We all spend crazy amounts of time on the internet consuming content, reading articles, watching videos, listening to podcasts, diving into research papers and more. While the internet provides us with a growing information resource, someone has to take the time out of their day to create it.
It’s work that you can give out for free, or you can choose to monetise it.
Your options for monetisation include:
- Running ads
- Sponsored content
- Selling merchandise
- Pushing affiliate programs
- Selling a digital product
- Selling consultation services
- Or donations, which can sometimes devolve into eBegging
No one likes being sold to or dealing with ads, but for creators who choose the donation model, you’re taking the more challenging route to generate a reliable income.
Bloggers, researchers, podcasters, vloggers and content creators relying on donations face numerous challenges that often go unnoticed by their audience.
Financial Instability
The unpredictable nature of donations creates significant financial stress unless this is only a hobby or a side hustle; making your living from the donation model will be a game of feast or famine, and you need to plan accordingly or find alternative sources of revenue.
When monthly income can fluctuate dramatically, it makes it difficult to:
- Plan for basic living expenses
- Invest in equipment and production quality
- Save for emergencies or retirement
- Maintain consistent content quality during low-income periods
It can also impact your motivation to continue to create content if you’re not seeing any rewards for your efforts; of course, the market will pay you what you’re worth, and if your content is crap, it doesn’t deserve to be rewarded.
Sometimes, you fail for a reason and must take it as a sign that you must give up on this pursuit.
Platform Dependencies
Content creators must navigate multiple donation platforms, each with its challenges:
- Platform fees cutting into already modest earnings
- Complex payout systems with minimum withdrawal thresholds
- Risk of platform changes affecting income streams
- Technical issues causing missed donations
- Geographic restrictions limiting payment options
If you’re accepting donations for your content, you can use a service like PayPal that takes out a hefty fee on all your income or opt for closed platforms like SubStack or Patreon, which not only take their cut but force you to remain within their ecosystem.
At any time, these platforms could cut you off from your funds, remove your content or de-platform you, and that’s not a place you want to find yourself in, especially if you want to create authentic content where you speak your mind without the need to self censor.
It’s part of why we see so much cookie-cutter content on these platforms; no one wants to upset their platform overlords.
Psychological Burden
Relying on donations requires you to constantly remind readers or viewers of the option to support you; the messaging can quickly get tiring and annoy your frequent visitors. You might even lose supporters who feel you don’t value their contributions since you’re constantly begging.
The donation model creates unique mental health challenges:
- Constant pressure to justify value to supporters
- Guilt about accepting money from loyal followers
- Anxiety over donation notifications during live streams
- Emotional strain of maintaining relationships with donors
- Imposter syndrome when comparing earnings to other creators
Content Compromises
We, humans, live and die by the incentives in front of us; when you’re living off donations, taking the knock to avoid spamming your audience with ads, you put more pressure on the donation model.
The need for donations can affect creative decisions:
- Pressure to create content that attracts donations rather than following creative instincts
- Difficulty maintaining editorial independence when donors have expectations
- The challenge of balancing free content with exclusive donor perks
- Tension between artistic integrity and financial necessity
Administrative Overhead
Managing a donation-based business requires significant behind-the-scenes work:
- Tracking and reporting donation income for tax purposes
- Managing donor rewards and recognition programs
- Responding to donor messages and maintaining relationships
- Coordinating across multiple payment platforms
- Creating and updating donation tiers and rewards
Marketing Challenges
Creators face unique promotional challenges:
- Difficulty asking for support without appearing desperate
- Balancing self-promotion with authentic community engagement
- Competing with creators who have more aggressive monetisation strategies
- Educating the audience about the value of supporting content
- Overcoming the stigma associated with donation-based income
Technical Barriers
The technical aspects of managing donations create additional friction:
- Setting up and maintaining multiple payment systems
- Integrating donation alerts and recognition systems
- Troubleshooting failed or disputed payments
- Managing donor databases and communication systems
- Ensuring the security and privacy of donor information
In some cases, the payment methods you want to use might not be compatible with your audience, so some of your readers or viewers will have a hard time donating to you, and that friction will lead to lower income.
