The customer is having that expectation does not mean it's not a donation, when I go to the grocery store and they say I get a pack of chocolate after I donated a certain amount, that does not mean it's not a donation. You have no idea what donation is.
No point in arguing with ignorance.
I was literary quoting the definition.
And country's have rules for donations. tax rules, ie. donating to a non-profit organisation vs profit organisation etc..
And your logic is flawed, come up with a better example.
The grocery store has a pack of chocolate you want.
So to get hold of the pack of chocolate you have two options.
1* pay for the pack of chocolate.
2* donate to the grocery store to get the pack of chocolate.
Looking at those two options you only have 1 option.
You can only get the pack of chocolate if you use money.
If they say you get a pack of chocolate after you donated a certain amount.
That is no different than the clerk telling you this pack of chocolate costs N amount.
However. If they DONT say you get a pack of chocolate after you donated a certain amount.
But give you a pack of chocolate after you donated a certain amount, then by definition that is a donation.
And in regards of patreon. You are not donating for a monthly service provided by patreon and its creator(s).
You are paying for it, and often there are different prices for level of access to services/content provided.
Anywho. im done arguing this with you. you can do you own research of what donations is and law/rules for your country.
This is rather off topic to the thread anyway.