless grant rounds for smaller proposals.

DAOActive

$50M+ funded

Ethereum