Here’s my two cents, for what they’re worth.
If you can’t afford donating money, don’t do it. It’s not wise to expect something in return. I’ve given money to one or two of promising indie enterprises, like Indiana Jones: The Fountain of Youth. That was at a time when I thought they would pull it off, but they’ve been at it since 2000, so I’m not holding my breath. That's okay, I'm sure they had a lot of expenses and I don't regret my donation.
Kickstarter c.s. is not quite the same thing, unless you donate a couple of dollars just to support a project. For me, it’s an investment in something I really want and I do expect them to deliver the goods,
as promised. Of course it’s still a risk, anything may happen. So far, I’ve invested money in three games: Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller (confusing last name, there’s also a Carol Reed detective), an audio adventure without graphics (should be interesting), and an IF game which I’ve already written off as a bad investment.
