I've never done that "fund raising" thingy. I once had an offer to embed a pay per lead banner but considered the low traffic it seemed not be a good idea.
It's a very specific app and probably the database is more valueable than the visitor number…
It's a very specific app and probably the database is more valueable than the visitor number…
This may be a completely useless suggestions as I'm not sure if it's even possible, but perhaps you could port IsItRails to other open-source projects (e.g., IsItDjango). The site could then be a useful way for recognizing open-source projects/devs.
As the database grows, I may start using it show non-technical people that these projects are not just fringe, non-scalable technologies.
Great work!
One last note, as far as fundraising, what's the worst thing that could happen if you sent an email to all the sponsors of RailsCasts asking if they'd be interested in promoting on your site?
Keeping your expectations realistic is important, however. I don't think this is the kind of site that you could support yourself on.