Sandbox DAO Grant Program (SDGP) celebration event 💪 $SAND

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The Sandbox DAO
@TheSandboxDAOSep 12, 2025

The Spaces celebrated two milestones in The Sandbox DAO: the launch of the Sandbox DAO Grants Program (SDGP) via SIP-25 and the election of Domain Allocators via SIP-27. Hosts from New Campus and Sandbox DAO highlighted how the pilot decentralized decision-making, accelerated funding versus the longer SIP path, and broadened global reach. Seb praised the real-world impact and quality of delivery, while Cyril (DAO admin lead) framed the pilot’s goals and learnings (speed, decentralization, KYC and payment ops). Four domains showcased results: Community Engagement & Charity (Lanzer) funded 16 grants from 54 applications with strong West Africa traction; Season Rewards & Game Creation (Alex Flores/Kami) committed ~$101k across 11 grantees, many games live and featured; Web3 Integration (Andreas “Yule Wolf”) backed three developer tools including a SAND payments SDK; Education, Onboarding & Tech (Jed “Money”) approved seven global education initiatives. Grantees shared outcomes, KPIs, and lessons—from Run Human Run’s 4-week event to Indonesia’s hybrid voxel challenge. Next steps include a public postmortem/debrief and exploring a longer-term program. Calls to action: play featured experiences, support the Giveth round, engage on the forum, and act as DAO ambassadors.

Sandbox DAO x New Campus: SIP-25 Grants Program and SIP-27 Domain Allocators — Recap and Insights

Session overview

  • Purpose: Celebrate two milestones in The Sandbox DAO governance: the rollout of the Sandbox DAO Grants Program (SDGP) via SIP-25 and the election of Domain Allocators via SIP-27; review outputs, learnings, and the impact across the ecosystem.
  • Format: Host-led space with short intros, domain-by-domain spotlights, and grantee showcases; recorded for later viewing on YouTube.
  • Hosts and organizers:
    • Bobby (host/MC)
    • Kitty (New Campus co-host)
    • New Campus team supported production; Fiona and Megan acknowledged for event support.
  • Sandbox leadership and DAO admin remarks:
    • Sébastien “Seb” Borget (co-founder, The Sandbox): Praised on-the-ground impact and community-led initiatives; highlighted decentralization in action and creators’ quality of delivery.
    • Cyril (DAO Admin Lead): Framed SDGP as a pilot to decentralize decisions and speed funding relative to the SIP cycle; noted operational learnings (KYC, payouts, process overhead) and promised a full post-mortem/debrief on the forum.
  • Program context:
    • SIP-25 (launched ~6 months ago): Established a fast, small-grants program (SDGP) to fund impactful, community-led projects across four domains with an aggregate budget of ~1.2M SAND.
    • SIP-27 (5 months ago): Community-elected Domain Allocators to steward domain budgets and award grants quickly.
    • Pilot ran ~4 months; an admin team summary and guidance on a longer-term program are forthcoming.

Why the Domain Allocator model?

  • Bobby: Aimed to decentralize decision-making, speed up funding (days vs. months for full SIPs), and empower subject-matter leaders elected by the community to allocate domain budgets responsively.
  • Cyril: Objectives largely met; pilot validated quicker throughput and broader reach while surfacing operational constraints to refine next iterations.

Domain 1: Community Engagement & Charity — Allocator: Lanzer

  • Domain scope: Charitable and socially responsible initiatives that connect people, strengthen the SandFam, and drive positive impact in and beyond The Sandbox.
  • Demand and budget:
    • 114 total SDGP applications across all domains; Community Engagement & Charity received 54 applications (~$342k requested) against a $71k budget.
    • 16 grants funded; over half from West Africa, spotlighting a significant new regional community footprint.
  • Highlights by grantee and outcome:
    • Rambo — Gaming Growth Initiative: Early connector for West African applicants; catalyzed onboarding momentum via creator networks and word-of-mouth.
    • Wisdom Al (aka “Mr Right Now”) — Onboarding African Students: In-person university outreach (e.g., University of Lagos and others); >60 new builders/content creators onboarded; driving internships and job pathways.
    • Victor (Sandbox Africa co-founder) — Content & Community Activation: 15+ articles/blogs/graphics/challenges; ~30k impressions; 1k+ likes.
    • SamSpark (South America) — High-quality video content: Produced standout video materials; widely recognized for production quality.
    • Sandbox Bites (Philippines) — Tutorials/Reviews/Game Nights: Localized community engagement and education.
    • Golden Sun — X Spaces Series: ~10 Twitter Spaces; >1,000 total listeners; amplified discovery and dialogue.
    • Elsie (Metamine Creator) — Articles & Domain Summary: 10+ articles documenting her journey; compiled a Community X thread summarizing domain outputs (450+ likes; 65 reposts).
    • Giveth — Charitable Round: Live donation round with causes such as tree planting, education, and clean water; Sandbox DAO as sponsor; round open until the 24th (as of session date).
    • Pepe (Magic Palette/Magic Block) — Creator Contest: Experience-building challenge using Magic Palette/Block; bonus output: a 100-page, 3-chapter comic series introduced to the community.
    • Builders’ Corner (Ekissen) — In-Person Interviews: Profiled many West African creators; strengthened network visibility.
    • She Excels (Amaka) — Women’s Onboarding: In-person program onboarding ~100 women.
    • NIA Documentary — Ecosystem Film: Documentary on Sandbox builders/ecosystem; nearing release.
    • Sandbox @ Ethereum Conference — Panel: Hosted panel with SandFam members (e.g., Ekissen, Victor, Damian) showcasing community perspectives.
  • Allocator reflections (Lanzer): Biggest surprise and success was Africa’s emergence; the pilot proved ideal for seeding creators, events, and grassroots education. Encouraged the community to review nested threads and amplify outputs.
  • Grantee spotlight — Victor (Sandbox Africa):
    • Background: Following The Sandbox since 2018; the DAO’s launch motivated him to champion Africa’s presence.
    • Process: First-ever grant; credits Lanzer and Kunta for hands-on, constructive feedback and mentorship (iterative resubmission vs. outright rejection).
    • Operational innovation: Introduced a Notion-based milestone tracker adopted across collaborators; formed “Sandbox Africa” as a hub for African grantees (notably Nigeria’s large gaming community) to coordinate outreach, events, and education.

