First off, let me start by saying I’m a big proponent of donations as a means of supporting platforms like Lemmy, and their hosts. This approach, when carried out in the spirit of transparency and community engagement, can do wonders for the growth and sustainability.
Hosting an instance myself, I’m fully aware of the costs associated with running servers, handling traffic, and providing the best possible experience for users. I am Lucky that im in a position where right now I am able to wear that coat, but I am more than willing to financially support other instances where I find value (and I have), and I have no doubt many of you feel the same way. But while we’re on this topic, I think it’s important to talk about financial transparency.
As users, we entrust these platforms with our time, our discussions, and in the case of donations, our hard-earned money. I believe it’s fair to ask for a little insight into how our contributions are being used. What proportion goes towards server costs, maintenance, development,staffing, or perhaps even community projects?
My hope is for Lemmy instances to set a precedent by adopting an ‘open book’ policy when it comes to spending. It would be a great step towards fostering trust and engagement in our community.
There are plenty of platforms out there which handle donations, but I wonder if there’s one that already facilitates such transparency? If not, I believe it would be a worthy endeavor to find or create one that does.
Would you appreciate more transparency on how donations are spent? And do you know of any donation platforms that encourage this level of openness? Your feedback is always appreciated, as at some point, I may need to do the same.
I think you raise a very valuable topic.
Obviously it’s going to be up to each Instance owner, but that cuts both ways. While we could never get every owner to participate, particularly any that aspire to being businesses as opposed to public services, some certainly should be willing to submit some basic financials.
These Instance owners would certainly gain trust and goodwill from their users for doing so. Though how you prevent fraud I have no idea. We’re not exactly the FTC here, we don’t really have investigators that can verify submitted information.