Whelp, new account time. With much thanks to the folks at the SDF, I decided that it was time to spin up my own host as I'm starting some projects that I'm hoping to build communities around - some of which will be somewhat private.
As such, I'm trying out bonfirenetworks.org/ in its social flavour, as it gives a much wider selection of tools to manage groups and privacy - and it means that I'm able to take direct responsibility for the personal data of people who decide to join the community via creating an account on this server.
That said: next time I'm being paid again, the SDF will be getting a donation from me. It's a great organization, and they've been great hosts on my fediverse journey.