Too many collab managers judge a community by raffle entry count alone, prioritizing servers that generate the most engagement and pre-mint hype. But high entry numbers are often inflated by giveaway farmers, and they rarely reflect the quality of participants.
Many smaller private alpha groups have lower raffle entries because they're curated, not because they're inactive. These communities are made up of experienced collectors and traders who are selective about what they mint. At @PulseAnchor, most of our members are OGs who have been through multiple NFT market cycles. They don't just enter giveaways and mint, they also buy, place bids, and provide real liquidity on the secondary market long after launch.
The same goes for many other private alpha communities. They may not deliver thousands of raffle entries, but they consistently bring in participants who understand the market and actively trade.
Vanity metrics might help a project look good before mint, but experienced/quality participants are what help keep a collection alive afterward. If long-term volume and a healthy secondary market are the goal, don't overlook the smaller private communities that have been quietly contributing to the ecosystem for years.