Update 16 Dec 2013: The LunchMoney site is now archived here.

I’m sure there are many people like me: we like to be helpful. So people ask us questions, and we’re helpful, and they ask more questions, and we keep getting our kicks from helping them, and then we die. Of starvation.

LunchMoney gives people (usually small businesses) buttons for their emails (or websites, but usually emails) that let their recipients make a quick, small, defined donation in return for helpfulness. Getting paid this way would be great, if it happens. Of course, I estimate that one in a thousand emails will actually elicit a payment. (I’ve been putting LunchMoney buttons on selected emails for a few weeks to test the system before going live. No tips yet…) But that’s the thing: the payment is not the point. For most people, the point is the point: the point that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that now and then, there’s nothing wrong with a monetary thank-you.

If LunchMoney gets sign-ups, it’ll keep 10% of all payments. This should cover PayPal charges and leave a percent or two as revenue.

Tools used: WordPress CMS with the Modest theme by Elegant Themes. I used Photoshop to create the logo.

Process: Register domain; install WordPress; download, install and set up the theme; set up PayPal donate buttons; design buttons in Photoshop; write copy; set up Facebook page required for theme. Probably about five hours’ work spread over several days.