It does seem that there are a couple of fundamentally different ways that creators can use Patreon, whether as a membership/subscription type service, vs a patronage type service. I do hope that Patreon will recognize that distinction and either allow customization of our pages to reflect it, or they will find language that is more inclusive for both camps . . .
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About a year in, I decided to rework my rewards. I asked my patrons how they felt about this. The response was “we don’t care about rewards”, which I know is not the case for every creator. My tribe simply doesn’t care about the swag. They’re on Patreon because they want me to keep doing what I do. That’s not membership. That’s patronage.
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Yes, many of our patrons have said similar things, or don’t seem to be even checking out the rewards. So if we are forced to make the rewards more front and center, or have our campaign be entirely focused around the rewards, that would likely hurt us. Social psychology studies have shown that if people are motivated to do something for altruistic reasons, then offering them a small reward for it can actually make them less likely to do the action, because it reframes it to them as being about the reward, and if the reward isn’t significant, then they no longer see the reason to perform the action. So some of us really are focused on having our supporters feel that the main reason they pledge is to support our work. There are little rewards to thank them if they want them, but the main reason is to support us. That’s what I’m hoping won’t be lost for those of us who are using Patreon in this way.
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I asked mine the same when I was reworking my rewards and they said the same thing. They understand what patronage is, because they have been exposed to that sort of language through art museums, PBS, and NPR.
Patreon was originally intended as a patronage system, but it’s always been up to the creator in how they present it. There was nothing stopping anyone from using it as a membership platform, just as there is nothing stopping us from continuing to use it for patronage, unless they do not give us the choice of the language we’re using and if they put rewards as the first thing someone sees across the top.
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I agree 100% with all of this. There is a totally different psychology if you make it about the rewards both for patrons and creators.
In the beginning of my Patreon campaign I made more and more rewards hoping for more and more patrons, but it didn’t happen. I kept having giveaways and bonus content if you pledge now! And got zero new patrons for my efforts. I even worded my goals so that if I reached one, there would be even more rewards. My patrons have no interest in stuff. The type of fans and followers I have aren’t interested in getting things. They want me to make more art.
I reworded my goals to be what I could do with that amount of patronage. At $25 I would use that or set it aside for art supplies. The minute that was the new goal I met it. The next goal was so I could go to artist meetings and I met that one quickly too. My third and current goal is so I can go to art museums regularly and do museum studies. I had one patron organize a street team across the country and in the UK to help distribute my art for World Art Drop Day in September. Her sole motivating factor was to share my art with as many people as possible in her city and as many other real world locations as possible. She was also the first one to tell me she doesn’t care about rewards, it’s all about supporting an artist on an intimate level, that of direct patronage.
I don’t want the language to change on my page because I don’t want to alienate anyone who is wanting to support me for the sake of supporting my work. I just hope Patreon keeps true to what they said earlier in the year which was to give us more control over the relationship with our patrons. I would like the option to keep the “become a patron” button and language throughout, but I hope those of you leaning towards memberships also get the option to use the language appropriate to your campaign.
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Lochy, that is my concern, that they will change the language or presentation for us, without giving us a choice. There is a Patreon survey that I took yesterday that showed examples of new ways of presenting your creator page that DOES change the language and the prominence of the rewards (called memberships in some of the new examples). So I do hope Patreon hears us that we need a little flexibility. 
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I took the same survey and thought the same thing.
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Lochy pretty much said exactly what I think too. All the (few) patrons I have had communication with have made it quite clear they want to be my patron to support what I do, and what I do is the reward. Hardly any patrons have actually bothered with the actual ‘rewards’ I’ve offered because they don’t give a s***.
I am not on Patreon to make a living either. For me, it is most definitely a tip jar, or a busker’s hat, and my patrons are just patrons. They aren’t members of anything and I make that very clear to them. Membership suggests I’m some kind of club leader or some-such, which then suggests obligation. That’s like work, man.
@mindy, hopefully you are seeing some of the follow up on this thread. I felt somewhat reassured when you said, “you do you” until I saw the survey and the changes that Patreon is considering making to our creator pages. I think some of us would really appreciate hearing that Patreon is going to continue to give us the opportunity for “us to do us” if we don’t want to follow a membership model, or have the rewards be so front and center. As some of us are saying, that would be detrimental to our campaigns. Thanks!
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I’m still here and reading 
really interesting thoughts, thank you so much for the discussion! It’s clear people care a lot about the language and I totally get what you’re saying and feel for that, too. I think you sum it up nicely by saying:
As creators talk and use Patreon in so many different ways, it can make it tricky to educate potential creators just what Patreon is and who it’s for. We’ve been using more membership language recently because it helps both creators and patrons get into the mindset of value for value = money for X. It’s up to the creator if the value the patron receives is the content itself (the patronage model) or bonus things (the membership model). I’m not on the product team so it’s hard for me to say about the future but I know these threads are crucial for them to understand how creators use Patreon to ensure we don’t alienate anyone or change things that would hurt current creators. I’ve sent this thread for them to read in full.
Keep telling us how you feel and taking part in surveys we share here so we can always hear your thoughts as and when we think about this stuff!
