First off, I'm very grateful that the Hubski team is willing to cover the costs so far. I've seen a couple of great sites / projects evaporate because of financial issues. Thanks everyone. My opinion is that having a donation button would be nice and I think there are enough users who'd want to donate (myself included). I don't think it's a good long-term option, though. Donations are sporadic and it's not something that alleviates the financial worry / stress. Merch is in the same category - it's nice to have, but not something stable to build a site on. That's why I think a monthly donation option would be better, name-your-price style. Just don't make it visible publically, or only make it visible to the user who's donating as a reminder. It shouldn't be a badge of honor. The only reason people should support the site is because they want to support the site.