We've made a deliberate decision not to publish a specific number, and we want to be transparent about why.
For years we ran a funding bar showing our monthly target. We removed it recently because it created dynamics that didn't serve anyone well. When it was low, it made visitors feel guilty and made us feel bad for asking. When it was close to the goal, people held back. The number itself was always an estimate anyway - our costs vary month to month, and unplanned expenses happen. Hosting alone runs $700/month, and that's just one line item.
There's also a structural risk in publishing a monthly target: a single donor could cover it entirely, which sounds helpful but would leave us dependent on one person showing up every month to keep things running. That's not a stable foundation for a resource that's been free for over a decade.
What actually keeps DAREBEE sustainable is a broad base of people contributing a small amount regularly. Many people giving a little consistently is far more resilient than a few people covering large chunks.
If we ever reach a point where things are genuinely critical, we will say so directly - there will be a clear alert on the site, no ambiguity. The absence of that alert means things are okay.
