Funding programming language development via Patreon is relatively new that it might be a reasonable characterization. I do think that many PL projects are underfunded and should have better BMs to sustain itself, and one positive aspect of V is that it showed you can actually have a good chance of sustainable cash inflow with proper marketing (more generally, [1] is a good start).
[1] https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/04/09/what-heartbleed-can-tea...