A lack of funds in a community of developers. Is it just me or does that sound weird?
I usually don't notice the downtimes, most of them take 5-10m to be resolved.
To be honest, a fundraiser would be too short term of a solution to really have much of an impact on the operation of the site. We cut our costs dramatically in 2011 and have at least stopped accumulating a ton of debt and are paying it down. At one point the interest on our debt was matching our hosting costs, and 2012 was the year we would close shop.
We are trying really hard this year to expand the marketplace - because that seems like an ideal way to fund the site. We do at minimum a 70/30 split with any publisher where the publisher makes the 70% on each item. If that were to be hugely successful we could both thrive as a site AND really help out the artists/musicians out there that have become part of our community. We explored the idea of doing it with software, but a lot of developers have special requirements for generating license keys and tracking active licenses.
Now, our goal is to start working with the thousands of sites out there who are publishing a tutorial here and there and trying to get the best of them either linked to or posted on our site. Right now *anyone* can post an article.. no restrictions. Click on the resources tab and if the 'add article' button is there.. you can easily add articles. We really are a site that cares first and foremost about the information, whether it is the forums, journals, or tutorials. The best way to help the site is to give back to the community with journals or articles.. information sharing is what it's all about. =)