Patreon IS a stress sthing :|
Speaking for myself, I contribute to so many things already, and I can see that adding Patreon for *every* thing I'd love to send to could easily put me where I'm spending a week every month working just for those luxuries... even though I love 'em so much.
And the stress factor of Patroen is much higher than other things, because it *does* add a feeling of obligation.. to *both* the recipient and the donor.. and once the ball is rolling, how can you ever exit gracefully if things change? It adds an extra factor of needing to explain that too. *sighs*

In fact recently I found out a (really good artist btw) had changed their Patreon terms so that you could no longer see *anything* of theirs unless you were to give more :/ .. so suddenly I'm at a crossroads.. deny them the more they want? deny myself the enjoyment of seeing their lovely stuff I enjoyed before? STRESS.

I'm really despising Patreon because it's turning things into exclusive cliques and clubs. I love to have the available funds to send artists a $50 commission here and there, but Patreon would just suck it away. And some artists rarely even post there a few months after they get started, so THEN what do you do...

I recently sent a gift basket to one of those superb artists that do so much great Three Caballeros stuff on Twitter... I see those postings as gifts to the world, and I love to respond with spontaneous gifts to show how much it's appreciated too. Patreon would reach around the table and pull all the available chips into just one corner... :/

So there's my Patreon rant .. :/ ... Srsly, I hope it works out ok for people who pursue it (you too, if ya do!), but I just can't sign up for all that stress and worry and trouble and loss...

Thanks for the comments! Your thoughts echo my own about Patreon, like...what is the end game? I like to have clear expectations for everyone and it's too open ended for my comfort.

Some artists I patronize have their Patreons tuned towards specific goals, like X $ per page of art produced, and I quite like that idea. No art produced? No funds charged.

$5 a month doesn't sound like a lot...until you start patronizing more than one person.

People seem to really hate the "paywall" feeling that patrons get. So how do you offer your patreons exclusive content without alienating everyone else?

You asked a big think question, I hope you get more replies. :)

Re: Patreon: People use it in different ways and for different purposes. I've been following it since it started, and I feel like the original intent was to provide a mechanism for fans who wanted to throw a few bucks towards their favorite artists for creating artwork that they would have probably created anyway. There is also the mechanism to add paywalls and such, but it doesn't have to work that way.

As I recall, the original idea WAS a pledge to pay for each "work produced" ... a video, a song, a painting, etc. I think the flat monthly pledge started as a workaround for some creators working on less quantum-izeable long-form projects like comics or novels; some people may be abusing that now.

On the "stress factor:" If you set up a Patreon, set it up so you only charge pledges when you produce something. Gives you the incentive to get more done so you can collect your pledges, while also giving you the flexibility to take a month or two off when you need to.

If you have a monthly pledge to someone who isn't producing much stuff anymore? Reduce or cancel the pledge. Or if they have it set up properly, you shouldn't be getting charged at all months they don't produce anything ... If you're nervous about the inconsistency, you can cancel your pledges to those accounts also!

As for the cliques and clubs ... Well, that tends to happen everywhere, doesn't it? Personally I feel the use of exclusive paywalls goes against the spirit of the site; I would opt more to offer perks like (slightly) earlier access to new material (say a week or two), higher-res content, works in progress, that sort of thing. (Plus plenty of reminders on your generally-released content that, hey, if you like this, drop a few bucks to my Patreon to support more such work.) But, everyone will use the site as they see fit.

Ultimately of course it's up to you to decide if you can make Patreon or any other funding site work for you. Best of luck if you do :D

A big wingy-thumbs up to a lot of this! One in particular I like is the higher-rez option, so peeps can pay a bit more for the things that really hit a chord with them. I've done this with regular commissions many times, upping the offer a bit to get a higher-rez or multi-layered piece, since those are almost the only options in the digital vs real-media world :}
Patreon really isn't even needed for that sort of option, but it does keep the option advertised and therefore on people's minds, and supposedly would be used a lot more if it's out there as an option all the time to remind people :}
Nice ideas!

*nodnods* to item 1! I think Jonas is doing it like that, payments only when art produced.. certainly a bit better than not, yep!
Item 2... how without alienating others? I'm not sure it's possible :/ I try my hardest not to feel bad about the things I'm missing out on, but it's still saddening when I think that realistically I just can't get to every patreon party.. :|
At least there's still lots going on in many places, so it helps relieve that woe a bit.