Help teams prepare materials for an SCF referral. Use when a team wants to approach a referrer (SCF Pilot, SDF staff, alumni who completed deliverables, ambassador, or ecosystem partner) with a strong package that makes it easy for the referrer to evaluate and endorse them. Covers the referral form fields, what referrers assess, and how to present your project for referral.
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Help teams prepare materials for an SCF referral. Use when a team wants to approach a referrer (SCF Pilot, SDF staff, alumni who completed deliverables, ambassador, or ecosystem partner) with a strong package that makes it easy for the referrer to evaluate and endorse them. Covers the referral form fields, what referrers assess, and how to present your project for referral.
SCF Referral Preparer
Overview
Helps teams prepare a referral package — the materials and context a referrer needs to evaluate and endorse the team through the SCF Project Referral Form. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for the referrer to fill out the form accurately and confidently.
Why This Matters
A referral is a trust transaction. The referrer stakes their reputation on your team. They earn recognition and a discretionary reward tied to the success of teams they refer — if you fail or waste funding, their credibility erodes.
Referrers must be approved and onboarded by the SCF / Ecosystem Growth team; they include community members, Stellar Ambassadors, Navigators, Pilots, partners, and SDF personnel. They're selective because every endorsement carries real consequences. Giving them a clear, honest, well-organized package isn't just polite — it directly affects whether they'll refer you.
SCF relies heavily on referral signals, so a referral surfaces your team and adds context that's confirmed and considered during evaluation. It does not, however, bypass prescreening: every full submission still goes through SDF prescreening for completeness and core eligibility, referred or not. Evaluation and funding decisions remain independent and are not influenced by the referral — a referral is a trust signal, not a shortcut.
The referral reward (Referral Program §4.4). At SCF's sole discretion, a referrer may receive up to 1% of the total award granted to a team they referred (in XLM), with an aggregate cap of 6 rewards per application cycle. Any reward is paid only on completion and disbursement of the final Build Award tranche — so the referrer is rewarded only if the team ships all the way through. Current SDF employees are not eligible for referral rewards. None of this is guaranteed; it's discretionary.
When to Use
A team has identified a potential referrer and wants to prepare materials before approaching them
A team wants to understand what referrers are asked to evaluate
A team is ready to request a referral and needs to assemble their project summary
Prerequisites
Before preparing referral materials, the team must:
Have submitted the Interest Form. The referral form asks referrers to select a project by name from the list of submitted Interest Forms. Without an Interest Form in the system, no one can refer you.
Have something to show. Code, prototype, deployed contract, demo — some tangible proof of building.
Be able to clearly explain the project. If the team can't articulate what they're building, for whom, and why it needs Stellar in 2–3 sentences, they're not ready.
Have a real, identifiable team. Named people with relevant experience and public profiles.
Have done homework on the SCF. Understanding the tracks, tranche structure, and what reviewers look for.
If any of these are missing, the team should address them before requesting a referral.
What the Referrer Is Asked
The SCF Project Referral Form asks referrers to evaluate four areas. The referral package should give the referrer clear material for each.
1. How They Know You
The referrer describes how they discovered or connected with the team. This establishes the basis for their assessment — a deep working relationship carries more weight than a cold introduction.
What the team should do:
If there's an existing relationship, remind the referrer of the context (met at event X, collaborated on Y, interacted in Discord channel Z)
If the relationship is newer, acknowledge this and focus on giving the referrer enough material to assess independently
2. Team Assessment
The referrer evaluates:
What makes this team a strong candidate for SCF?
What indicators suggest this team can execute?
Anything else that makes the team stand out?
What to prepare:
### Team Summary
**Team Members:**
- [Name] — [Role] — [Relevant experience] — [Profile link]
- [Name] — [Role] — [Relevant experience] — [Profile link]
**Execution Evidence:**
- [Prior projects shipped — with links]
- [Open source contributions — with links]
- [Prior SCF awards delivered — with links]
- [Relevant industry experience]
- [Technical credentials or certifications]
**What Makes This Team Stand Out:**
- [Unique domain expertise]
- [Existing user base or community]
- [Geographic or market advantage]
- [Track record of shipping]
3. Stellar Build Readiness
The referrer assesses:
Has the team started building on Stellar / built on Stellar before?
If not, how committed is the team to Stellar?
What's the project's current stage and existing traction?
What to prepare:
### Stellar Build Readiness
**Prior Stellar Work:**
- [Previous Stellar/Soroban projects — with links]
- [Contributions to Stellar ecosystem]
- [SCF history (prior applications, awards)]
**Current Project Status:**
- Stage: [Idea / Prototype / Testnet / Mainnet]
- [Link to repo, demo, or deployed contract]
- [Metrics if available: users, transactions, growth]
**Stellar Commitment:**
- [Why Stellar specifically — which capabilities are essential]
- [Long-term plans on Stellar beyond this grant]
- [Community involvement (Discord activity, events, contributions)]
4. Conflict of Interest
The referrer must disclose any financial interest, advisory role, or formal relationship with the team. They certify the referral is made in good faith.
What the team should know:
Do not offer the referrer anything in exchange for the referral — this violates program terms
If there is any existing business relationship (advisor, investor, partner), be upfront about it
The referrer will be asked to disclose this — surprises here damage both parties
Referral Package Template
Assemble all materials into a single, shareable document:
## Referral Package: [Project Name]
### Overview
**One-line description:** [What you're building, for whom, why Stellar]
**Project description:** [2-3 paragraphs — problem, solution, why now]
**Track:** [Integration / Open / RFP]
**Requested budget range:** [$XK–$YK]
**Interest Form:** Submitted on [date] under the name "[exact project name in the system]"
---
### Team
| Name | Role | Experience | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Name] | [Role] | [1-2 sentence experience summary] | [GitHub, LinkedIn] |
| [Name] | [Role] | [1-2 sentence experience summary] | [GitHub, LinkedIn] |
**Execution track record:**
- [Shipped project 1] — [link]
- [Shipped project 2] — [link]
- [Prior SCF award] — [link to awards page]
---
### Stellar Readiness
**Prior Stellar/Soroban work:**
- [Description] — [link]
**Current project status:**
- Stage: [Prototype / Testnet / Mainnet]
- Repository: [link]
- Demo / deployment: [link]
- Metrics: [if available]
**Why Stellar:**
[2-3 sentences on which Stellar capabilities are essential and why this isn't chain-agnostic]
---
### Traction and Demand
- [Metric or demand signal 1]
- [Metric or demand signal 2]
- [Partner commitment or letter of intent]
---
### Relationship Context
[How the team knows or has interacted with the referrer — meeting history, ecosystem engagement, collaboration context]
---
### Conflict of Interest Disclosure
[State any existing relationship: "No financial or advisory relationship exists" or "Referrer is an advisor to the team — disclosed for transparency"]
How to Deliver the Package
Don't cold-DM with the package. Build the relationship first. The package is for someone who has already expressed willingness to consider a referral.
Share as a document, not a wall of text. Google Doc, Notion page, or PDF — something the referrer can review at their own pace.
Include the Interest Form name explicitly. The referrer needs to find and select your project in the referral form system.
Ask early enough. Don't send this the day before the deadline. Referrers need time to evaluate and fill out the form thoughtfully.
Respect the decision. If the referrer declines, accept it gracefully. They may not think the project is ready, or they may have limited referral capacity.
Output Format
Produce the complete referral package using the template above, with:
All sections filled based on team input
[NEEDS INPUT: ...] markers where the team needs to provide specific information
A brief assessment at the end noting strengths and any gaps that might give a referrer pause
What Not to Do
Don't fabricate credentials or metrics. The referrer vouches for you based on this material. Misrepresentation burns both of you.
Don't send a generic pitch deck. The package should be tailored to what the referral form asks. Referrers don't need your marketing materials.
Don't ask multiple referrers simultaneously. This looks like you're shopping for endorsements.
Don't skip the Interest Form. The referral form requires selecting your project from the Interest Form list. No Interest Form = no referral possible.
Don't pressure the referrer. A referral is earned, not demanded.
Reference Guides
Getting a Referral — Full referral program guide, including who refers, what they stake, and how to approach them
Interest Form Tips — The Interest Form must be submitted before a referral can happen
