I think in earlier vim versions, you could see a message if you opened vim without a file (vim -u NONE # to prevent .vimrc from doing whatever shenanigans you've set up)
Huh. My .vimrc is pretty simple and definitely doesn't include a "don't show donation messages" line, but I do see the message on the front screen when I do `vim -u NONE`. It's not there when I execute `vim`.
I think in earlier vim versions, you could see a message if you opened vim without a file (vim -u NONE # to prevent .vimrc from doing whatever shenanigans you've set up)