As for donations between members and taking a portion of that for the site -- when the donationcredits systsm first went live -- some portion of donations always went to the site and the rest into the users account to do with as they please.
But what was found is that people so rarely get involved in giving their donations to specific people, that the far better and simpler solution is to just say that anyone who is willing to specifically donate to a specific user on the site, should just be allowed to do that purely, and no need to try to take some portion of those donations. People who are involved enough in the site to be making donations to specific people will already donate to the site if they feel like it.-mouser
Understood, but if it's a fundraiser/for-a-good-cause folks tend to get more involved ... Because there is now a something to be a part of taking place. There are some folks that don't have anything to work with/funds to donate for various reasons from the obvious economy to just being to scared to stuff their CC info into a webpage.
Hell if I had to take money out of the house account right now I'd have to either skip a few meals or walk to work a few days next week. But! I do have a schekel or two in donations that could be moved around a bit without effecting household financed (or the wife's permission...

) in the slightest. So...
I could either (say for example) donate $50 directly to the site, or I could donate $10 to each of 5 members and the site would get ($25) half of the transacted funds. But by doing it this way, it now allows the 5 members in question to "Get Involved" in the "Game" because they now have a string-less stake of $5 each to play with.
It has been said that the key to the economy is to get-the-money-moving ... So we just make a game out of it.