It's important to remember (and remind others) that most of the alternative tools and service providers we refer to in this section are not profit-oriented and are often managed (and even paid for out-of-pocket) by volunteers. Additionally, most of them do not accept government funding in order to retain autonomy and because they are not 'formal', 'for-profit' entities that have the resources to manage grants. Therefore, most of these 'free' online services and tools rely on volunteers and contributions to sustain their work. You can support these alternative services and tools by volunteering to help with various tasks (e.g., documentation, translations, training, coding, etc.), but also with funding contributions, since they all require certain levels of funds in order to sustain their networks and services (for example, see this breakdown of annual costs for austici: https://www.autistici.org/en/who/costs.html). So, we suggest making it a habit: Whenever you, your network, or your organization uses FOSS tools and services, please help sustain these key resources with whatever contribution (voluntary or monetary) you're able to provide.
Use these services? Donate or volunteer using the links below:
* Autistici: https://www.autistici.org/en/donate.html (FYI: site uses self-signed SSL cert)
* Riseup: https://help.riseup.net/donate*