Introducing the Polity GRADE Programme

DAO Programs & Initiatives
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Introducing Polity GRADE

Hello Arbitrum Community!

We’re excited to introduce the Polity GRADE Programme, an innovative tool designed to enhance the grant evaluation process within the Arbitrum DAO ecosystem. Polity GRADE (Grant Review and Decision Enhancement) leverages Ethelo’s advanced multi-attribute decision-making engine to streamline and improve the efficiency of grant evaluations.

What is Polity GRADE?

Polity GRADE is a customized, white-labeled solution that enables real-time, multi-stakeholder evaluation of grant applications. It ensures that funding decisions align with Arbitrum DAO’s strategic priorities and optimizes the value of allocated resources.

GRADE Wizard

The Polity GRADE Programme will provide a customizable multi-criteria grant evaluation template designed to simplify and enhance the grant application review process. This template is tailored to meet the unique needs of Arbitrum DAO grant managers, allowing for granting decisions based on comprehensive and transparent evaluation criteria that align with the grant programme’s strategic priorities.

GRADE is built on Ethelo’s award-wining and patented multi-attribute decision-making engine, which enables advanced real-time criteria and scenario analysis, producing consensus outcomes based on millions of potential scenarios.

Features of the GRADE Wizard:

  • Customizable Criteria: Grant managers can define and adjust evaluation criteria to suit specific grant programs and strategic goals.
  • Weighted Scoring: Criteria can be weighted according to importance, ensuring that the most critical factors have a greater influence on the final decision.
  • Grant Decision Launch: Once the template has been configured, grant managers can launch a granting decision to determine which applicants will receive funding, ensuring a streamlined and transparent allocation process.

GRADE Decision

The GRADE decision-making process is designed to be transparent, inclusive, and efficient, ensuring that the best grant applications are selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of predefined criteria. Decisions can involve closed project-team groups, or be opened to include wider participation of stakeholders across the Arbitrum community. Here’s how the decision-making process works:

  1. Evaluation Setup:
  • Criteria Definition: Grant managers set up the evaluation criteria in the GRADE Wizard, determining the specific factors that will be considered during the evaluation process.
  • Weighting Factors: Each criterion is assigned a weight based on its importance, ensuring that more critical factors have a greater influence on the final decision, or weights can be assigned by reviewers during the evaluation itself.
  • Application Upload: Grant applications are uploaded into the wizard, via a csv file.
  1. Decision Creation
  • Autogenerated Decision: Once the wizard has been configured and applications uploaded, a Polity GRADE decision will be generated.
  • Invite Evaluators: Invite evaluators from your team or community with restricted access invitations to the decision, or share an open link for wider participation.
  1. Application Scoring:
  • Individual Evaluations: Each application is evaluated individually by grant managers, team members, and/or other stakeholders. Scores are assigned based on how well each application meets the predefined criteria.
  • Weighted Scoring: The scores for each criterion are weighted according to the predefined factors, providing a comprehensive and balanced evaluation of each application.
  1. Aggregated Results:
  • Data Aggregation: The platform aggregates the individual scores for each application, providing a clear overview of the overall performance of each applicant. Presenting results in real-time
  • Scenario Analysis: If the decision involves constraints, such as the maximum number of grants awarded, total amount of funding available, etc., the Ethelo engine will evaluate all potential allocations to find the outcome with the broadest support in the group.
  • Consensus Results:** Consensus Results: Ethelo’s algorithm identifies decision outcomes that represent the strongest consensus among evaluators. The results, will maximize support and minimize polarization, ensuring a justifiable final outcome that all involved can accept.

Our Deliverables

1. Milestone #1: GRADE Wizard Development

  • Deliverable: Google Sheet template for configuring GRADE engagements, and uploading applicant information into a GRADE Decision.

2. Milestone #2: Custom Grant Evaluation Hub

  • Deliverable: Custom upgrade of Polity’s Member Area for hosting Arbitrum DAO GRADE decisions, along with comprehensive training sessions for effective use.

3. Milestone #3: Full Deployment and Ongoing Support

  • Deliverable: Integrated process to configure and host a grant programme GRADE decision, including continuous training, workshops, documentation, and ongoing assistance to ensure smooth and effective implementation.

What’s Next

The GRADE Configuration Wizard is nearing completion. Soon grant programme managers will be able to define the criteria for evaluating a set of grant applications, include grant applicant materials, and we will configure a multi-stakeholder granting evaluation. Once this is completed we will move forward to work on automating the process and upgrading of our existing member area.

Call to Action

Please follow Polity’s new twitter account for updates!

We invite grant progamme managers interested in learning more about how GRADE to reach out to @MetaMatman on Telegram.

Who We Are

GRADE is being developed by Polity Protocol, a public benefit coop built on Ethelo’s multi-attribute decision-making engine, supported through a recent grant from Firestarters ThankArb grantmaking program.