Basically we can offer as many payments method as we like - if nobody donates whats the point ;-)
Yes there is always the argument that people can't "claim" money for something they didn't make from the bottom - but we don't force people to pay. [..]
Sorry Laze, but I haven't said that at all! What I said is that it is impossible to force a limited subscription-based distribution of the GPLed software, as it would make the GPL license void.
What you did is fantastic, that is much hard work. I know it personally because I once tried to make up something useable of the Z from the already available software and realized that I couldn't put that much effort in all the terraforming and pure creativity just to have the Z useable. You have all the right to claim the money. What I say is that you should really "claim" them, not pretend that everybody who finds this usable happen to be wholeheartedly inspired to donate at once. In reality, this does not work. That is not a speculation, that is practice. Another funny bit of practice is that if you say now that the project is officially dead because of the financial shortages, you'll experience a waterfall of donations. Why? Because people would pay "for not losing". When everything seems to be working anyway, people don't see any pressing reason to pay, and in the end they tend not to pay. They may understand that it is not right and sometimes really regret, but they really have other pressing problems to think about.
You can offer subscriptions but you can't really force them, and that might alienate the community. Bounty would work better. As for donations, they usually serve as a sign of appreciation, not as a real financial flow. If you want your users to know that you need money, not just only signs of appreciation, you can put a graphical bar on the site showing the progress in fulfilling the budget in donations. That really worked for some sites. This way users know how much exactly is needed and how much is left -- this helps them determine themselves. The latest effort of that sort I've seen was at Wikipedia -- each page had a banner saying they needed $50,000 and how much was left. They got more than $51,000 in a matter of few days. Yep, Wikipedia is a huge project, but you don't have to request that much on the other hand, just made it clear for people and show the progress.
I just wanted to say that with some more deterministic approach you could find yourself much more productive, and in result everybody would be happier. Hope this helps.
