In light of yesterday’s post and some of the discussion in both comments and offering support for various WordPress projects, I’m curious as to what you guys consider to be etiquette when it comes to asking for WordPress donations.

As I mentioned yesterday, I personally think that we have a personal obligation to provide a level of support for free software that we released; however, at one point is it socially acceptable to ask for a donation.

On top of that, where do you even draw the line?

WordPress Donations: Easy To Hook Them Up

A quick Google search yields that there are quite a few plugins that make it easy for users to hook up donations to their site:

WordPress Donations

And I even have a page to which I link from my WordPress Plugin Repository pages, but I don’t promote it unless someone specifically asks me if I accept donations.

There’s obviously a desire for developers and designers to ask for donations, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that users feel an obligation to give.

WordPress Donations: An Issue of Etiquette

This isn’t a loaded question – I’m curious abut the overall concensues as to where you guys fall regarding soliciting donations for your work.

  • Do you add a widget to your sidebar?
  • Do you write a monthly post about?
  • Do you simply link to a page on your site?

To be completely open about it, I don’t ask for donations. If the user asks if they accept them, I simply say yet, link them to my page, and say thanks, but should we be more aggressive? Less aggressive?

What’s the balance in what’s acceptable and what’s rude?

WordPress Donations

How Rude.

Whatever the case, I’m interested in your honest thoughts on it. This isn’t so much a metter of arguing a point as it is to learn what my peers are doing.

So have it – what’s your stance?