For many of the things that people might want to do, a "patronage" model isn't so bad either: the creator demands $1000 for the work behind the link; people can leave an e-mail address and pay anything from $1 to the full remaining price, and will be notified as soon as the work is available.
I think this has tons of value, almost like a mini-kickstarter without the need to advertise for a kick for communities of people (forums, etc) who want new features or some kind of quick bit of work done.
