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Krystian,
First of all, let me apologize for not finding this thread for almost 2 weeks! I hope you didn't think I was dissing you or anything.
As to your question: I do not have a problem with the idea of a donate button, personally. I've considered putting one up in the past, and in my original business model, I considered using a donation button instead of a direct payment method for my books.
However, my research has shown that, expect for a few notable examples, most users of donate buttons do not get a lot of money from them. The fact is, most people, when given the choice, will not donate, or will donate a smaller amount than the site owner might consider appropriate for what they are offered. In either case, site owners generally do not generate what they consider an adequate income from donation systems.
This changes, when a site attracts a large-enough following that the sheer volume of donations means a better showing. I've mentioned Stephen King's "The Plant" project elsewhere, and others have pointed out that King managed to make over $400,000 on what was essentially a donation system... nothing to sneeze at! That shows a much larger following than I am likely to get... ever!
Unfortunately, as I am not as famous as King... as my material is science fiction, generally considered a low-profit "niche" market... and as I work a "day job," and therefore don't have time to fill up my site with constantly-changing content... the amount of material that I can bring to my site doesn't really lend itself to the donation model. (Same thing for the subscription model, which has also been suggested in my case.) I imagine I'd pick up a few bucks, especially when I introduced a new book, but I would also expect it to be much less than I earn with direct payments.
If, in the future, I find the time to make my site much more active, dynamic, and interactive, a donation or subscription system might be workable for me. At this point, I don't think it would net that much.
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