Michelle ManafyDec 28, 2022
Mastodon has rejected more than five investment offers from Silicon Valley venture capital firms in recent months, as its founder pledged to protect the fast-growing social media platform’s non-profit status. (open access link) https://on.ft.com/3YSq8PU
#twittermigration #mastodon
Show threadtoxtethogrady
@michellemanafy So they wanted to buy a piece of the Fediverse? What did they say to making it a donation?
Dec 28, 2022 at 1:59pmWeb
Show threadMichelle ManafyDec 28, 2022
@toxtethogrady No doubt there's interest in turning it into a commercial platform, but I really hope it stays independent!
According to the article (citing founder, German software developer Eugen Rochko):
Mastodon will continue to rely on donations to fund the platform. The site has more than 8,500 donors on the membership platform Patreon, through which it is raising over £25,000 a month. This compares with total earnings of just over €55,000 in the six months from June to December 2021.
Show threadtoxtethogradyDec 28, 2022
@michellemanafy I'm sure the other instances have their own tip jars. It would be nice if they were 501c3's or something like that, so the donations could be tax-deductible...
Show threadDwight Williams (💉 x9)+😷🇨🇦Dec 28, 2022
@toxtethogrady @michellemanafy Trying to remember the closest Canadian counterpart to a 501c3...?
Show threadtoxtethogradyDec 28, 2022
@DEWLine @michellemanafy I'm guessing any sort of donation to a registered non-profit. This would be a non-political activity, although I'm not sure what gets to be tax-deductible - 501c3 donations or 501c4 donations. And I don't know what Canadian laws are about charitable donations and tax-deductibility...
Show threadDwight Williams (💉 x9)+😷🇨🇦Dec 28, 2022

@toxtethogrady @michellemanafy This might be a good place to start looking for info:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities/charities-giving-a-index.html

Charities and giving – A to Z index - Canada.ca

The Charities and Giving routing page provides useful links to charity- and donor-related topics, including applying for registration, revoking registered status, donating to charity, how to donate wisely, claiming charitable tax credits, as well as policies and technical information.

Show threadDwight Williams (💉 x9)+😷🇨🇦Dec 28, 2022

@toxtethogrady @michellemanafy

Or maybe this, in addition to the CRA web resources? It's dated 2018, and may or may not (still) be helpful?

https://www.ngosource.org/blog/canadian-charities

Show threadBasti 🇩🇪🇪🇺Dec 28, 2022
@michellemanafy @toxtethogrady Well than I hope more people support them with 1€ on patreon. I do it but I honestly think they waste a lot of money on the mediocre official mastodon apps 🤷‍♂️
Show threadSergioDec 28, 2022
@michellemanafy @toxtethogrady Plus, Mastodon has been reeleased with a free software license. They can got a commercial platform if they want it, but the license will preserve the project anyway in any other form or name, so the instances will remain availables. They can sponsor a ' commercial instance ' of whatever they want ( and its ok ), but only for their own single instance.
Show threadComing Up Violets!Dec 28, 2022
@michellemanafy @toxtethogrady Thank you, #JohnMastodon !