Twitter co-founder Biz Stone joins board of Mastodon's new US nonprofit | TechCrunch

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the changes in Mastodon's nonprofit status and the addition of new board members, including Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Mastodon's Nonprofit Status and Board Changes

1. What happened to Mastodon's nonprofit status in Germany?

• Mastodon's nonprofit status in Germany was unexpectedly withdrawn by the tax office, with no advance warning or explanation.
• Mastodon's tax advisor immediately submitted an appeal, but they have not received any new information yet.

2. Why did Mastodon create a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the U.S.?

• The creation of a U.S. nonprofit will allow Mastodon to receive tax-deductible donations and other financial support.
• This change also comes as Mastodon has lost its nonprofit status in Germany.

3. Who are the new board members of Mastodon's U.S. nonprofit?

• The new board members include:
  • Biz Stone, a Twitter co-founder
  • Esra'a Al Shafei, a human rights advocate and founder of Majal.org
  • Karien Bezuidenhout, an advocate for openness and experienced board member across sustainable social enterprise
  • Amir Ghavi, a partner at law firm Fried Frank, where he's the co-head of the Technology Transactions Practice
  • Felix Hlatky, the chief financial officer of Mastodon since 2020, who originally incorporated the project as a nonprofit LLC in Germany and helped it raise additional funds

4. How does Mastodon's nonprofit status help communicate its differences from other social media businesses?

• Being established as a nonprofit enables Mastodon to communicate how it differs from other social media businesses.
• Mastodon wants to remain based out of the EU, even though it has created a nonprofit in the U.S.

[02] Mastodon's Funding and Operations

1. How has Mastodon's day-to-day operations been affected by the loss of its nonprofit status in Germany?

• Mastodon's day-to-day operations were unaffected by the loss of its nonprofit status in Germany, as most of its income comes from the crowdfunding platform Patreon.

2. What additional funding has Mastodon received?

• Mastodon received donations from Jeff Atwood and Mozilla at $100,000 each, which allowed the company to hire a third full-time developer this year.