Domain 2: Season Rewards & Game Creation — Allocator: Alex Flores (aka “Kami,” Council Tech)

  • Domain scope: Funding for game development and/or player rewards (competitions, events) to drive playtime and engagement in The Sandbox.
  • Allocator context: Alex replaced his Council Tech co-founder Joe (originally elected) due to Joe’s work conflict; started ~1 month late with DAO/admin/community approval.
  • Budget and utilization: $104k budget; ~97% utilized ($101k committed) across 11 grantees; late-stage demand required declining solid proposals due to prior commitments.
  • Funded projects and status (non-exhaustive; highlights):
    • Avatar Life Arcade — “Wacko Doge” event: Completed; rewards distributed.
    • Nebula in Eveverse: Completed; rewards being sent.
    • Sanctum — Quiz Rift: Completed.
    • Sam Squad — Ultimate PvP Deathmatch: Recruiting hosts for PvP experiences; fallback to run internally if needed; ongoing outreach.
    • Touche — “Fun Guy” Season 2: Event launching soon; building 6 games with significant season rewards.
    • “Field of Dreams” landowner — “Still Water”: 2.5D platformer nearing completion; relationship initiated at Denver event.
    • Damien — “Build Enugu” (Nigeria): Recently launched.
    • Armyon — “Legend of Lago”: Recently launched.
    • Toby & Craft — “Mastering Kitchen Rush Hours”: Sequel to last season; streamed on the official channel; sharing asset collections with the community (notably high-quality food/kitchen assets).
    • Impossible Dream Studio — Fashion Show Series: Multi-role live events (artists’ wearable showcases, runway models, judges’ panels, audience voting); extensive testing and a calendar of events slated through year-end.
  • Grantee spotlight — Moss Pepper (All of Me Studios; co-founder, Voxel Factory):
    • Project: “Run Human Run” — Endless runner narrative: abducted by aliens, players run an energy treadmill, dodge obstacles, and extend survival.
    • Status: Featured live on The Sandbox; all milestones completed.
    • Engagement plan: 4-week community event with 4,000 SAND prize pool (DAO-funded) and a public leaderboard; at mid-week 2, ~100 total play-hours reported; final KPI results to be posted on the forum post-event.
    • Challenges: Rapid Game Maker updates occasionally broke core mechanics (brief downtime and hotfix required during week 1); community management trade-offs around rules and fairness.
    • Next steps: Explore direct sustainability via a player NFT that grants entry to future events; direct sales feed reward pools for future seasons.

Domain 3: Web3 Integration — Allocator: Ewel Wolf (Andreas, Ashara Studios)

  • Domain scope: Extend Sandbox interoperability, integrate tokens and partners, and build tools that connect to broader platforms and ecosystems.
  • Demand and prioritization: ~20 proposals; 3 grants funded; focus on experienced teams to ship high-value tools.
  • Funded projects and outcomes:
    • Sample Execution Verifier (Argentina): A transparency tool to track DAO project execution and milestone delivery efficiently.
    • Bots Reach (Nigeria): A pipeline/tooling effort to optimize and port voxel assets to engines/platforms like Unity and Roblox—broadening reach and discoverability of Sandbox-style content.
    • “Pay with SAND” SDK by Machine Nova (June, France): Open-source NPM package enabling SAND payments in minutes for web/React apps; supports Polygon + MetaMask at v0.3.1; roadmap includes expanded EVM wallet support, bridging demos, improved docs/tests, and merchant tooling (B2B) to drive real-world adoption.

