Oh cool stuff rattlehead!
As a long-time member of smaller alliances, (as in, this nation that I have now has only been in smaller alliances- my last was in GGA for awhile though) would you like some tips?
They're pretty straight forward, and possibly obvious seeming, but ignoring them isnt good-
For one, activity is your number one problem followed closely by(and sometimes trailing after) your economy.
To keep people active (on the forums if staying away from deletion is not a problem), make your forum FUN!, and PM people fairly regularly about stuff on it. On top of that, you never ever want to stop recruiting, or pming people in your alliance to continue doing so. Eventually, out of maybe every 20 recruits, you will get someone who contributes SIGNIFICANTLY more than the average member. These of course, are the members you dont want to lose. if 19 of the 20 recruits leave, give good reason for that more active member to be the 1/20 that doesnt.
For economy, try and get yourself a larger nation, that is hungry for power. Offering them a position equal to yours- if you are willing- would prove to be an excellent decision overall, if you can trust them. If you dont want to go that route, every one of your 40 aids slots (10 members times 4 aid slots each) should be used at all times, doing tech deals.(probably a good idea either way really) 10/40 slots used isnt bad, but they are all being used by 3-4 of your members. You for example, are using 2 yourself. With less than 50 tech, and less than 1k infra, you(and your members) should be definitely be using all 4 of your slots. You could probably pull off 150 tech for 3 mil, and the attention you get from 10 members selling that would be an excellent way to get your name out there, and you would still make....well at least over 200k if I remember right... I havent had someone sell for that cheap in awhile.
If you could get each of your members to take in 12 million within say, 3 days, with the expectation that you pay 100 tech back within the next 21, you guys would be doing excellently.
I hope I dont ever sound patronizing here, I just wanted to make perfectly sure you guys all know what to do, XD
GOOD LUCK!