Cosmetics.
Let’s offer paid cosmetics for users of your instance. Animated or custom banners, posts, new themes, etc.
It’s a model that works really well for Discord and League of Legends. Instances offering to sell aesthetic luxury to their user base could work for Mastodon too.
It’s non-invasive, it’s optional, it’s a great addition for some people, and it allows to raise funds to keep the hosted instances up and running.
Do you think it’s viable?
I seen module for running ads and you can pay for ad free mode. I think it’s for pleroma, not mastodon.
most users are using mobile apps and these will not show ads. you may want to post ad directly to user timeliness but any app can block posts.
I seen larger Japanese instances display ad, I have no numbers if this is more effective than donations.