Why do you give Members perks? Why can’t you just ask them to donate?

Many nonprofits offer small perks to encourage donations, like t-shirts or plushies. While we wish that people would donate out of the goodness of their heart (and many people do!), it helps to have a “thank you” post-donation. Because Scratch is a virtual community, our “thank you”s to Members are virtual, too. If you see a cat-ear avatar frame around the Scratch community, you’ll know that a Scratcher and their family donated to keep Scratch free for everyone – just like an “I saved the pandas!” t-shirt tells you that a person has supported their favorite cause. Member perks do not mean that some Scratchers are better or more important than others. Our community thrives because of every Scratcher, whether or not they’ve donated to Scratch.