In a bid to enhance its financial sustainability, Mastodon, a prominent player in the open-source social media landscape, is set to trial a new in-app donation feature. This initiative aims to encourage users to contribute financially while using the platform, marking a significant step in its fundraising strategy.
The new donation banners will initially be visible only to users on the Mastodon servers operated by the organization itself, specifically Mastodon.social and Mastodon.online. These prompts are designed to be non-intrusive, allowing users to easily dismiss them. Importantly, only accounts that have been active for a minimum of four weeks will see these banners, ensuring that the requests are directed towards engaged users. Mastodon has assured its community that these donation requests will not be overly frequent, respecting the user experience.
Fundraising through in-app donations has proven effective for various nonprofit organizations. For instance, the Wikimedia Foundation generates a substantial portion of its revenue from individual contributions, often facilitated through pop-up banners on its platform. However, Mastodon operates on a smaller scale, with approximately 8.1 million registered accounts and under 1 million active users each month. Despite this, the introduction of donation banners could simplify the process for users who may not have previously considered supporting the platform financially.
Looking ahead, Mastodon plans to extend this donation initiative to its web platform and, if successful, to all Mastodon instances. This expansion would empower individual server administrators to receive direct financial support from their user base, potentially enhancing the sustainability of their operations.
As a decentralized social media platform, Mastodon faces unique challenges in securing financial backing. Unlike larger corporations that rely on advertising revenue, Mastodon has primarily depended on user donations through platforms like Patreon. Over the years, it has also received contributions from various open-source funds and foundations.
In 2023, Mastodon reported a total of €545,000 in donations, reflecting a 65% increase from the previous year. However, the number of Patreon donors saw a decline of nearly 23%, dropping to 7,400. This decrease may have prompted Mastodon to explore more proactive fundraising strategies, especially in light of increasing competition from major players like Meta and emerging startups such as Bluesky.
In a recent blog post, Mastodon acknowledged the complexities involved in fundraising, stating, “We understand that collecting funds can raise various questions and challenges. Our goal is to navigate this process collaboratively with our community. This is not a corporate fundraising effort; rather, it is a commitment to ensuring the future of a more ethical and independent social media ecosystem.”