It has been discussed in the past about the finances of EtG
Originally this was a portfolio project, servers were funded by donors, donations helped fund the game, etc.
With signing with Kong, this became a profitable game, in the form of ad revenue is enough for Zanz and his partner to make a nice nest egg on.
EtG is still not Zanz's primary job, he still disappears for large amounts of time.
The additional things such as these forums and chat and that, come from other sources, they are community funded.
The community remains to have a strong bond, with the ownership (Atleast I suspect as long as Higgs is here.)