Its interesting that Tor nodes are operating at a loss while VPN companies are raking in the cash.
For all practical purposes the Tor network is basically just a decentralized VPN service. Perhaps Tor could offer a paid fast lane (or introduce some way to automatically donate to nodes as you use them) to incentivize nodes to join.
I also think Tor could gain quite a few more users by marketing to folks who are just trying to access websites blocked on their work/school WiFi.