Threshold
Hey, I’m Deckard, Co-Founder of Evrloot.
We’ve been active in the Polkadot ecosystem for 5 years now, actively building. And to be frank: We stayed away from the treasury, not wanting any drama. Still, we’ve seen our fair share of Treasury Bounties and proposals. Frankly, many of those experiences were painful: unclear goals, endless bureaucracy, and a lack of commitment (and accountability) from curators.
The Polkadot Marketing Bounty was a refreshing exception.
Working with this team was straightforward, focused, and refreshingly unbureaucratic. And yet — despite the smooth process — the level of accountability, goal orientation, and due diligence was spot on. You could tell that the curators had not only done their homework but genuinely invested time into understanding each proposal, engaging with creators, and ensuring alignment.
"Do you really need KOL support here? We think you should invest more in Ads. Please provide proof of your spending."
It felt like a real partnership — one where teams are empowered to execute, while still being held to high standards.
Polkadot needs this.
dApp teams like Evrloot need this. Fully in favor.
All the best, the Evrloot Team
PolkaWorld voted AYE
Two-thirds in favor, one-third opposed.
This proposal indeed showcases the Marketing Bounty team’s professionalism and execution capabilities over the past six months, which have contributed to increased social visibility and community engagement. Continuing to support this bounty program will help drive core projects such as Polkadot App, AssetHub, and JAM, particularly in the APAC and LATAM markets.
However, many potential proposers are still unaware of the existence of the Marketing Bounty or are unclear about their eligibility to apply. Therefore, we believe there’s still room for improvement in enhancing the visibility of the Marketing Bounty and providing clearer application guidance.
Check out the full feedback here.
Roman from Webzero here.
We successfully conducted our first event in Toronto with support from both the Events Bounty and the Marketing Bounty and I had positive experiences with the curator team. I would like to give a special shoutout to Natti and Juba, who are terminally online and very pro-active in their support, which shows commitment and dedication.
Clear Aye from me
Polkadot has always been at the forefront of technical advancement in blockchain. The marketing efforts campaigns, advertisements, and branding are important and appreciated. But we must recognize a critical gap: Polkadot urgently needs more developers, more dApp builders, and better integration support.
With Polkadot 2.0 approaching, it's surprising and concerning that there are no well-produced videos explaining the basics of elastic scaling, coretime, or even how to integrate new Polkadot SDK libraries into real-world dApps..
Currently, the Marketing Bounty does not fund any team focused on developer-centric educational content. There's also a complete lack of multilingual content — nothing in Mandarin or Hindi — despite these regions being among the fastest-growing developer bases, according to recent reports.
We’re building powerful tools, but not showing developers how to use them.
I strongly recommend that the Marketing Bounty allocate 10–15% of its budget to developer-focused resources including tutorials, integration videos, regional language support, and real-world use cases.
I hope these insights are taken seriously and acted upon by the curators.
Thank you again for the work you guys are doing.
Edited
Dear Proposer,
Thank you for your proposal. Our first vote on this proposal is NAY.
The Treasurer track requires 60% quorum (6 aye votes out of 10 members) according to our voting policy v0.2, and any referendum in which the majority of members vote abstain receives an abstain vote. This proposal has received two aye and two nay votes from ten available members, with three members abstaining. Below is a summary of our members' comments:
Two members expressed support for the proposal, highlighting confidence in the new direction and marketing efforts. However, several voters abstained, calling for clearer strategic focus and measurable objectives to evaluate the effectiveness of the bounty. Concerns were raised about the lack of documented results and accountability for past expenditures, with some voters criticizing the current management and advocating for experienced leadership in marketing. A minority opposed the proposal, citing inefficiencies and the absence of visible outcomes from substantial spending.
The full discussion can be found in our internal voting.
Please feel free to contact us through the links below for further discussion.
Kind regards,
Permanence DAO
Decentralized Voices Cohort IV Delegate
📅 Book Office Hours
💬 Public Telegram
🌐️ Web
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🗳️ Delegate
Edited
JAM Implementers DAO votes NAY on this proposal.
While we recognize the importance of consistent marketing for Polkadot, this proposal does not meet the level of transparency, accountability, and clarity required for a request of this size - 1.2 million DOT.
Concerns:
❌ Lack of granular breakdowns — There's no clear visibility into exactly how the previous funds were spent. Categories like “Marketing Infrastructure” and “Innovation” are too vague at this scale.
❌ Absence of clear KPIs — The proposal cites impressive metrics (430% increase in social mentions, 72% cost reduction), but without benchmarks or independent validation, it's hard to assess whether those gains are impactful or sustainable.
This vote is not about rejecting marketing — it's about demanding quality, clarity, and strategic inspiration in how it's done.
JAM DAO will gladly support if the proposal is resubmitted with campaign-level breakdowns and measurable goals.
I don’t always agree with some of the stuff you’re doing, but hey, at least you’re trying new things, and definitely you do look more organized.
Based on what I have read about historical marketing efforts in Polkadot, this version of the Marketing Bounty seems to be doing big efforts to improve.
I originally had hesitations about transparency of the budget allocations but appreciate de notion MB spender that has been shared publicly which lists the funded projects. I would like to know if you are planning on also sharing the rejected projects?
I look forward to the publication of the results and effects the projects that have already been funded in the past few months have had.
✅ Why vote YES
• Proven results: +430% social mentions, +117% engagement, Top 20 most-mentioned Web3 projects on X.
• Efficient fund management: reduced marketing spend by 72% (from $16.1M to $4.47M), with only 4% admin overhead.
• Global execution: 128 proposals reviewed, 44 projects funded across 19 countries (projects, agencies, creators, KOLs).
• Strategic partnerships: Serotonin (APAC), BLAST Premier (esports), Omni (ads), Distractive (PR).
• Supports ecosystem priorities: Polkadot App, AssetHub/stablecoins, JAM rollout, and native content creators.
• Data-driven strategy: Kaito analytics enabled targeted cuts to ineffective spending and reinforced hot conversations organically.
⸻
❌ Why vote NO
• Large funding request (1.2M DOT): may feel excessive to some voters despite strong performance.
• Centralized execution risk: relies on a small curator team and external agencies.
• Opaque internal voting: curator decisions are private; not all proposals get timely public feedback.
• Difficult to fully audit impact: most metrics are social/media-facing, with limited on-chain attribution.
• Alternative models may exist: some may prefer more decentralized or grassroots marketing approaches.
⸻
🎯 A high-performing, efficient, and globally active marketing structure with visible impact. Renewing it ensures continuity for key launches (App, Hub, JAM, stablecoin integrations). Without it, Polkadot risks losing coordinated marketing momentum.
Hey All.
Sharing a couple of recent AAG appearance related to this MB Refill.
May 29 - 00:16:40 - #236 - Marketing Bounty
May 22 - 02:01:30 = #234 - The App
Thanks For Your Consideration.
J.
Edited