I think donations via something like Patreon, or subscriptions via an app are eventually totally reasonable for a Lemmy instance. I got enough utility out of Reddit that I would have been willing to pay a few bucks a month for an ad free app subscription. Reddit’s unreasonable, shortsighted management was the problem there. Once Lemmy starts to mature more and there is content worth paying for I’m ready to do my part to make sure it can continue without corporate involvement.