You've got a really good conversation going here for sure! I think the closer you can stay to 10 resteems a day rather than going higher the better. I'm sure some days it is hard when you may have hit the ten but you keep seeing great posts, so you have to play it by ear.
I think one of the things I am finding with the Fresh Five is that it is really helping the newer people find other new people they can follow and work with. Manual curation of the introduceyourself tag is like a more organic version of steemfollower. So as long as your intended audience is newer Steemians, then maybe the resteem count doesn't matter. The longer someone has been here, the less patience they seem to have for resteems, so as people "age out" of being new steemians they may unfollow welcoming, but maybe that is like "Graduation" haha.
Congrats on the delegation from @transisto! That's a wonderful addition to the pool! I know you will use it wisely to welcome these new folks and spread the welcoming vibe! Big props to transisto for recognizing a noble endeavor and giving it a boost!
Voter percentages... I think you have to use your best judgement here. I have been trying to give my Fresh 5 a full upvote on their post, and then if they respond to my comment I give them another 10% vote on their comment, and if they come to my post and comment there I give them a 30% vote on that. It really adds up, and over the weekend my VP was down to 60%. That ain't good! So I am going to have to make some changes to how I maintain my voting habits. Since most of my Fresh Five seem to be people you either already hit, or you catch later, maybe our combined efforts add up to one really nice boost and I can pull back on the slider a little bit.
I do think giving a small upvote without a resteem is still worthwhile. I occasionally will upvote a post that is good but not quite Fresh Five material without a comment or anything. Just a little nudge to help them along. That's my personal preference to give some semi-anonymous nudges. hahaha
You do with your VP what you want, and how you feel is most efficient use of your time.
Thanks for what you do, you've been a great supporter for me, and help me dig deep and find the energy to go hunting for my five sometimes! Keep up the great work!