I run a comic book related forum with thousands of registered members, but of which only a hundred or so are active at any particular time.<p>In the order of donations, I run a yearly fund-raising effort (ala Wikipedia) in which I specify the target as the cost of hosting (~$800 or so, give or take), and I've yet to go a year where I didn't make that goal (though I haven't attempted to fund raise every year).<p>Communities are of course different from the average web app, utility or program, as communities tend to take care of themselves.
Somebody sent me $5 through Paypal once for <a href="https://grepular.com/blog/" rel="nofollow">https://grepular.com/blog/</a>. I also had a few people send me bitcoins back when they weren't worth very much. And I've had about 38 flattrs too. My blog has been around for about 4 years. Needless to say, I don't do it for the money ;)
I get ~$50 / month off of 5-10k visits per post (lifetime visits that is, posting weekly).<p>Yes, I'm on the far end of the bell-curve there, because I cheat, and have actual rewards for people who donate (it's a game development blog). But a surprising portion of those who donate say "no thanks, don't want anything," so that isn't the entire reason.
Less than 1% of my registered users have donated. The average donor contribution is little over $20. I have a few donors who donate on regular basis.<p>Recently, I started offering donor exclusive features on my site. It is still too early to know the change in donation trend.
$0 since I put a donate link up last month: <a href="http://dalybulge.blogspot.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">http://dalybulge.blogspot.co.uk/</a>
$1.07 per month in ad revenues. Any ideas to help me increase would be greatly appreciated.
I have a donate button on one of my projects. The site gets 1k+ visitors per day but in the last 4 months since I have the button I only got one donation.
It is not as high on my priority list, so I haven't fiddled with it yet.