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Thanks, Mindy! One thing that I did want to clarify is about this:
I think some of us are trying to say that we are not trying to be about “money for X”, that our patrons are getting something more intangible from supporting us, and that’s why we are pushing back on the change in language and in making the rewards more front and center. For many of us, our patrons are supporting us to feel good about themselves for doing so, for example. If we push the rewards more, that will actually diminish these types of motivations that these patrons currently feel about supporting us. (Speaking from my psychology background here ) Some of us are trying to focus more on intrinsic motivations, and don’t want to shift the focus so strongly to extrinsic ones, like a money for X transaction. Especially if we’re not offering strong rewards, other than the satisfaction of supporting a creator that you love. 
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Seems like you’re on the wrong site then dude.
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Thanks for the clarification @FutilityCloset, I really appreciate it. I’d be curious to know - how do you define your Patreon model? I’d love to know how you think about it and in what terms if not “$ for X”, do you have a name for it? a tip jar? donation? or something more supportive and emotional? that will help me convey this to the team as they continue thinking about membership and value for value.
Why do you say this? This is actually how Patreon was positioning itself when we first joined it. It was a way for fans to support the creations they loved (that was the language that was used back then). This was the main focus of the platform. So we thought we were in just the right place.
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@mindy Something more supportive and emotional. We call the people who pledge to us our patrons and our supporters. And that’s what they are. They enable us to keep creating our podcasts; without them there wouldn’t be podcasts. They then see themselves as part of our celebration of the quirky and the curious (as we call it) and it’s kind of an identity thing for them; they identify with what our podcast is about and feel good about themselves for supporting it. It’s a long-term commitment for most of them; many of our patrons have been with us for years. As I was saying, it’s about identity and intrinsic motivations. You lose those or at least strongly diminish them, when you focus too heavily on “what they get for their money.” But for us it’s much more significant and long-term than a tip jar or just a donation, though that is how some others like to use Patreon, and that’s fine for them. We make it clear to people that we’re looking for ongoing support from our patrons.
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@mindy, by the way, just to clarify, we’re using “patron” in the classical sense of a patron of the arts. We had always thought that’s how Patreon was using it, too. The very name is a variant of the word.
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I found that the more ‘stuff’ you give-away, the more motivated Patrons become by ‘stuff’.
I don’t consider my page a ‘Membership’ platform, and instead see it and speak of it as a ‘Support’ platform.
From my personal experience, Patrons that are supporting me for ‘stuff’ don’t tend to stick around. Once they get what they were after, they usually drop out. This has more to do with physical rewards than intangibles like WIPs and extra content.
I found that getting rid of ‘stuff’ on my reward tiers has helped myself immensely in creating and keeping a solid base of supporters. My number of Patrons hasn’t increased much, if at all over the past year, but the number of loyal, long-term supporters has. I’m pretty sure this has a direct correlation with getting ‘stuff’.
Membership also denotes more than just support. It implies you get something no one else does, and in my case, that is not the truth.
If my supporters are instead called ‘Members’, it’s a much different definition and mental connotation than ‘Supporter’ or Patron.
If the basic language and purpose of Patreon is to become a ‘Membership’, or ‘Subscription’ platform, then the marketing and likely even the name should change.
This is re-branding, plain and simple.
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For what it’s worth, I’m with @FutilityCloset. I use Patreon as a tip jar (successfully) on a per-item basis, and I’m not offering membership into anything. My content is free, and I don’t offer any meaningful rewards via Patreon.
As @Ghool said, I’d much rather stay focused on my core offering than spend time on peripheral swag. Unlike @joumana, I’d rather avoid the perception of a a service-for-fees type relation, turning my patrons into “customers.” Put a coin in the tip jar… or not, and I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.
I don’t think you all really understand: your commitment to continue making what people support you for, IS a service. It doesn’t matter whether you offer extra rewards or not. When you say “tip jar”, my perception is “I’m just doing this for kicks, there is no commitment, and I’ll get a real job at some point”. I’m not saying that is truly the case, but the language you’re using belongs to a teenager’s summer job, not to a committed creator who respects what they do. This is about language. Perhaps you’re used to it and fine with it, but as a potential patron myself, when I see a “tip jar”, I don’t waste my money. Ther’s a large demographic out there who feels the same, which is why this model is slow to catch on. Maybe “membership” is not the perfect word, but it’s absolutely right that Patreon is looking for less dilettante language when doing outreach. There also seems to be a misconception about the nature of patronage, historically. If you think patrons of the arts expected no personal gain in return, you have a very romantic idea of reality. It’s called patronage or sponsorship, not donation.
With all that said, I firmly believe everyone should manage their account as they want, and have control over the terminology used on their own page. How the site presents itself to the outside world is another matter and will determine how it positions itself in this market.
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Oh and I actually should bring this up. I realize this is a heavily US-based site and tipping is a big part of the culture. Possibly Patreon doesn’t have global ambitions and this isn’t really relevant, but there are vast swathes of the planet where tipping is seen as very insulting. It’s a matter of dignity. Donating without receiving goods or services in return puts the receiver in the position of a beggar and the donor in a position of social superior; it’s lopsided and horribly awkward for both parties. People will avoid to put themselves in either position at all cost. Again, language matters. If you can make them think of it as an exchange, it reframes the matter. But words such as “donate”, “tip jar” and the like cannot be used in such societies. Case in point: I cannot push Patreon to my Middle-Eastern audience as long as it looks like I’m asking for support. The only socially acceptable message is “I am doing this. I don’t need your money, but you’re very welcome to sign up to my inner circle with the advantages that entails”.
I wish this weren’t the case, but there you have it.