✅ Application #30 SandboxDAO × Giveth - Quadratic Funding Round for Supporting Community-Led Public Goods

The Sandbox DAO Grant Program OPEN: Community Engagement
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grant-accepted for 10K USDC with 3 milestones and 3 deliverables.

Yegor, I wasn’t able to settle an amount above 10K, however, I do believe that I’ll be able to commit more in the future. I’ll DM you the next steps to get KYC completed and payment initiated.

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Evaluated on 6/30/2025

Q1: Name of your Grant

  • Score: Remains at 5 of 5

Q2: Total Grant amount in USD ($)

  • Score: Increased from 3 to 4 of 5
  • Decision: Meets intent of the question. No additional input required.
  • Rationale: Per discussion with the author, a custom amount can be sent to Giveth. Once an amount is sent to Giveth, Sandbox DAO would be a sponsor of the next Giveth rounding round. If less than 53,500 USDC, then additional co-sponsors will be needed to reach the 53.5K minimum to start the funding round. A marketing deck of sponsor packages was supplied and process + definitions was extensively explored. A smaller amount (25%) will be sent up front, and the larger amount (75%) sent at the conclusion of the funding round to donation.eth.
Key Terms & Process Summary
  • Matching pool network = blockchain where the matching pool funds will be distributed (e.g. Optimism, Polygon, Base, Solana etc)
  • Eligibility criteria = whether projects need to be verified, fit a round theme, be from specific ecosystem
  • Timeline = round announcements, application period (10-14 days), onboarding period, round dates (on average we run rounds for 2 weeks), and post-round wrap-up.
  • The $53.5K is the total cost to run the full round, composed of:
    • $40,000 → used directly as the matching pool (this goes to projects)
    • $13,500 → flat operations fee for platform setup, sybil resistance, analytics, project onboarding, and comms (goes to Giveth)
  • If Sandbox DAO contributes $10,000, it would represent ~18.7% of the total. Proportional fee would be:
    • $2,523 → Giveth (ops fee)
    • $7,477 → Matching Pool
  • There are 4 key components in a QF round:
      1. Sponsors (like Sandbox DAO) → contribute to the matching pool (e.g., Sandbox gives $10K toward a $40K+ pool)
      1. Matching Pool → this pool of funds is distributed after the round ends, based on donor participation. It doesn’t go to every project equally- it goes to the ones that receive the most community support based on the matching calculation.
      1. Projects → apply to the round and are selected based on eligibility. They compete for public support to earn a larger share of the matching pool.
      1. Donors (the public) → make small donations (often $1–$50) to the projects they care about. These donations act as signals of support.
  • So to clarify:
    • Sandbox DAO is not a donor - you’re seeding the matching pool.
    • The matching pool is distributed to projects based on how many unique donors support them.
    • A project with 100 people giving $1 each could receive more matching than one with 1 person donating $100 - that’s the power of the quadratic funding formula: it favors breadth of support over donation size.
    • Quadratic Funding (QF) distributes matching funds based on how many unique donors support each project. That’s the base logic - favoring broad community support over large individual donations.
  • COCM (Connection-Oriented Cluster Matching) is an additional algorithm we layer on top to make the system more resilient to sybil attacks. It evaluates how connected a group of donors is, which helps prevent abuse by ensuring that real, independent donors carry more weight than coordinated donors or bots, etc. This makes the matching distribution fairer and harder to exploit.
  • Each project receives both a QF+COCM calculated share of the sponsor matching pool and the amount individual donors donated to them.
  • Matching = (Sum of square roots of individual donations)² – Total donations
    • Here’s a simple example using $10K matching pool as an example:
      • Project A : 100 × $1 = $100 total, 100 unique donors
      • Project B: 1 × $100 = $100 total, 1 unique donor
      • Project C: 2 × $50 = $100 total, 2 unique donors
      • So A gets ~100 units, B ~1, C ~2… A gets ~96% of the match, B ~1%, C ~2%.
    • Meaning of the $10K pool:
      • A gets ~$9,600 matched
      • B gets ~$100
      • C gets ~$200

Q3: Evaluation Factor – Specific

Q4: Evaluation Factor – Measurable

  • Score: Increased from 4 to 5 of 5
  • Decision: Meets intent of the question. No additional input required.
  • Rationale: Milestones are specific, can be validated via https://stats.giveth.io/ and analysis on Arkham for donation.eth. An example wrap-up summary was supplied.

Q5: Evaluation Factor – Accountable

  • Score: Remains at 4 of 5

Q6: Evaluation Factor – Realistic

  • Score: Increased from 3 to 4 of 5
  • Decision: Meets intent of the question. No additional input required.
  • Rationale: Per discussion with grant author, clarity was obtained on how these mechanisms played into Giveth’s funding rounds: quadratic funding, active/archive rounds, COCM* , and chosen projects

Q7: Evaluation Factor – Timely

  • Score: Remains at 4 of 5
  • Decision: Meets intent of the question. No additional input required.
  • Rationale: Per discussions with grant author, timeline may exceed Aug 30th by up to 4 weeks (late September 2025).

Q8: Evaluation Factor – Disclosure

  • Score: Remains at 5 of 5
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