Smart Content + Grassroots growth for a Stronger Cardano

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Smart Content + Grassroots growth for a Stronger Cardano

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

43300

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

12

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Blockchain search results are dominated by hype, price predictions, & clickbait. Cardano’s future is voter-driven BUT quality content is scarce, leaving many unprepared to vote & engage in governance.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://www.lidonation.com/en/library

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No Dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

No

License and Additional Information

Content itself is freely available at lidonation.com

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Education

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Who you’re targeting, how you’ll reach them, and why this matters for Cardano.

WHO: Lido Nation serves newcomers & insiders with hype-free Cardano education—onboarding guides, network parameters, news, use cases & human stories - with no ads/sponsored links.

HOW: Weekly content, cross-posted on X, forums & more; “Every Epoch” quiz with token rewards

NEW with this proposal→ NFT art giveaways + monthly 100 ada promo for grassroots comarketing.

WHY: In the Voltaire era, informed voters are vital. Attractive onboarding for new users with fresh content is always important! We make learning Cardano clear & fun, building grassroots engagement.

Provide a list of key activities of your project?

This proposal funds us to write and publish 40 new articles, along with at least 10 new podcasts (the “Lido Minute”). Each article and podcast includes unique art, and the podcasts include original music to support learning and engage our audience. In addition, we will create an NFT art giveaway format to attract new and repeat visitors. The giveaway will include art from new articles as well as many of our most important, educational, and informative articles from the past. NFT holders can also participate in a monthly drawing for ada incentives by posting links to Lido Nation articles on X.

What are your success metrics?

Currently, we see 4-5K unique site visitors viewing our content. Success would mean growing the # of site visitors, time spent on the site, views & clicks. With added incentives of NFT giveaways & a monthly giveaway for co-promotion on X, we expect success to look like a big boost in article visits and clicks, grass-roots co-marketing of our articles on X, along with longer site visits as people get interested in the content and find other ways to engage on the site. All these metrics are visible and shareable from our web analytics tool, and by tracking the project’s unique hashtag on X.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

WHAT:

This proposal funds Lido Nation to continue providing new, quality content through the coming year.

This content will include:

• News – announcements and analysis of the latest happenings in the ecosystem
• Decentralization – Our Decentralization series already covers the basics of decentralizations, DAOs, DApps, DPIN, DEXs, DeFi and more. This topic is continuously growing!
• Cardano – The “Cardano” tag includes technical explanation of things like Network Parameters, as well as conceptual explanations of staking and other Cardano differentiators.
• Blockchain – In addition to a strong Cardano focus, Lido Nation includes articles about general blockchain news and insight. People who are interested in Blockchain generally can come, learn, and hopefully get excited about Cardano while they are visiting!
• Project Catalyst – We offer explanations and insight into the latest news and workings of Project Catalyst
• Projects – We write about other projects in the ecosystem that we are interested in and excited about, helping our audience find their way to other great projects.
• Podcasts – Our short-form Podcast series (the Lido Minute) was kicked into gear in 2025 with a 33-episode series focusing on Cardano Network Parameters. (This effort was funded by Project Catalyst Fund 13, and is currently halfway complete) The impact of this series is that it explains technical elements of Cardano in 5-minute increments, and includes a “song” to help listeners remember key details. This kind of broad exposure and understanding of Cardano’s inner workings is KEY in the age of Voltaire when ada holders need to VOTE, or delegate their voting power to a dRep they align with.

What Lido Nation offers is unique and valuable. Lido Nation never dabbles in price predictions, hype, or shallow click-bait content. It also is not a dry forum – We offer an elevated user experience that includes unique art – and sometimes even music! We can attract and keep an audience of people who might not otherwise be attracted to blockchain technology, with our blend of technical expertise and great explanations, offered with insight, humor, and feeling.

THE NEW TWIST

To attract new users and encourage repeat visits and site engagement we will offer 15 FREE NFTs that can be minted on 100 different articles. Articles with mintable NFTs won’t come up all at once! (That would simply encourage one big “run” on the site - when what we want to encourage in long-term, repeat visits, along with opportunities for lots of people to participate) Instead, one new article will come up each week at an unpredictable time, with a new set of free mintable art NFTs. In addition, 1-2 of our older articles will go live with mintable NFTs each week – so that in the course of a year, a total of 100 articles will “go live” with mintable NFTs. Each “live” giveaway will be eventually marketed by Lido Nation on X, but there will always be a time gap so that committed hunters can find the free NFTs before the rush.

When people get their hands on a free NFT, they are not obligated to do anything with it, but what we would like them to do is share it on X along with a link to the the article! To encourage this action, we will hold a monthly giveaway of 100 ada. Anyone who shares their NFT with a comment about the article, a link, and a unique hashtag, will be entered in a monthly drawing to win 100 ada. Our marketing team will handle contacting winners and transferring their winnings, along with tracking the blockchain receipts for full accountability.

