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I have a couple of browser extensions, one of them acquired 15k new users in the past two weeks and it is still trending on Firefox Add-ons, yet donation links

I have a couple of browser extensions, one of them acquired 15k new users in the past two weeks and it is still trending on Firefox Add-ons, yet donation links are rarely clicked, and I haven't received any contributions. The effectiveness of asking for donations can vary a lot, and in my experience it is not sustainable at all, unless your project is wildly popular, or it supports the needs of an affluent and passionate user base.

pgl 9y ago
I get ~3-4m accesses to my block list per day, and about €5-€10 every 3 months!
lucideer 9y ago
I think this comes down to brand visibility, and also to a large extent, deliberately built emotional brand attachment. Both are completely missing in this article and should really be featured prominently. There's another article currently at number 2 on the HN front-page[0] about The Guardian. While this isn't an open source project (though they are open source contributors[1]) there are definite parallels. As well as having the nags and donation drives in place, people also need to think the Guardian is worth donating to. And they do, not just because it provides a valuable service to them, but also because the Guardian has a very recognisable name, and because it has been successfully sold to them as a reliable, stable entity they can trust. Obviously something of the scale of The Guardian is not the ideal comparison to most small FOSS projects, but the general ideas hold true - you have to invest in somehow developing in people an emotional attachment to the idea of your product if they're going to click donate. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15786802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15786802 [1] https://github.com/guardian https://github.com/guardian
unabst 9y ago
I'm not everyone, but many probably feel how I feel about browser extensions. The browser is free, and so are their extensions... I'm fairly certain that upselling is the best approach to monetizing browser extensions... Provide a freemium service, and have paid features. Much like apps I guess. But you really have to be providing a service. So it's more like the browser extension or app is just another marketing channel. Lastpass is a good example. Distill Web Monitor is another. I believe the latter was acquired to be monetized.

pgl 9y ago

I get ~3-4m accesses to my block list per day, and about €5-€10 every 3 months!

lucideer 9y ago

I think this comes down to brand visibility, and also to a large extent, deliberately built emotional brand attachment. Both are completely missing in this article and should really be featured prominently. There's another article currently at number 2 on the HN front-page[0] about The Guardian. While this isn't an open source project (though they are open source contributors[1]) there are definite parallels. As well as having the nags and donation drives in place, people also need to think the Guardian is worth donating to. And they do, not just because it provides a valuable service to them, but also because the Guardian has a very recognisable name, and because it has been successfully sold to them as a reliable, stable entity they can trust. Obviously something of the scale of The Guardian is not the ideal comparison to most small FOSS projects, but the general ideas hold true - you have to invest in somehow developing in people an emotional attachment to the idea of your product if they're going to click donate. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15786802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15786802 [1] https://github.com/guardian https://github.com/guardian

unabst 9y ago

I'm not everyone, but many probably feel how I feel about browser extensions. The browser is free, and so are their extensions... I'm fairly certain that upselling is the best approach to monetizing browser extensions... Provide a freemium service, and have paid features. Much like apps I guess. But you really have to be providing a service. So it's more like the browser extension or app is just another marketing channel. Lastpass is a good example. Distill Web Monitor is another. I believe the latter was acquired to be monetized.