[fundamental]

The key thing that seems to be missing is $1 from how many people?

$1 from one individual involves a lot of overhead to complete a transaction (for your average person), but $1 from N people who each require a minimum of interaction can make much more economical sense. This can be multiplied by getting $1 from N people every X days.

Per the original question there's fairly little I'd be willing to provide to a single individual at $1, but in aggregate (high N, reasonable X) there's a number of viable options (mostly in the software realm).