# Migrate from Self-Hosted to Independent Community

Sometimes people set up as a [Fiscal Host](https://github.com/abpart/donatepr-documentation/blob/master/independent-collectives/create-independent-collective/broken-reference/README.md) with only one Community, when being an Independent Community would be a better fit, whether by mistake or because the profiles were created before Independent Communities were available as a feature. We call this setup 'self-hosted'.

### Why migrate to be an IC?

A Fiscal Host with a single Community can be perfectly functional, but the [Host Dashboard](/fiscal-hosts/fiscal-host-dashboard.md) is designed for managing multiple Communities, while the Independent Community admin panel is much more streamlined. It also presents a simpler picture to your contributors and community to only have one integrated Community profile page.

### When should I not migrate?

You need a full Fiscal Host setup if:

* You intend to fiscally host multiple Communities
* You want to charge a Host Fee (even on a single Community)

If you only want to have one Community and you don't need to charge Host Fees, being an Independent Community is the best option.

### How do I migrate?

If you have a Community and a Fiscal Host set up as two separate Communities, here are the steps to change to being an Independent Community.

1. Go to the settings of the Community
2. If your Community has money in its budget, go to Advanced > Empty Community Balance and click the button to send your balance to the Host (no money moves, it stays in your bank account)
3. Go to Fiscal Host
4. Click 'Remove Host'
5. Select Independent Community then click the button to activate
6. Go to Receiving Money
7. Connect your Stripe and bank account
8. Go to Info
9. Set the legal name as the owner of the bank account (this might be you personally or your company) - the public display name will still be the name of your Community as a project, but receipts will be issued from the legal name as the entity receiving the funds
10. If you emptied the balance in step 2:
    1. Go to the Community page
    2. Click Actions > Add Funds
    3. Add back the balance you removed in step 2, with the Community itself as the source

### Migrating a Host with no Communities

If you have created a Fiscal Host profile with no Communities and you've been using the Fiscal Host's budget for your Community, and you want to change it to being an Independent Community, please [contact support](https://donatepr.com/help) with this request. A Fiscal Host is an Organization profile so we need to help you migrate it to being a Community profile.


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