Interesting that these kind of things are done by less known companies, not the big names. At least that's my (uninformed) impression.
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It’s obviously not enough to give up the day job, but it dwarfs all other contributions I’ve had.
As a data point, my open source web app for a casual game received thousands of dollars of donations (not remotely covering the development cost if we go by hourly rate but that’s never the goal), while my open source developer tool with a couple thousand stars on GitHub received <$50 over several years. I don’t beg for donations in either case, just an inconspicuous link.
Disclosure: I donate a very modest amount to various projects every year.
In practice it can be an hidden freelancing or employment relationship.
Donators actually expect you to do things in return, for example with cURL they expect the developer to do security fixes.
Otherwise they will not get the “donation” the next month
It may not be written on a paper for legal reasons, but it is made for a good reason.
A true donation you do not expect for anything in return.
This could explain why they consider donation too low. A gift cannot be too small. But a gift where the giver has very high expectations in return may be too low.
Claw back this month’s “donation” if I don’t meet your expectations — sure, that’s an air quotes donation.
No donation next month if I don’t meet your expectations — that’s just a bona fide donation like any other.