Frankly I thought the idea of Patreon was to act as a donation system first and foremost, so that fans of an artist could allow them more free time to work on their craft. There shouldn't be any expectation from the supporters of guaranteed compensation; I for one am perfectly happy supporting you as I can each month if it eases a bit of burden a bit, and now that I'm making a bit more I was thinking I'd bump up my monthly donation a bit more! c:

That being said, there ARE people who might be more incentivized to show some support if doing so meant a bit of a bonus for them, but you need to be VERY careful as promising more than you can end up delivering can lead to headaches for you! For instance, if you have...say...5 special Patreon commission slots open and have 6 supporters, you might end up disappointing that person and ultimately losing a donator. I've heard of supporters pitching fits over missing out on a monthly "bonus" because they feel like their money is viewed as being "worth less" than someone else's. Bonuses are nice, but you just have to make sure you plan out promises before you make 'em!

Hope I could help some! c:

Aaaaa, thank you! That's really very generous of you ;w;

And yeah, that's my biggest concern; not being able to deliver on something. That's why I'm trying to figure out things that are easy enough to do but still pleasant for supporters to see. I definitely appreciate the advice!

I would be very careful about it.

Perhaps offer patron only streaming, (If streaming is your thing) if you're doing your own art or if a commissioner says its okay.

But I would not offer commission rewards en mass. Even five might be a lot. As, it'd be five on top of anyone else who decided they wanted to commission you + any personal you art you might want to do. It could become a disaster really quickly. I'd say if you wanted to give out a reward for higher donating patrons. Make it a raffle, anyone who does 15+ a month has a chance at a sketch, and maybe anyone who does 30+ has a chance of getting line art. Then exclude them for the next month so people don't have a chance of winning back to back and then upsetting someone, because as above mentioned. People might feel like they're owed something or being left out.

Or maybe off a discount on commission to anyone who helps you out on Patron. Patron only YCH? There is a lot of options but you'd have to be careful about them.

The tutorial videos would be interesting though. You could do monthly streams or something.

Those are all good points/ideas, thanks! I like the raffle idea in particular, and the streams.