WHO:

Lido Nation content targets newcomers and insiders alike. We offer a unique blend of technical expertise with clear and approachable explanations. Our interests and content range from newcomer onboarding tutorials, to explaining the nitty gritty details of Cardano network parameters, one by one. We report on Cardano news, as well as real world use cases and human interest stories. All of this is presented with:

• No hype
• No banner ads
• No sponsored links or sponsored content. (We welcome guest authors who share our goal of hype-free, helpful, educational content about Cardano and blockchain technology.)

HOW:

Our content comes out on a weekly basis, so visitors and new arrivals can always find fresh content and something new to learn. We promote our content on X, and we cross-post content to the Cardano Forum, Medium, Publish0x, and other platforms to reach and attract new audiences. One of our Authors is a host of the popular X space Cardano Over Coffee, so that’s another audience where people learn about our content. Lido Nation is also home of the LIDO staking pool, so our delegators and those who are surfing around the staking ecosystem also find and benefit from our educational content. Both of our primary authors are Cardano Ambassador, so our content also benefits from occasional boosts and retweets from the Cardano Foundation, and fellow ambassadors. The Lido Nation website hosts an educational quiz called “Every Epoch” that is incentivized with Cardano tokens. Many people visit the site every epoch to read, learn, and take the quiz!

NEW WITH THIS PROPOSAL: Lido Nation has always boasted a beautiful, friendly UI, featuring original art with every post. To reach more people and encourage regular return visits, we will add limited-edition NFT giveaways of our original art to accompany every article – current and past!

To make the NFTs more exciting, hook the degens, and grow some grass-roots marketing hype, we will layer on a monthly giveaway – NFT holders who share their NFT with links to our articles and a special hashtag will be entered in a monthly giveaway for 100 ada. (Enough to make it fun – not enough to cause crazy behavior!)

WHY IT MATTERS:

Cardano must continuously attract new users - for the right reasons. It’s critical that there be a source of fresh, ongoing content with useful news and information, so that more people will be encouraged to make Cardano their home on the blockchain. In addition, Cardano’s future will be decided by the people who show up to vote. If they don’t understand how it works, the whole system suffers. Lido Nation makes it easy (and even fun) to learn, so more people can make smart, informed choices to join and participate in the network we’re building together.

In sum: this solution addresses the need for ongoing creation of fresh, timely, educational content, and encourages a growing audience and grassroots co-marketing through a system of gentle incentives and fun, beautiful NFT art.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

When Cardano enthusiasts become the most well-informed, cooperative, and engaged community in the blockchain space, we all win. With Cardano governance on-chain RIGHT NOW we are no longer in the pre-game. Lido Nation has a 5 year track record of publishing weekly, high-quality educational content. This project allows us to continue that important work and grow our audience to the higher level it needs to have the highest impact.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Many folks underestimate the effort required to produce high quality content on a consistent, frequent basis. It is a ton of work - BUT: the Lido Nation team has already been doing it for 5 years. We know exactly what we are committing to, and have proven we can do this work.

Our educational content has been validated by the Cardano Foundation with our confirmation as official Cardano Ambassadors and finalist nomination in the Educational Influencer category at the Cardano Summit.

In addition, we have successfully completed 13+ Catalyst projects that include podcasts, NFT giveaways, incentivised learning and marketing on X.

In short, nothing we are proposing is uncharted waters for this team – this funding allows us to build on proven success and elevate our work through incentivized grass-roots marketing.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Content Rampup & Incentive Build

Milestone Outputs

• 10 articles published on lidonation.com
• 10 Marketing Posts on X
• NFT Giveaway mechanism built on article pages
• UX/UI for new Functionality designed (Figma) & Built
• Giveaway documentation page built

Acceptance Criteria

• 10 articles reflect ongoing quality, hype-free educations aligned with current content on the site
• Marketing posts point to new content and promote upoming giveaways
• Ui/UX design meets the needs of users to navigate and use the new tools
• Reviewers and the general public can use the new tools to access free NFTs and they can participate in the grassroots marketing program if they desire!

Evidence of Completion

• Articles can be viewed on lidonation.com
• Marketing post links shared from X
• NFT mechanism will be live - reviewers and users can try it out!
• UI/UX docs will be available as Figma files and built/live on the site
• Giveaway documentation page viewable on lidonation.com and findable in the site menu

Delivery Month

3

Cost

10000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Ongoing Content + Incentives live

Milestone Outputs

• 10 articles written & posted
• 3 podcasts published
• 20 Marketing Posts on x
• 30 articles have gone live with NFT giveaways (15 free NFTs per article)
• 3 giveaways have been completed (100 ada per giveaway)

Acceptance Criteria

• 10 articles reflect ongoing quality, hype-free educations aligned with current content on the site
• Podcasts are educational and reflect the standards of current Lido Minute podcasts
• Marketing posts point to new content & podcasts and promote upoming giveaways
• NFT Giveaway stats are shared
• Grassroots marketing giveaway stats are shared

Evidence of Completion

• Articles can be viewed on lidonation.com
• Podcasts are available on Lido Nation and on Spotify
• Marketing post links shared from X
• NFT Giveaway and Grassroots Marketing stats can be shared in a public google doc or PDF with screenshots from backend site analytics

Delivery Month

6

Cost

10000

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

Ongoing Content & Incentives

Milestone Outputs

• 10 articles written & posted
• 3 podcasts published
• 20 Marketing Posts on x
• 30 articles have gone live with NFT giveaways (15 free NFTs per article)
• 3 giveaways have been completed (100 ada per giveaway)

Acceptance Criteria

• 15 articles reflect ongoing quality, hype-free educations aligned with current content on the site
• Podcasts are educational and reflect the standards of current Lido Minute podcasts
• Marketing posts point to new content & podcasts and promote upoming giveaways
• NFT Giveaway stats are shared
• Grassroots marketing giveaway stats are shared

Evidence of Completion

• Articles can be viewed on lidonation.com
• Podcasts are available on Lido Nation and on Spotify
• Marketing post links shared from X
• NFT Giveaway and Grassroots Marketing stats can be shared in a public google doc or PDF with screenshots from backend site analytics

Delivery Month

9

Cost

10000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Finalized Content & Incentives, Project Close Activities

Milestone Outputs

• 10 articles posted on lidonation.com
• 4 podcasts published
• 20 Marketing posts
• 40 more articles have gone live with NFT giveaways
• 4 more giveaways completed
• Project Report
• Project Completio Video

Acceptance Criteria

• 15 articles reflect ongoing quality, hype-free educations aligned with current content on the site
• Podcasts are educational and reflect the standards of current Lido Minute podcasts
• Marketing posts point to new content & podcasts and promote upoming giveaways
• NFT Giveaway stats are shared
• Grassroots marketing giveaway stats are shared
• Project Report and Completion video meet Catalyst published standards & criteria

Evidence of Completion

• Articles can be viewed on lidonation.com
• Podcasts are available on Lido Nation and on Spotify
• Marketing post links shared from X
• NFT Giveaway and Grassroots Marketing stats can be shared in a public google doc or PDF with screenshots from backend site analytics
• Project Close Video is shared on YouTube, Project report is shared via Google Drive.

Delivery Month

12

Cost

13300

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Budget Note: we are basing our conversion rate for costs on an estimated conversion rate of 1 ada = $.75. This is based on the 365 day rolling average, where ada has rolled between a low of .30 and a high of 1.30, with recent months hanging in that average range of .70-.80.

Budget Breakdown

• 8,000 ada: 40 new articles @ 200 ada per article (~$150 per article)
• 1,000 ada: 40 new article illustrations @ 25 ada per illustration (~$30 per illustration)
• 5,000: 10 podcasts @ 500 ada per podcast (~$375 per podcast)
• 500 ada: (~$375) Software & hardware supplies & subscriptions for podcast making
• 4,000 ada: Marketing of content and giveaways, administration & tracking of monthly twitter giveaways
• 1,800 ada: 100 articles with 15 free NFTs per article x1.2 ada network fees per nft giveaway.
• 1,000 ada: 10 giveaways of 100 ada each based on drawings of monthly participants in cooperative grassroots marketing on X.
• 1000 ada: Site content development & writing: landing page to explain NFT giveaway structure and the grassroots marketing rules and giveaway regulations.
• 1000 ada: Professional UX/UI design for new site elements.
• 10,000 ada: 100 hrs Senior Developer time at ~$70/hour
• 10, 000 ada: Our developers are a team of junior and senior blockchain developers at the Ngong Road Blockchain Lab in Nairobi, Kenya. Our devs are paid on a project or “ticket” basis for tasks completed. Project work would be shared among members on the project team. Based on productivity and experience, our developers in Kenya earn between $300-$1200/ month, which is a regionally competitive salary. This budget amount allows us to staff this project for the duration of the work.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

This proposal delivers 40 high-quality articles, 10 educational podcasts, and 100 NFT giveaway campaigns for 43,300 ada—less than the cost of one large conference booth, yet with year-round, on ongoing mpact. The budget covers fair compensation for skilled writers, artists, and developers (including our Nairobi blockchain lab team), plus marketing incentives that turn readers into grassroots promoters. All content is free, evergreen, and openly accessible, creating LASTING value far beyond the funding period. For under 4k ada/month, the ecosystem gains continuous voter education, global reach, and a scalable model for fun, incentive-driven community engagement—critical in the Voltaire era when informed participation determines Cardano’s future.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes