Being discussed a lot, or even receiving a lot of positive online comments, is not a good reason to receive funding. I think it’s really important to keep a high bar for charity evaluation and not play favourites just because the charity was started by ‘one of our own’ or has attracted a lot of attention on the EA Forum.
I don’t think the previous comment can charitably be read as saying that ‘it’s been much discussed, so it should be funded’. I read them as saying that they “feel frustrated by lack of feedback”, because the project is “one of the most discussed” and they’ve “read most of the related discussions on the forum and haven‘t seen a case made why the project isn‘t as promising as it might sound” and yet it still “prominently struggles for funding.”
I don’t think the previous comment can charitably be read as saying that ‘it’s been much discussed, so it should be funded’. I read them as saying that they “feel frustrated by lack of feedback”, because the project is “one of the most discussed” and they’ve “read most of the related discussions on the forum and haven‘t seen a case made why the project isn‘t as promising as it might sound” and yet it still “prominently struggles for funding.”