Can’t help thinking that if HN had a Black Mirror version (if this isn’t it), this would be one of the ideas in it.
If you like a project enough to donate to them, give them the money directly and let them decide how to spend it. This is just convoluted, weird and vaguely dystopian.
Well then, I'm hoping it's more of a San Junipero/Hang the DJ episode where good stuff happens by the end.
I think there's a trust continuum that culminates at giving money no strings attached, but it starts somewhere else. If my goal (as creator of CleverCrow) is to get more people to support maintainers, then I have to open the funnel wide and connect with where people start (transactionally, I'm assuming).