I suppose the idea of smaller, monthly donations is more appealing from a developer's point of view, because it is less likely to suddenly stop. I don't think it is a good idea to discourage one time donations though, especially since (correct me if I am wrong) there is a fixed fee for all transactions.
On a related note: did you consider donations as in-app payments? The threshold for people to donate would be a lot smaller I think.
I hope you can make this work, Thibault! I kind of stopped playing chess online because I didn't find any pleasing website but now I can waste my time again in style and free of advertisements :-)
Im not really a person who donates monthly.
I prefer to wait some years and give a bigger amount :|
Also there is difference between donating $2 once a month compared to $10 or 20.
#10 yep, I like the glorious patron icon, but at the same time a large donation is better than many small donations every month due to the fixed costs per transaction
@thibault I have selected a monthly donation using paypal, but the lichess message after completing the payment said that I will "NOT" be charged again. Paypal automatic payment has been setup though, so this is just an error in the message :)
Keep doing what you're doing :)
@b1nary ah right, I'm fixing that.
Monthly donations allow us to make plans for the future.
Think of it as a subscription model, just like on freemium sites where you pay for a premium membership. They don't even offer the possibility to buy only one month, but we do.
@thibault A yearly options would be great tho, more money for lichess and less money to fees
and a paysafecard option too would be great
#10 : I very agree with that : a one time 50$ donation should get wing for 10 months !
I would propose to make default an option "one-time" on donation page. Since it is now on "monthly" payment it is more risky to persons who want to make just a simple donation.
Chessplayers are a competitive lot. How about a single set of Gold Wings for the person that makes the highest donation each month? A little bit of competition can't hurt.
Also, it seems a little unfair to some people in the past who have made very sizeable donations - Perhaps a permanent set of Silver "Foundation Donor" wings for those big donors that helped you grow and were with you from early on.