Hey everyone! Effective today, we pushed the changes to enable the account linking of discord accounts with MNFurs.org.
To link your account:
- Login / create a MNFurs.org account here
- Click “Your Membership” in the top right. (Screenshot)
- Scroll to “My Memberships”
- Select the “Membership” tier (Which is free)
- Ensure you’ve verified your email
- From within “My Memberships” Go to “Edit Profile” and link your discord account. (Screenshot)
There’s been a number of questions of why we are pushing towards discord accounts linking with an MNFurs.org website account. Here’s a detailed look at why we made this change:
- Better DM Spam Mitigation
Bots and throwaway accounts are a common problem on Discord. By requiring linked accounts, we can screen out a lot of those fake accounts before they ever join. This keeps your inbox cleaner and helps reduce unwanted or malicious direct messages. We understand that the current general-lite still allows for bots to see all users on the server. We’re working on this next.
- Stronger Scam Protection
Sadly, scams targeting furry communities are on the rise — from fake art commissions, to “selling” hotel rooms, to other money traps. Linking accounts helps us verify real people and gives staff better tools to step in if someone tries to take advantage of our members.
- Membership Verification (Legal Requirement)
Minnesota Furs is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. With that comes legal requirements, including clearer tracking of who is a member. Linking Discord to our website accounts helps us confirm that folks in this space are part of our community and counted in our membership records. This is important for transparency, reporting, and protecting our nonprofit status. We met with a lawyer on this and this was one of their suggestions. It wasn’t a requirement, but it helped us with our nonprofit membership record keeping.
- Combat Ban Evasion
In the past, banned users could just spin up a new Discord account and rejoin. With linking, bans are tied to your verified MNFurs.org account, not just your Discord tag. This makes our moderation more effective and keeps the community safer.
- Special Perks for Donors
Linking lets us connect your MNFurs.org account with Discord roles and perks. That means people who donate or support MNFurs can receive special recognition or benefits directly in Discord. It’s a way for us to say “thank you” to those who keep our nonprofit running strong as we explore better ways for people to get rewarded for making monetary donations.
We know this is an extra step, but it helps in the long run. Also this was not a decision I made solely by the management/administrator(s) of our discord server. This has been a topic of discussion at previous board meetings and came as a request from the Minnesota Furs Board of Directors to implement. Thanks for supporting MNFurs and helping keep this space welcoming for everyone 
