Member Avatar for jewboy

Donations anyone?

Great idea Dani to add a premium sponsorship program. Lots of the bigger folks are doing it, and I think it's a great way to bring in extra revenue.

About the wording - should a commercial site - one that clearly generates revenue by advertising - use the specific word "donation"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation

"A donation is a gift to a fund or cause, usually for charitable reasons."

IMHO opinion, the word donation should be substituted for something that does not imply "charity". I think subscription is more appropriate.

Also, many sites offer paid memberships for the privelage of surfing in an ad free environment. Any plans for a "platinum" membership level?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Catweazle

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Member Avatar for Catweazle

then Wikipedia has it wrong, in the form of being too narrowly restrictive. The word 'donate' means:

to give as to a charitable organisation

It does not mean:

to give, only to a charitable organisation.

The word 'donation' has two meanings. It means either the act of giving or it means a gift.


I can donate toys to my local (commercial) child care facility. People can donate funds to DaniWeb. Those of us who help to keep the place going donate our time.

Member Avatar for server_crash

I think using another term such as subcription might be missleading. Subcription almost sounds like you're suppose to recieve something, when that's not the case. I think donation sounds fine, and is the proper term.

Member Avatar for jewboy

Let's quible about semantics ;-)

In general, people don't donate to businesses. They donate to charties non profit organizations causes. I think the word "donate" implies that the organization relies on it's community's funds to sustain itself. I think there are far better words to express the transfer of moneys to a business than "donate".

Member Avatar for Catweazle

No comment on this for a couple of days, I see.

This is not a new feature, by the way. The monthly and annual sponsorship has been in place for as long as I've been a member here and before. In fact, at one stage I can recall a drive for more funds because the amount of money comong in simply wasn't covering costs!

People can ask for and recieve assistance here free of charge. If people want to make a donation in appreciation I can see no harm. Plenty of freeware software available also which is 'donation' supported, and I see no complaint about that.

The word 'donate' doesn't necessarily mean a charitable organisation to me.

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