Granted, I don't know if you already do stuff like this, but some creators have a kind of "special access" from the Patreon, whether it's a discord server or telegram server or some sort of "meetup" for them and their patrons. I'm not huge into exclusivity to be friends, but there might be something there to excite people so that they feel their patronage has more things to look forward to, even if they can't commission a story at the moment, they might have an opportunity to get in the creator's head and meet other big fans of them.

That's just a thought that came to mind as I think about your earnest question. :)