Thoughts on 'donation' button

[Kaizahr]

Lately, I have been seeing a lot more youtubers put a Paypal donation button on their page. Back in 2011, when I was using my old youtube channel, I had around 800+ subscribers and I would upload one to two videos a month. My subscribers suggested I put up a donation link so people could help me with the cost of supplies, but I refused to because I didn't feel comfortable asking strangers for money. I also felt that the audience would be in a position to demand more videos since they donated. Because of this I never made a paypal account. What are your thoughts? is it ok to put up a donation link or not? Does it make you seem poor/needy/smart/scam/etc.?

 

[JWB]

I don't see a problem with it as long as your donations are going back into it. If people do it to make pocket money, that seems wrong to me, but allowing your viewers to help you out because they obviously would like more content just seems like a helping hand, along with some motivation because getting donations means you are doing something that people like and want more of. I wouldn't let a donation force me to be pressured into more videos, but I would certainly make an effort into giving them higher quality, more often etc. to show where their money is going.

JWB

 

[KGATV]

If its for a charitable cause, I'm okay with it. If not, I don't think it should be there. Makes you seem pretty greedy if you ask me.

 

[ZoomZike]

If you put it up on your own and only want to do it for pocket money, like KGATV said, then it's wrong.

But, if your audience is telling you that they're willing to donate money to you to increase the quality of the videos they love, I see absolutely no problem with it

 

[Kaizahr]

I don't see a problem with it as long as your donations are going back into it. If people do it to make pocket money, that seems wrong to me, but allowing your viewers to help you out because they obviously would like more content just seems like a helping hand, along with some motivation because getting donations means you are doing something that people like and want more of. I wouldn't let a donation force me to be pressured into more videos, but I would certainly make an effort into giving them higher quality, more often etc. to show where their money is going.

JWB

Yeah, I completely agree with you. I won't be putting a donation link on my page, yet. But, if there comes a time when I can no longer afford to buy supplies, then I might go the donation route. I make art vids and the cost of supplies can really create a cavity in your bank account. Luckily for me, I have a job so I'm still in the position to purchase my own supplies.

 

[atypicalvideo]

Honestly don't see whats wrong with it, nobodies making anyone pay. Your audience will only donate if they REALLY like you. I see it the same as fan-mail, and people probably spend more on postage costs than they will donating.

Edit: What you really drive me crazy is if they constantly ASK for money.
If theres just a link on the channel, why not?

 

[Kaizahr]

do any of you watch 'The Brain Scoop' ? They ask for donations because not all their vids are monetized and its for a good cause. Educational, entertaining, funny, I really enjoy their vids and lots of other people do as well since they're getting a decent amount of donations.[DOUBLEPOST=1367376686,1367376517][/DOUBLEPOST]

Honestly don't see whats wrong with it, nobodies making anyone pay. Your audience will only donate if they REALLY like you. I see it the same as fan-mail, and people probably spend more on postage costs than they will donating.

Edit: What you really drive me crazy is if they constantly ASK for money.
If theres just a link on the channel, why not?

haha yeah, sometimes I wonder how much money people spend when they ship boxes full of goodies to their favorite youtubers

 

[JWB]

do any of you watch 'The Brain Scoop' ? They ask for donations because not all their vids are monetized and its for a good cause. Educational, entertaining, funny, I really enjoy their vids and lots of other people do as well since they're getting a decent amount of donations.

That is a good reason. It is situational to an extent. A Educational channel should have more leeway than say a gaming channel in my opinion. Both can have a donation link, but the educational has a little more leverage and little more business asking video to video to help support them. That's just my opinion on the matter however.

 

[Laydeliel]

I think if you've done something to deserve your audience wanting to support you, and if you are in a position to accept it, then you should allow them to. There's nothing shameful in that. Even if that money is going to become pocket money to be spent on whatever you want, if your donators want you to have that money and that pleasure then there's no problem.

 

[JWB]

I think if you've done something to deserve your audience wanting to support you, and if you are in a position to accept it, then you should allow them to. There's nothing shameful in that. Even if that money is going to become pocket money to be spent on whatever you want, if your donators want you to have that money and that pleasure then there's no problem.

If the person is going to be using it as pocket money, I can't say I support that decision personally although I would hope the person would tell his audience that it could be used for personal things. Usually people see a donation button and they like to jump the gun and assume that it is to help support the channel. While it's technically not false advertising or lying to his/her audience, it does seem misguiding / misleading in that way.