1. Just your estimate, when will Monero toolchain, with new database included, be released? As I've read latest, LMDB support implementation is ready, but there are performance issues with LMDB under Windows (under Linux, performance seems to be good enough).
The code is merged to master and it does work -- you can clone it and test -- but there are various edge cases, lingering problems with the conversion tools, etc. This is a major change and before an official release all the final details need to be cleaned up. I don't have a date for that.
2. Are you satisfied by donations, especially donations from mining pools? Do that pools declared they make donations, actually do them with percentage given?
I don't know the situation with the mining pools.
As for the donations generally I don't know that we have an official position, except to say that more would always help, and all donations are appreciated, but that small increases don't change anything qualitatively (in the sense of hiring people full time and such).
Personally I'm very pleased with the support we get from the community. The total value of the coin is still pretty small. Businesses that are based on or use Monero are still limited in number and still small, so we can't really expect a lot from them either (though CK is notable in having contributed significantly, despite not even really being launched yet). So expectations should be modest and overall I'd say the donations have exceeded my expectations.
