Have I lost my morals?

[The Bassment]

You guys seriously rock. I felt like total crap putting those donation links up on my channels and you lovely people have reassured me to the point where I only feel slightly weird, a normal feeling one should get when taking money from strangers.[DOUBLEPOST=1370337784,1370337610][/DOUBLEPOST]

would you suggest I start merch for donation?
you donate 5 0r 10 you get a shirt
10 to 15 blah + shirt
15+ blah blah +blah and shirt

Buying a stock of shirts is a bit of an investment until you know people will be donating (unless you get them all in your size, then you'll never need to shop again ). I would maybe hold off for now, though you certainly needn't feel bad mentioning a donate link.

You could make a video about all the stuff you're doing and mention it at the end of that, then you connect with your audience over your offline life and bring their attention to the possibility of donation at the same time.

 

[Canteca de Macao]

No need to ask for a donation, you're actually selling them a product.

"Want to show your love for this vlog? Support it! Get a shirt!"

 

[TheWillBox]

I don't think it's immoral. But from a viewer point of view, I think there is a thin line between "I'm trying to provide good content and would appreciate the support" and "Give me free money".

So as long as you don't appear like the latter, then you should be fine. Just know some people will probably interpret it like begging no matter how you put it.

 

[The Bassment]

No need to ask for a donation, you're actually selling them a product.

"Want to show your love for this vlog? Support it! Get a shirt!"

An actual merchandise store would be another option, then you can link annotations to it and push it a little more than you can a donate link. Plus, as noted above, that way you are selling a product rather than asking for donations.

 

[Tboneplaya21]

I don't think it's immoral. But from a viewer point of view, I think there is a thin line between "I'm trying to provide good content and would appreciate the support" and "Give me free money".

So as long as you don't appear like the latter, then you should be fine. Just know some people will probably interpret it like begging no matter how you put it.

I'm definitely the latter, in fact I plan on mentioning, in the video that mentions the donation link, that I will remove the link once I get a decent job that can support me and my ventures through life and cyber space