Well, yes, but you have no actual connection with these other people. This means that if you stop paying, all the non-paying users are still going to be freeloa

Well, yes, but you have no actual connection with these other people. This means that if you stop paying, all the non-paying users are still going to be freeloaders, they are just going to be relying on one less person sharing the burden. It also means that non-paying users don't have any social capital at stake. They can come, create issues for the moderators and at worst they would get banned. Someone that comes directly through your invitation is less likely to cause any type of issue and if they do it also gives more information for moderators about the best course of action. It also means that if the server gets an influx of new users and double in size, you would either and they would have to rely either on a corresponding increase in contributors on a bigger donation from the existing ones. My commercial instance can only grow in proportion to the number of people that have already committed to pay. This makes it easier to plan and manage its growth.