FAQ: Help Donating and Joining Site

FAQ Sections:

Become a Supporting Member

There are many benefits to becoming a donating member, including a permanent non-expiring license key for all of our programs, early access to beta releases and new reviews, discounts on popular shareware, and much more.

Still Have Questions?

You know the drill -- the first order of business is to search our site or forum for answers to your questions.

But don't hesitate to contact us directly with questions. We don't have secretaries - you'll get a reply right away from the same people who designed the website and coded the software here. Or post your questions on our public forum for a community response.

Live Chat

If you prefer, you can join our text chat channel on irc and speak to other DC members and administrators 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I should like to inform you that the licence key and the instructions you sent me were spiffing and worked superbly.
I have been using Screenshot Captor since around 2004 in its various versions... I obtained a 2011 version of the software and, because it worked so wonderfully, I donated most gladly to Donation Coder. All version updates since then have been installed and, once more, I was more than grateful to you for such a wonderful product and continued to make donations. I have used other small bits and pieces from you throughout 2011 as I kept finding that previous ones I used for XP did not function. As long as I am happy with trying out your products I shall be thrilled to make donations which, ultimately, will lead to more interesting stuff being introduced I am sure.
Read more…
Joe Z.

FAQ - Donating and Joining Site

Here are some common questions and answers regarding joining the site and donating.

I donated to the site, but I didn't receive my License Key! Where do I put my License Key?

I made a donation but I still can't log into the forum!

This is a common source of confusion so you're not alone.

When you make a donation, a forum account is not automatically created for you!

That's because some people don't like to use their real name and primary email address on the forum. So, even after you donate, you still have to register a forum account yourself (it's very easy and only takes a minute).

If you have any trouble registering at the forum you'll of course find help for that here in the help desk.

And remember - when in doubt, don't hesitate contacting us via email or by clicking the "Request More Help" link on the right. We are more than happy to help you solve any problem and there is no point in you suffering in silence.

Do I need to sign up at the forum?

Whether you donate or not, signing up at our discussion forum is optional. We hope you'll go through the hassle though, so that you can join in our discussions, post feature requests and questions, and join in our happy community.

The forum is our family and everyone is welcome.

Remember to "upgrade your forum account" after you donate!

When you make a donation, you will receive an email with a license key and a link to visit to "upgrade" your forum account - make sure you visit that link so that you are credited with your donation; this lets you access the members-only area of our site, enter software drawings, retrieve your license key if you lose it, give out your credits, etc.

Still need assistance?

For more help on signing up and logging into the forum please see our FAQ page devoted to Forum issues or Contact Us.

I'm signed into the forum but the web pages say I'm not a supporting member even though I already donated!

Take a deep breath!

Some sections of our website are available only to Supporting (Donating) Members, so you definitely want to make sure the forum recognizes you properly as a Supporting Member.

If you donated to the site but you are still showing up as a non-donating guest on the website and forum, don't panic! it's not part of a conspiracy. It just means that you haven't "upgraded" your forum account yet.

The first thing to do is to ensure you have registered at our forum and created a forum account -- these accounts are not created automatically when you donate.

After you are registered on the forum, you need to upgrade your forum account. This is done simply by visiting the forum upgrade link you will have received via email when you donated (it's the same email with your non-expiring license key). You'll find full instructions in that email. You can also manually paste in the upgrade activation number from your forum profile page if you prefer.

If you have any trouble at all upgrading your forum account - just Contact Us. We are happy to help.

I want to donate but i don't want to use PayPal or a credit card!

You don't like Paypal..

Some people (like us) love PayPal for it's convenience and safety. As an added security measure - when you pay by PayPal or any of the payment services we use, none of your financial or credit card details is passed along to us, we just get a message telling us your name and the amount paid.

We also support a range of alternate payment methods for people who don't use PayPal that will let you donate using bank transfers and other international services.

However, we know that not everyone likes to pay online.

We are a very informal site - whatever method of donating you can think of is fine with us. You can use the normal postal service to send us cash, diamonds, gold bards, rare stamps, hand painted art, chocolate chip cookies, etc. The address to send snail mail to is:

Jesse Reichler (DonationCoder.com)
311 West University Avenue, #401
Champaign, IL 61820

Please make sure to write down your email address so we can contact you with your license key when we receive it!

If you live in a far away country and don't have a credit card, and aren't planning on sending more than a few dollars, please instead just give the money to a local charity and send us an email saying so - we would be happy to treat it as a proper membership donation. We would always still love to receive a postcard!

If you do decide to use any non-traditional means to donate - don't wait to hear back from us, send us an email right away telling us your intention - we'll activate your license key stuff on the spot so you don't have to wait; we trust you.

How much should I donate?

Donate an amount that leaves you feeling you are getting a fantastic deal

For those who still feel like they want some guidance choosing an amount, we commissioned a very expensive scientific study to determine the ideal donation amount that people should make (in fact it has cost us more than the total sum of donations we have made since we started this site). The results of this 10-year study can finally be made public. We hope you find it useful: Suggested Donation Amount Chart.

Is there a way for me to get a non-expiring license key and become a full member without donating any money?

Absolutely.

We created DonationCoder.com because we wanted to keep our software available to anyone, regardless of their financial situation.

If you can't afford to donate or if you morally object to donating, just fill out this form to request a full non-expiring license key.

If you live in a far away country where sending a dollar or two would be prohibitive and wasteful - please just donate a tiny bit of local currency to a local charity or homeless shelter, or give it to someone you meet on the street who could benefit from it, and send us an email and we will send you a full permanent license key as if you had made a donation to us.

I have an estate in the south of France worth two million Euros and I am about to die and I would like to donate to it to DonationCoder.com. Is that ok?

This question gets asked a lot.

If you have a giant multi-million dollar estate that you would like to leave to DonationCoder.com in your will, please make sure your taxes are paid and that you have left enough money for us to pay the servants in the manner they are accustomed to. We do prefer an ocean-side view if possible.

What are some of the benefits of donating?

I'm concerned about sending money over the internet - is it safe to make a donation?

What's there to be worried about?

DonationCoder.com has been in business since 2005 and received thousands of donations in that time. We use only the most secure payment options.

When you make a donation to us we receive no financial information about you or your credit card. We are told your name, email, and the amount of your donation. All other details are processed by PayPal, Amazon.com, or whatever payment service you choose. It's as safe as any other credit card transaction you conduct with any big business, and safer than handing your credit card to some teenager in a corner shop.

If you really don't want to donate online

We understand that some people are very wary about conducting any financial transactions over the internet. That's ok too - we are a small operation and we're happy to receive payments via postal mail, in the form of personal checks, cash, cookies, diamonds, hand-painted fine art, etc. Just send it to: