I think the main obstacle to donations, even for those who _would_ wish to donate, is the fact that it requires a premeditated process (e.g. going to the project homepage to donate) or that it makes the request _before_ the user had a chance to realize how useful it is, rather than after.
If instead there is some way to capitalize the timing of the user experiencing "wow this makes my life so much easier!" to remind them with a low-friction shortcut to make a donation, this short-circuits the cognitive process that previously require the user's mind to go out of its way to invoke their "oh, I should probably donate" sense of reciprocity.
As reviled as impulse-driven microtransactions are, I think there is much for open-source projects to learn from and wield in an ethical manner.
Right now it seems there is a false dichotomy between being either [be unethical and leverage user impulse] or [be ethical and off-putting to the user].
There is no reason why an understanding of the psychology in friction-reduction can be utilized ethically to encourage "impulse-reciprocity".
A model that might be worth analyzing is the streamer-donation UX flow -- yes it can be used irresponsibly to encourage parasocial obsession, but in the hands of the responsible it is a facilitation of healthy engagements with the audience
My tip jar is in my email signature, which means it's part of the answer people get when they request free support from me. It's also at the end of the content they consume from my website.
If instead there is some way to capitalize the timing of the user experiencing "wow this makes my life so much easier!" to remind them with a low-friction shortcut to make a donation, this short-circuits the cognitive process that previously require the user's mind to go out of its way to invoke their "oh, I should probably donate" sense of reciprocity.
As reviled as impulse-driven microtransactions are, I think there is much for open-source projects to learn from and wield in an ethical manner.
Right now it seems there is a false dichotomy between being either [be unethical and leverage user impulse] or [be ethical and off-putting to the user].
There is no reason why an understanding of the psychology in friction-reduction can be utilized ethically to encourage "impulse-reciprocity".
A model that might be worth analyzing is the streamer-donation UX flow -- yes it can be used irresponsibly to encourage parasocial obsession, but in the hands of the responsible it is a facilitation of healthy engagements with the audience