Audience Retention
Maintaining a sustainable donor base presents an ongoing challenge; it’s hard enough to get someone to click the donate button once; getting them to come back and repeat this action is a slimmer prospect, so you’re constantly having to chase new viewers or readers who might be willing to provide a once off payment.
If you do manage to build out some ARR from your audience, you must also deal with the following:
- Donor fatigue and natural attrition
- Competition from subscription-based creators
- Pressure to constantly justify continued support
- Difficulty converting casual viewers to donors
- Managing expectations of different donor tiers
Future Uncertainty
The donation model poses long-term sustainability questions:
- Lack of predictable growth trajectory
- Difficulty securing loans or housing without a stable income
- Uncertainty about platform longevity
- Vulnerability to economic downturns
- Limited options for business expansion
Work-Life Balance
The donation model affects personal life:
- Pressure to maintain constant audience engagement
- Difficulty taking breaks without losing income
- Blurred boundaries between personal and professional life
- The challenge of explaining the career model to others
- Limited ability to plan personal milestones
This complex web of challenges makes donation-based content creation a particularly demanding career path.
While it offers creative freedom and direct audience connection, creators must constantly navigate these pressures while maintaining their creative output and community engagement.
Bitcoin and donations
Bitcoin simplifies donations through its decentralised nature, global accessibility, and P2P network; since there are no middlemen involved, you get to keep more of what was donated or more of what you earned.
Using Lightning, you can accept donations no matter how small, and you don’t need to stick to some rigid pricing structure; in fact, you can leave it up to the viewer how much they wish to donate. Transactions are processed quickly and efficiently, bypassing traditional banking systems and their associated fees, especially when dealing with an international audience.
This speed and reduced cost make it easier for donors and recipients to give, regardless of location or currency limitations. We’ve already seen the donation or value-for-value model on Bitcoin expand through Nostr clients and Podcast 2.0 apps like Fountain, embracing the zap economy.
Zaps have a cap
Zaps are microtransactions via the Lightning Network, most happening inside nostr clients. While Zaps are a great way to show appreciation, they’re not something anyone can rely on to pay their website hosting costs or compensate them for their time and effort.
While Zaps will continue to be the cornerstone of Bitcoin-based donations and payments, and I think they can add up over time, especially for those who have the luxury to hodl, it’s not a reliable source of income.
If you’re not constantly posting and engaging, you’re forgotten in feeds, and the zaps can dry up quickly.
ZapPlanner arrives
ZapPlanner is a service launched by the team behind Alby Wallet; it uses Nostr Wallet Connect to help you schedule automatic recurring payments via the Lightning Network.
Instead of having to visit your favourite authors’ profiles to Zap them manually, you can set up a standing donation at an interval you feel comfortable with donating.
For example, you could set a 1000 Satoshi monthly donation to the Bitcoin Manual. Each month, as long as your wallet retains a balance, this “Lightning Debit order” will trigger and automatically transfer funds to your specified wallet.
How does ZapPlanner work?
Using ZapPlanner, you can connect your wallet to a certain Lightning Address and set up recurring payments that execute the set amount within the time intervals you defined.
Example: 100 sats every hour or 1,000 sats per day; it’s really up to you how you wish to slice that pie.
Users can leverage ZapPlanner to plan their recurring payments, e.g. to provide continual support to their favourite V4V creators, podcasters or even their favourite nostr shitposter.
Where this gets interesting for content creators is getting users to subscribe to your subscription service since they can set up a negligible amount to fire off to you and forget about it; no further action needs to be taken on their part.
If your blog or newsletter generates enough readers and you can convince a few 100 or 1000 users to send you 1000 sats per month, that can start to build up into a serious revenue stream.
Do your own research.
If you want to learn more about ZapPlanner, use this article as a starting point. Don’t trust what we say as the final word. Take the time to research other sources, and you can start by checking out the resources below.
