@Wikisteff @Gargron I still think if you use an instance and have supported that instance either with funds or technical assistance, there should be some way for the admin to park you as a patron. That could be this network's version of a special marker. As for verification, maybe just some sort of keybase tie-in.
When I'm not so busy I'm going to help out around here in some way other than monetary. First I want to see if I can deploy an instance without asking
@Gargron for help though.