I've had a Paypal donation box on my Alien Language site since it was created in 2002. It's discretely hidden away, and was intended almost as a "tip box", an optional contribution to the inevitable costs of running a "free" website.
And despite nearly 4.2 million page views since 2003, over half a terabyte of data transfer, and hundreds of appreciative e-mails, perhaps unsurprisingly, I've never ever had anyone give a penny.
Until today.
I got an e-mail this morning from Paypal to say I'd been sent some money. I've not sold anything on eBay, so I assumed it was some kind of phishing e-mail. On closer inspection, I noticed it mentioned Alien Language in the transaction details, so I logged into Paypal, and sure enough, I'd been sent a small contribution by a satisfied user!
OK, 1 in 4 million is not a great conversion rate; although it's nice to get the complimentary e-mails, it's doubly touching that someone (quite possibly from somewhere else in the world) has appreciated the time and effort enough to dip into their pockets.
It's made me think how many times I've ignored a "donate" box on free websites or software. Immediately I can think of a few that I use regularly, and save me time, yet have never bothered to contribute financially to.
So, I decided to "pass on" the donation to an open source project that has, in turn, saved me a great deal of time and frustration. It's a small gesture, but hopefully it will make those developers feel appreciated, in the same way I did this morning.
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