That's awesome, Hayden! It's also inspiring to me. I've given thought to putting down guitar, bass, and vox on my own, and then hitting the studio to do drums...maybe. But the thing IS a money issue.
Fortunately for you, you have a guy that is cool enough to put down drums for you. That's a huge break! I've read a little bit on getting donations. If you don't have a personal website, then getting a blog going is a good idea. To get people interested in donating, some things you can do is offer to put their names in your thanks list. You can also offer them a free song for doing so.
I remember taking notes from this book recently, but the website for it is so much more helpful! There's even people that you can contact for a place to crash at if you're going out on the road. No kidding. Here, check it out:http://www.indieguide.com/
You'll find a lot of advice that you already know, but there's a ton of creative ideas on there for the DIY musician that you may not have thought of. The links on that page are VERY useful!
Hope that link helps you out a bit.
