Ohr Chodosh, I’ve personally seen plenty of chaz”al out there that discuss the huge z’chus that is being a benefactor of Torah. Some darshen the pasuk of “Eitz chayim hee lamachazikim bah”: It doesn’t say “lelomdeyha” (those who learn her) or “leyodeyha” (those who know her), but rather, “those who hold her” – which chazal say means financial support.
We don’t show the same kavod to a guy who knows one ten thousandth of what a Gadol knows, as we do to the Gadol, even if it was twenty thousand times more difficult for this guy to learn what he learnt. The same goes for financial support. While anyone who supports Torah deserves kavod, especially someone for whom it is difficult, be’olam hazeh we are not equipped with the knowledge to judge the levels of people’s nisyonos. Therefore we go according to how much someone knows & lives Torah and how much someone supports Torah, but NOT how hard it was for them. Be’olam haba it is a different case, and that’s where we say “olam hafooch raiti”.