Finance Update from The Fosstodon team
An update on Fosstodon's current finances.
Hi everyone! Time for an update on how things are going with Fosstodon’s finances and the transition to the Fosstodon Foundation.
Foundation
As you may remember, the Fosstodon Foundation was officially founded back in June 2025! Currently @Kris, @btp and @gina function as board members. Together with a team of 15 well-trained volunteers we take care of daily operations. On September 5th 2025, we took over the finances from former admins Kev and Mike, who had been expertly managing things for 8 years before that.
We know some of you have been wondering why this transition took several months to complete. The reality is that establishing a foundation and navigating bank bureaucracy is a lengthy process. Especially during the summer holiday period in the Netherlands. Thanks for being patient with us while we were sorting through paperwork.
Current Financial Health
The good news: Fosstodon is doing really well financially. We’ve got enough money in the bank right now to cover about 9 months of operating expenses.
Fosstodon’s donations come from three sources: Patreon, LiberaPay and direct PayPal donations. By far the most come in through Patreon, which accounts for 62% of our income. LiberaPay represents 30% of donations, while direct PayPal donations make up 8% of the total. We also receive a miniscule amount of interest on our reserves. No matter the source, all donations are immensely appreciated <3
Fosstodon’s expenses are comprised of:
| Service | Details | Frequency | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masto.host | Mastodon hosting provider fees | Monthly | €922,50 |
| Digital Ocean | Fee for Mattermost server | Montly | €18,38 |
| Cloud DNS | Fee for DNS | Monthly | €15,24 |
| DeepL API Pro | Translation service | Monthly | €34,99 |
| Bank fees | Fee for our greedy bank | Monthly | €7,99 |
| Bitwarden | Password manager | Yearly | €52,00 |
Looking Ahead
These healthy reserves speak to how well Kev and Mike took care of things. Besides managing Fosstodon’s funds responsibly, they also kept documentation and password management organized. Their stewardship made this whole transition way easier than it could have been, and we’re really grateful for that.
Historically Fosstodon has had a policy about keeping a 6-month financial cushion and donating anything beyond that. We’re still figuring out exactly how to do this as we get used to the new setup. This will soon be brought up with you all.
Thank You
Genuinely, thank you all for trusting us with this and for your continued donations. We know how lucky we are that Fosstodon is one of the few Mastodon servers that’s financially stable. That’s all because of you and this amazing community.
We’ll keep you posted on how things are going with the finances and the foundation. Transparency is important, and we want you to always know what’s happening with your contributions. If you have any questions, please reach out to us!
- The Fosstodon team.