In reply to nphaskins.

I agree. Part of the "problem", I think, is that WordPress has been so fortunate to have so many great plugins and themes, as well as components of WordPress itself, developed and supported "for free" by skilled people either with the time or with an organization behind them that pays their salary while they do their work as a way to give back to the WordPress Community. For this and a number of other reasons, "Paid" Themes and Plugins have garnered a negative reputation with many people, and Crowdfunding is viewed with suspicion as a result.