DONATE OR DIE
DONATE OR DIE (also DONATE OR DIE 2005) was a highly ambitious campaign started by moot on August 28, 2005 to collect $20,000 worth of donations in a single week, in order to buy new servers and forestall 4chan's dreaded 5th death, for at least a year.
One week into Donate or Die 2005, 4chan had only reached 50% of the goal. In a bulletin three weeks in, on September 15, moot announced that he had used the $11,000 collected at that time to purchase three new servers, but that he lacked funds to collocate them, and he set September 30th as the final day of donations.
This announcement led many to believe that September 30th was 'zero hour' and led to a flurry of new "4chan DIES" posts; the expected judgment day, however, did not materialize.
In a news post on October 25, moot revealed that although the target of $20,000 had not been reached, the donation drive was a limited success and things were looking up for 4chan. The end result of Donate or Die 2005 was that the servers were purchased and brought online in February 2006.
Shortly after, in a blog post, moot revealed that another donation drive would be forthcoming. There hasn't actually been a donation drive since Donate or Die.
