Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The deal with donations

I received a donation today, and that inspired this text. For me, it is a rare
event, I believe that this is the third time that I have received a donation
since 2008 when I first released SDL-Ball. So, for me it is something rare, I
don't know how often other projects receive donations, or how they react.

Personally, I become very happy, the size of the donation do not matter, but
the fact that somebody out there used my stuff and enjoyed it to the extent
where they were felt motivated to do such a gesture. It is not like salary for
work, where you get paid to do something because it needs to be done. It is a
affirmation that somebody liked the stuff that you made for your own reasons.

The few times that I have received donations, I've been thrown into a dilemma;
Should I contact patron ?
If so, what should I say/offer?

What I mainly feel like doing, is adding this person to some kind of credits
file, or pay me respect in some other way.. Basically, letting them know that
I appreciate their gesture and also showing to others that the project gets
donations. This has something to do with motivation and pride, even if it is
small and simple projects, it makes me very proud to have created something
that people enjoy.

I remember observing that some project had trouble spending the money, I could
imagine such a problem up to the extent of "who should be given what", but for
myself, I don't see this as an issue, I'll buy something, at some point, and
decided that "this was bought with my donation money", be it beer? Fine :)

If you're involved with a project, or have received or given donations,
I'd like to hear about your thoughts and experiences :)
blog comments powered by Disqus