As long as promises are not backed up by an end result, then they are just pretty words. Don't try to give words that can be freely written anywhere and by anyone as any special value. In investing, words and promises mean nothing as it's all ephemeral. For a project to be in the status of a proven track record, there needs to be some events that happen, not just a set of promises.
Promises are backed up by results, not by the process of fulfillment itself. For example, I promise to pay you a million dollars and start paying you $1 every hour. After 5 days I stop paying you, I haven't fully fulfilled the promise, but I did something, I tried. Can this be considered proof of promise fulfillment and hard work?
When a project's just startin' out, they might not have a pile of cash sittin' around. Sometimes, you need time and resources to make things happen. That's why project teams sometimes make promises – it's a way to bring in the dough they need to eventually deliver them real results.
Now, if the project already had a boatload of cash, sure, actions would be more important than promises. But when you're workin' with a tight budget upfront, promises can be a way to rustle up the greenbacks for future growth and real results.
I agree with you that not all projects have a good budget and support from big companies or foundations. Making promises is not a bad thing, especially if these promises are correctly fulfilled afterwards. Initially, I did not pay attention to the promise or small budget, but to what you write about the fact that this project has proven itself. This is distorted information, because this project does not have any data that could be considered recommendable.