The IRS and Crowdfunding
Essentially, the main takeaway from this information put out by the IRS is that donations are only taxable income if donors receive something in exchange for their donation, such as a service or product. If not, they're non-taxable gifts—at least if you're a private individual and not a business. Given that you state you just began doing commission-based work this year (2021 as I am reading it), then for 2020 you would be considered an individual and not a business.
