This feels like one of our foundation-level assumptions: that an instance needs to support itself and it needs to be successful enough that it is contributing to the global pot too within some unspecified but short amount of time. That’s The Model™.
Without “the product” (the software and technology pieces, which are driven by the real-world experience of the community) OFN will be rightfully abandoned by users and OFN will not meet its mission…and even with a perfect product, if an instance can’t get to some point of momentum in terms of skills, people, users, and funding streams, OFN will fail in that instance as well. I think there are a number of instances that are hanging by a thread for this reason. 
(totally there with you @Bato)
I agree with you @tschumilas - the global pot does not have the resources or carry the intention to act as a fund for directly supporting new or continuing instances.
Has any instance in the past 5 years been successful at “bootstrapping” without some kind of initial funding, or the significant support of a local organization, or having an already-established team with the right skill mix in place? Since seed funding doesn’t come from the global pot for a new instance, it seems like it would be useful for instances to understand where the “tipping point” to sustainability is and what they need to do to prepare for getting there (if things work that way).