In all honesty, donating money to the ESF team just to get into the Force Pit is a self-defeating practice. But, for a lot of people, as soon as money comes into the mix, they're going to expect big things (even if it is only $5). It'd be like donating that $75 to PBS just to get your coffee mug and a calendar with Yanni's picture on it and expecting the picture to come to life and start serenading you with soothing, non-objectionable, new-age piano music. It's just not going to happen, and you know that you could have gotten a coffee mug and a calendar for a fraction of the price elsewhere.
When it started, I thought that the FP was a nice gesture - the extra screenies, videos, and longer leash were all good things to have on hand on only helped to increase the hype for upcoming releases. It's hard to get that effect these days when the community is so small and, indeed, almost every active member has access to the FP in one way or another. Calling it a "joke", though, shows that someone is short-sighted and selfish. There's only so much you can give back to such a tight community as a thank you that won't deplete the money you just got as a donation.
Like Sub just said now (and several times in the past), you should choose to donate because you want to help the team out, not because you're expecting a statue erected in your honor.