Micropatronage

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This article is about many people making small donations to an individual. For small payments see Micropayment.

Micropatronage is a system where the public directly supports the work of others by making donations through the internet. In use as early as 2001 [1], the term was popularized in 2005 by blogger Jason Kottke when he quit his day job as a web designer and spent a year blogging full time, living off the voluntary donations of his readership. Micropatronage differs from traditional patronage systems by allowing many "patrons" to donate small amounts that add up, rather than a single or few patrons making larger contributions.

In webcomics, Micropatronage plays a large part in supporting both the author and the site itself, and it has become common in webcomics to see authors asking for donations from fans beyond a certain level of popularity.

See also

• Street performer protocol
• Ransom publishing model
• R.K. Milholland
• ze Frank

External links

• Micropatronage.org
• mixeye Accepts and lists specific micropatronage journalism projects from bloggers and independent writers.