Well my answer to this is like you stated Alot of people are from Zarpor and rsps2 and myself I played zarpor from early 2012.
The day I started playing Ely was actualy a day were I wanted to see what was up with Zarpor and was directed to ely. At first I was confused (As anyone would) but I decided to give it ago. Then I realised Matt was a developer and then knew that Zarpor had been took over and turned into what I know and love today... Ely. But that is only a small part to why I stayed. The main reason is the community, everyone greets new players and trys there best to help anyone new or old to the server. The community is great there is no toxicity or drama just pure joy.
My reasoning for donating is quite simple. I want this server to grow, I want this server to be successful like how I remeber Zarpor being back in the day I played that RSPS. I know Lation is putting donations towards Ads and without donations how far along would the ads be. I feel like this server is going to be around a long time and I want to help support the longevity of Ely.