DeGrants Program Track
DeGrants is a community-led microgrant program for practical, creative, and ecosystem-positive projects that benefit Stacks. It’s designed and incubated by dedicated community members from all corners of the Stacks ecosystem.
DeGrants supports smaller projects with clear deliverables, credible execution plans, and real relevance to the ecosystem.
The program is funded and operationally supported by the Stacks Endowment, but grant recipients are reviewed and selected by Community Stewards.
Who Should Apply
You should apply if you are an individual builder, creator, educator, community contributor, or ecosystem participant with a clear project that can create value for Stacks.
This track is especially relevant for:
- Creative ecosystem projects
- NFT-related projects
- BNS-related projects
- Educational content or onboarding resources
- Community activations
- Small tools, prototypes, or experiments
- Public goods
- Projects that help re-engage or grow the Stacks community
You do not need to be building a large protocol or venture-scale product. You do need a clear idea, a practical plan, and a strong reason why the project matters for Stacks.
What Stewards are Looking For
Strong DeGrants applications should show:
- Clear Stacks relevance: Your project should have a direct connection to the Stacks ecosystem, community, tooling, culture, or user experience.
- Community value: The work should benefit more than just the applicant. It should help users, builders, creators, collectors, educators, or ecosystem participants.
- Defined deliverables: We should be able to understand exactly what you plan to ship, create, host, publish, or deliver.
- Feasible scope: The project should be realistic for the requested budget and timeline.
- Credible execution: You should show that you have the skills, context, or collaborators needed to complete the work.
- Ecosystem momentum: The strongest projects create engagement, learning, visibility, participation, or future opportunities for Stacks.
Grant Amounts
DeGrants awards are generally between $3,000 and $5,000, with a maximum grant size of $5,000.
Each cohort will fund a limited number of projects. The goal is to support fewer, stronger grants with more meaningful funding, rather than spreading the budget too thinly.
Payments may be tied to completion or approved milestones. In some cases, upfront funding may be considered if it is clearly necessary for delivery.
Community Steward Review
DeGrants applications are reviewed by a small group of 3 Community Stewards. Steward seats rotate across DeGrants cycles to keep the program community-led and give more ecosystem members the opportunity to participate in funding decisions.
The Steward group includes one Lead Steward, typically a member of the Stacks community with strong ecosystem context, and two additional Community Stewards selected from the community. This smaller review structure is designed to keep the process community-led, focused, and efficient.
Community Stewards are responsible for reviewing applications, scoring projects against the DeGrants rubric, discussing the strongest candidates, recommending award amounts, and making final award or no-award decisions.
The Stacks Endowment and its operating partners provide application setup, timeline management, applicant communications, payment coordination, and general process support. The Endowment does not select grant recipients.
How Applications Are Reviewed
Applications are reviewed by Community Stewards using a simple scoring rubric designed specifically for DeGrants.
Stewards evaluate projects based on:
- Stacks ecosystem relevance
- Community value
- Clarity of deliverable
- Feasibility
- Applicant credibility
- Creative, cultural, educational, or ecosystem contribution
- Potential to create momentum or future opportunity
Final decisions are made after the application window closes, so applications can be reviewed together. Applicants should not expect rolling decisions.
Conflict of Interest
Because Stacks is a close community, conflicts of interest can happen.
Community Stewards are expected to disclose any personal, financial, professional, or close community relationship with an applicant. If a conflict exists, that Steward will recuse themselves from reviewing that application. They will not score, advocate for, or make a decision on that project.
When a Steward recuses themselves, the applicant’s score will be averaged only across the non-conflicted Steward scores. A recusal will not negatively impact the applicant’s overall score.
What You’ll Need
To apply, you should be prepared to provide:
- A clear project description
- The problem, opportunity, or community need your project addresses
- Why the project matters for Stacks
- The deliverables you plan to complete
- A realistic timeline
- A simple budget breakdown
- Relevant background, proof of work, or examples of past execution
- Links to any supporting materials
- Confirmation that you are prepared to complete KYC if selected
At this time, DeGrants processes individual grant recipients. If you are applying with collaborators, one individual must serve as the applicant and payee.
What DeGrants Is Not
DeGrants does not guarantee funding for anyone who applies. It is not a smaller version of the main Endowment Grants Program, nor is it intended for vague ideas with no clear deliverables.
Funding is limited. Strong applications will be clear, practical, relevant to Stacks, and realistic to complete.
