I'm thinking there should be an Elite rank for players who deserve it. Invite only. Feedback desired :]
I think if this was implemented, The person who was promoted to Elite, could have a free choice of a upgrade, Wether it be Nether access, Nether upgrade, Water buckets, TP abilites, Back command One of those ^ This would then encourage people to be helpful, caring and generally nice around the server and could be rewarded in this way
I personally think that this would just be more work for andrewkm since he'd have to update a lot of areas in regards to mentioning the features of an Elite. Ie. Minecraft Forum [Which he hasn't updated in awhile], Wiki, News Forum, etc. Also as antcubing said, it would lead to bias as who really is worth deserving of praise? People are different in showing their way for being kind than others. [Also, this kinda ruins the point of Donator Features if they're so openly accessible.]
Maybe not an [Elite] Rank, but more of a [Veteran] rank for people who have been with the server for a long time, not done anything wrong, and truly deserve it.
I personally don't see either of these happening. Its too much work for Andrew for a purely cosmetic rank that serves only the purpose but to inflate someone's ego.