FYI, Bitcointalk accepted donations too in the past and there are special ranks too called VIP when someone donated 50BTC or above and donator if they donated 10BTC.
I have also been in the forum, not the best place comparing with Bitcointalk. Since we now have more teleported accounts inside Altcointalk, the development and growth will become much faster because they must try to meet the standard here in Bitcointalk.
Very soon Altcointalk will stop to award those badges through purchase, given important badges too easy can become an easy way for scams.