Other donation-based sites/organizations like to publicize their donation stats or set goals and show how close they are to those goals. This does two things:

1. It shows people that other people are actually donating.

2. It shows people how their money fits into the “big picture.”

Now, you might think that #1 might convince people NOT to donate (because other people are donating). However, I think #1 has a bigger guilt factor that convinces people to donate to follow suit.

Plus, doing these things shows you’re really serious about the donations. You’re saying that you care about keeping this site up, and you’ll look at donations as a way of helping you do that. I think that sends a good message to potential donors too.

Just a thought.