Hi. As you may know, I've opened the instance about 12 days ago. Right now, the instance is ranked 6th out of hundreds of instances.
We're now using 4 vCPU and 16GB RAM server for 38€ which is very cheap (Not that cheap anymore. We're using dedicated 16 CPU, 48GB RAM server for 160€). But we need donations to continue uploading media or even to increase the limit and move to a better server against instant load. Also we transfered 5TB of media only in 12 days 🤷♂️ Thanks to Cloudflare, this didn't cause much trouble to us.
If you want to donate, here's donation platforms we use:
I'm delighted to see your instance growing and I completely support the idea of donating to ensure the longevity and quality of this platform. Your hard work in maintaining and developing this instance is very much appreciated.
However, I'd like to bring up the idea of financial transparency within our community. Have you considered using a platform like Open Collective for your donation system? It has been adopted by other instances, including Lemmy.world. You can see an example of how they use it here: https://opencollective.com/mastodonworld
In my opinion, Lemmy.world is a shining example of how a Lemmy instance should operate financially. They provide transparency about their finances, which has greatly contributed to building trust with their users and the platform as a whole.
Considering we're part of an open-source, decentralized platform, I believe this level of transparency is paramount. It not only helps in building trust but also encourages more users to donate, knowing exactly how their contributions will be utilized.
Moreover, seeing big instances openly donating back to the source code developers could set a wonderful precedent. This act of giving back to those who helped create the foundation of our platform would be a tremendous demonstration of gratitude and community spirit.
Again, I am wholeheartedly in support of donating to this community, and I hope my suggestion will be taken into consideration. Keep up the fantastic work!
Out of curiosity how much storage are you using either total or on average with this instance? I feel like with the amount of media being uploaded it's likely slightly larger than others.
I suggest you to use XRP, TRX and LTC for cheap transaction fees and speed, and check out a VPS provider called IONOS.
Edit: I suggest you BTW to open an OnlyFans and Fansly account for the instance and try to carry creators to the platform maybe you can make a special community for them and get some extra donations.
Would it be possible to set up Liberapay as a payment method? I don't know their policy on NSFW-related projects, but I really enjoy it as a payment option since they don't take anything off what's donated, give many different donation options, and is run by a non-profit that made the site's code open-source.
I joined this instance for the NSFW, but at the moment it is the best performing instance I am on, so I am subscribing to all my tech communities through here as well. In other words, my NSFW account is now my main account. LOL. Going to Patreon for sure.
EDIT: I signed up for $5/month. Keep up the good work!
PS: Would you mind sharing your docker-compose file? I want to deploy a lemmy instance on GCP to help strengthen the network.