Domain 4: Education, Onboarding & Technology — Allocator: Money (Jed, Event Horizon DAO)

  • Domain scope: Education and onboarding content/programs, technical enablement, and tooling to grow and upskill the community globally.
  • Demand and throughput: Second-largest application flow after Community Engagement (per Money); 7 grants funded, 6 completed with 1 wrapping up.
  • Geographic spread: Applicants spanned Africa, South America, Middle East, Asia, and the US; many emphasized mobile-friendly content (lightweight guides), video series, college outreach, and event-based learning.
  • Example grantees/deliverables:
    • Chain Lab; Meta Connect; a technical video series (noted “Key Guy”/similar) and a South America-based research presentation among the mix; broad range from first-time creators to seasoned Sandbox veterans.
  • Grantee spotlight — Vinska (VGG, Southeast Asia; Indonesia country manager):
    • Project: Game Arena — First Web3 Game Festival in Indonesia (Aug 2–3; hybrid).
    • Sandbox DAO-funded activation: “Voxel Time Attack” challenge coached by local creator Stevan (Satellite Studio) for 10 university students and 2 KOLs; participants learned Voxel creation in a 2-hour remote crash course, then produced two voxel pieces (one themed after an external IP prompt, one original IP) during the event.
    • Outcome: Two winners and two runners-up; strong engagement onsite and online; video recap shared to allocator; tight timeline was a challenge but the results validated demand for continued educational programming.
    • Next: More voxel creation challenges and university/KOL collaborations in Indonesia with Sandbox involvement.

Cross-cutting outcomes and highlights

  • Community growth and regional diversification:
    • West Africa emerged as a major bright spot across multiple domains, with strong creator networks, panels, documentaries, and in-person activations.
    • Southeast Asia and South America delivered significant education, content production, and events.
  • Speed and empowerment:
    • Domain Allocators enabled rapid iteration and small-grant funding decisions, unlocking momentum that full SIP timelines would have constrained.
  • Variety of deliverables:
    • On-platform games (new launches and seasonal events), fashion shows, PvP tournaments, content series, developer SDKs, educational programs, charitable rounds, and documentation/tooling for DAO transparency.
  • Ecosystem flywheel:
    • Many grantees are launching public events with rewards, streaming content, and publishing guides, creating an ongoing cycle of inbound interest and community upskilling.

Challenges and learnings (pilot)

  • Operational constraints (Cyril):
    • KYC, payment rails, and admin overhead need refining to scale the program while maintaining compliance and speed.
  • Product/runtime volatility:
    • Frequent Game Maker updates can break mechanics; teams need contingency plans (QA, hotfix workflows, rollback strategies) during live events.
  • Community management at scale:
    • Setting tournament/event rules inevitably creates trade-offs; clearer expectations and consistent communication help manage fairness perceptions.
  • Budget tension:
    • High-quality late applicants can be difficult to fund once commitments are made; suggests value in staged tranches or rolling windows for future cycles.

Metrics and program scope (as shared live)

  • SDGP scale: ~1.2M SAND total across four domains (pilot period).
  • Application volumes and allocations:
    • Community Engagement & Charity: 54 applications (~$342k requested); $71k budget; 16 grants funded.
    • Season Rewards & Game Creation: ~$104k budget; ~97% allocated; 11 grantees; multiple games live/featured.
    • Web3 Integration: ~20 proposals; 3 grants funded; SDKs and interoperability tooling in flight.
    • Education, Onboarding & Tech: 7 grants funded; 6 completed; global coverage and mobile-first content emphasized.

Calls to action and next steps

  • Participate in governance:
    • Forum: forum.sandbox.com (engage with proposals, comment, and co-develop ideas). Monthly DAO updates posted by Cyril; a full SDGP debrief/postmortem is coming.
    • If you hold SAND or land: you’re not just a DAO member—you’re an ambassador. Onboard friends, share voting links, bring new creators to the forum and Spaces.
  • Discover and support grantees:
    • Play featured experiences on The Sandbox (Experiences > Featured); many projects mentioned are currently live.
    • Engage with community threads (e.g., Elsie’s domain recap), watch videos, and retweet to amplify outputs.
    • Giveth charity round (open until the 24th, as of event date): explore causes (trees, education, water) and contribute if aligned.
  • Follow channels and replays:
    • The Sandbox and New Campus accounts for recaps; session replay to be published on YouTube.

Acknowledgments

  • Domain Allocators:
    • Community Engagement & Charity — Lanzer
    • Season Rewards & Game Creation — Alex Flores (Kami, Council Tech)
    • Web3 Integration — Ewel Wolf (Andreas, Ashara Studios)
    • Education, Onboarding & Tech — Money (Jed, Event Horizon DAO)
  • Grantees spotlighted:
    • Victor (Sandbox Africa), Moss Pepper (All of Me Studios/Voxel Factory), Machine Nova (June), Vinska (VGG Indonesia) — among many others named during the session.
  • Leadership/Admin:
    • Sébastien Borget (The Sandbox) and Cyril (DAO Admin Lead) for strategic guidance and program stewardship.

Bottom line

The SDGP pilot validated that domain-led microgrants can unlock rapid, community-driven impact across regions and disciplines—shipping new games and events, education programs, open-source tooling, and charitable initiatives. With a formal debrief incoming and clear operational learnings, the DAO is poised to iterate toward a longer-term program that scales speed, transparency, and global participation.