Open source X rival Mastodon begins raising funds with new in-app donation feature
Mastodon, the prominent open-source alternative to platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Threads, has announced a significant new initiative to bolster its financial sustainability: the introduction of in-app donation features. This move signals a strategic shift in how the decentralized social network aims to secure its future, starting with a targeted fundraising campaign within its mobile applications.
The initial phase of this donation drive will roll out on Mastodon’s own operated servers, Mastodon.social and Mastodon.online, within their Android and iOS applications. Designed with user experience in mind, the donation banners will only appear for accounts that have been active for at least four weeks and will be easily dismissible, ensuring users are not persistently prompted. This considerate approach underscores Mastodon’s commitment to its community-centric ethos.
Drawing inspiration from successful models in the non-profit sector, such as the Wikimedia Foundation, which largely relies on individual donor contributions—often through similar in-app or on-site banners—Mastodon seeks to replicate this effectiveness. While Mastodon’s user base, currently standing at 8.1 million registered accounts with fewer than 1 million monthly active users, is considerably smaller than Wikipedia’s, the in-app feature aims to streamline the donation process, making it more accessible for users to contribute to the platform’s ongoing development and maintenance.
Looking ahead, Mastodon plans to extend this fundraising campaign to its web interface. If the initial mobile rollout proves successful, the feature could eventually be made available to all other Mastodon instances, empowering individual server administrators to receive direct financial support from their respective user bases. This decentralization of fundraising aligns perfectly with Mastodon’s core architectural principles and could significantly enhance the operational resilience of the broader network.
Unlike ad-supported behemoths such as Meta and X, Mastodon has historically faced unique financial challenges as an open, decentralized social media platform. Its funding has primarily depended on user donations via platforms like Patreon and sporadic contributions from open-source focused funds and foundations. The organization’s 2023 annual report revealed a total of €545,000 in donations, marking a robust 65% year-over-year increase. However, this growth was juxtaposed with a nearly 23% decline in its Patreon donor base, which fell to 7,400 contributors. This trend, coupled with intensifying competition from Meta and venture-backed newcomers like Bluesky, likely spurred Mastodon to explore more direct and aggressive fundraising avenues.
In a public statement regarding the initiative, Mastodon emphasized its foundational philosophy, stating, “We know that collecting money can present complexities and questions. We’d like to figure out how to do this well, together with the community. This is not a corporate fundraising campaign: it’s an effort to secure the future of a more ethical and independent social web.” This transparent communication highlights Mastodon’s dedication to fostering a sustainable, user-funded alternative in the evolving social media landscape.
