[Android Themes] Woody:
A word about Donations.

Donations are never, ever obligatory. They are not payment for services rendered. They are never to be used for “early access” to services. When given, are not ever to be seen as quid pro quo. There is no “tit for tat” involved in a donation. A donation is, in its simplest of terms, a gift.

Now the scope and reason for that gift can vary in several different manners. Some can be for simple good-heartedness. Others because you might have a little extra in your pocketbook at the time. And still other times being that you just want to show your gratitude for the Developer or Themer’s vast abilities to make your rig even better than the specs say it should be. Sometimes a certain someone helped you get out of a jam on your device, showed you a step you missed or slice of code that would work better for your scenario/instance. Aside from general niceties, these are the types of not-all-encompassing, situations that you would generally want to donate to your favorite Developers, Themers and even End/Fellow-Users.

Occasionally, I see someone post a confirmation number within a thread. Now we all know that Thanks don’t mean squat on XDA, but when I see those numbers, I immediately mash that Thanks button on that post. I don’t care if I just infracted that person or I have never seen them in all the time that I have been here. I hit the Thanks on every donation post I see and you should too. Sometimes though, I get wind of a story that takes the donation ideal one step further and that is what happened to me last night.

Lying in bed with the Mrs., my phone started to buzz that I was getting a message. After the obligatory eye-roll (1 from me wondering what’s on fire and 1 from the Mrs, cause, well you know), I checked to see what was rolling in. It was a message from someone who was asking advice about how to handle a certain situation. This person told me that he, as he has done in the past, decided to donate his device to another member for all the work that he has done for the Android Community at-large. I thought that was awesome and asked what I could do to help facilitate this. He told me that it was already set in motion and done, but wanted to make sure that others who feel as passionate about the works that they are using should know that the option to donate to your favorite Developer, Themer or even someone who has helped you is there. Obviously donating a device is extreme (it’s a newer device and no small amount on resale), but the idea that this person, who asked to remain nameless, thought enough of the person whom it is going to and all the work that they have done for the community as a whole, can only show that someone’s efforts and abilities do not go unnoticed.

Donations should never be expected and I can surely attest that the person who is receiving this device from the anonymous benefactor was floored by the act of generosity. He never asked for it, never complained about not getting donations, never expects anything from anyone other than integrity and conviction.

Take this example of what a donation can be and put it in the back of your memory. If sometime you are flashing something, trying to cure an ailment afflicting your battery, making your screen the envy of all your friends or even getting a simple application to parse correctly and someone helps you or you are building upon the works/help of other, think about donating something to them for their efforts. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount, trust me. The single, solitary donation that I have ever received in the past 6 years on this site was only given after the person pestered me for my donation address. I even so much as told him to pay the help I gave forward to the next person and use the money to buy some apps on the Play Store (70% of that money goes to the developer).

Let’s make sure that we understand what a donation is, but more importantly what it is for (time, efforts, demeanor, intelligence, candor, keystrokes,…)

A simple Thank You

Please share this wherever you feel it needs to be seen. I put it in the TBO thread for a reason that will remain between me and the keys, but that doesn't mean the essence of the above can't transfer to all communities, threads, platforms or similar sites.​