On Wednesday, Mastodon, a popular decentralised social media platform, announced that it has launched a new in-app donation feature to expand its fundraising efforts. This move marks a new step for the open-source X competitor as it seeks sustainable funding by directly engaging its user base.
Mastodon’s push for community-supported funding
Mastodon operates as a federated social network, comprising independently run servers that communicate with one another. Unlike centralised platforms, each server (or instance) sets moderation and content rules. Since its launch in 2016 by Eugen Rochko, Mastodon has attracted users looking for an alternative to mainstream social media, especially after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in 2022.
In early 2025, Mastodon transitioned to a non-profit European organisation, calling on its growing community for financial support.
According to Mastodon’s most recent financial reports, donations increased 65% in 2023, surpassing half a million euros, demonstrating a robust base of contributors willing to back the platform’s model.
The introduction of the in-app donation feature now offers users a new, seamless way to contribute directly within the app environment. The Mastodon team expressed excitement about this development, noting it “opens new opportunities for users to support the project’s long-term growth.”
How Mastodon’s donation feature works
The new donation function is designed to be user-friendly and embedded directly into Mastodon’s mobile and desktop applications. Users can voluntarily contribute to individual server administrators or the central project funding.
This approach aligns with Mastodon’s decentralised ethos, empowering communities and servers to support themselves through grassroots donations.
Mastodon intends to use the funds raised through this feature to continue enhancing platform features, improving moderation tools, and maintaining community health. Past upgrades—for example, live content previews, polls, and enhanced accessibility—have been made possible partly thanks to donor support.
The project also plans to reintroduce features like quote posts, which were delayed in implementation due to concerns about online harassment, but now have an active funding source for safer rollout.
This strategic fundraising shift comes as Mastodon competes directly with giants like Twitter’s successor, Open Source X, and newer alternatives such as Threads.
While others rely heavily on paid subscriptions or ad models, Mastodon’s donation feature lets users decide how much to contribute—and where. This model may strengthen community ties and maintain the platform’s decentralised identity.
Mastodon hopes to secure steady, crowd-powered funding without compromising its non-profit mission or user experience by tapping into its passionate user base through this in-app donation tool.