I'm about to donate (a very little) something as well (have to find a working card first), but here's my concept for a continuous financing system:
This is just a 3min mockup from a dude with 0 graphics or web design skills. Just imagine the whole thing in pretty, with fancy progress bars and graphics etc.
Explanation: Build a permanent module on the Changstar page (upper right corner; upper left corner next to the logo; wherever) to display the current funding status. For example:
Monthly costs of keeping the site running: 1'500$
Stretch goals for the month:
Organize a loaner program for the Mr. Speakers Ether (+600$)
Build a searchable database for all user-uploaded measurement sheets à la Innerfidelity (+500$)
Purchase and measure a Sennheiser HD630 VB (+150$)
Organize a local meet in Bumfuck Mississippi (+300$)
Total: 3050$ for this month.
Not only would contributions thus be incentivized in a very tasteful way, but the system would be totally transparent. Each month a new calculation is made and a new cycle begins. Perhaps users can vote on what they'd like to see happen in polls or something. For example: The changstar users vote that they'd like to see a Sennheiser HD630VB purchased and measured. This headphone costs about 500$. The site owners/organizers get into contact with Sennheiser to try to work out favorable conditions. Perhaps the price gets down to 400$. This amount is then added as a stretch goal to the monthly calculation. If the necessary funds are collected, the organizers purchase the headphone, measure it, write a review etc, and then put the headphone up for auction on the site. Some user purchases it for 320$. That money gets rolled over to next months calculation. Total cost of purchasing and measuring the HD630VB: 80$, crowdfunded + organizers time. (This is just a naive example-calculation, of course real numbers might differ drastically, it's just an illustration).
Benefits of such a system:
+ Utter transparency
+ No need for corporate sponsorship or annoying ads (awesome companies like Schiit can chime in like any user: Their contributions are public and traceable)
+ Democratic component to the allocation of funds
+ Incentivization for donations through the 'stretch goal'-system
- Possibility that the owners could inflate the effective costs of keeping the system running in order to enrich themselves (but they could do so using Indiegogo or every other system as well, as soon as people are discontent with the communication donations will naturally drop...)
- Perhaps it wouldnt work because reasons.