I don't understand money
08/11/15 05:15
It is a good think that I’m not a banker, or an accountant, or anyone else whose business it is to deal with money. The bottom line is that the more I think about it, the less I understand money. Huge amounts of money exchange hands and much of it doesn’t make sense to me. Last night we attended a fundraising dinner. The cause is a foundation whose work I very much appreciate. They contribute heavily to the quality of life in our community and the banquet celebrated the accomplishments of those served by the foundation. We probably never would spend that kind of money on a dinner, but knowing that we were supporting the cause made it seem like a good idea. After all, nice as the dinner was, we know that it did not cost the amount of the tickets. On top of that, they were selling raffle tickets at high prices. I’m not one for raffles, so didn’t buy tickets, but a lot of others did. And there were envelopes on the tables for those who wanted to make additional donations. We were reminded throughout the evening of the corporate sponsors who had made large donations in support of the evening’s activities. The dinner was held in one of the larger halls in our community’s civic center and the tables were filled with diners. I don’t know the amount of money that was raised, but I think the planners of the event feel that it was successful.
Here is the part that I don’t understand: The evening was filled with evident extravagances. There were two stages set up in the room. After the program on one stage there was professional entertainment on the other. The raffle prizes were expensive items like a big screen tv, a mountain bike, vacation vouchers, spa treatments and more. Four huge projection screens showed professionally edited videos throughout the evening. There were two cash bars. The catered meal was fancy and I’m sure expensive. To raise the money, they spent a lot of money.
The evening was pleasant, but I probably would have been just as happy if they had not spent the money on the entertainment. I’m not anti social, but I would probably have been just as happy if they had served a few hors d’oeuvres, handed out the awards, and let it go at that. I suspect that the organization has a lot of donors who would be happy to make their gifts without expecting anything in return and who would be just as happy if the organization didn’t invest months of preparation and hours of staff time planning the extravaganza.
But, again, I don’t really understand money. I suspect that they raised more money in their one evening than the annual budget of my congregation. When it comes to dollars, I’m more comfortable staying out of the big leagues, whether we are talking about running a nonprofit or my own family budget.
Back in the late 1960’s, John McCaw bought a Gibson J-160E acoustic guitar for $275. That was in the days when I paid $60 for my first guitar. The thing about this guitar is that Gibson made it for a man named John Lennon, who used it for about a year then swapped it to George Harrison for another guitar. A few years later, Harrison started using another guitar and the instrument ended up on the used market. Gibson, however, puts serial numbers on guitars and an individual instrument can be traced. Beatles’ instruments expert Andy Babiuk identified the guitar as one used by John Lennon and it sold at auction last week for $2.4 million dollars. It was, I think a rather large profit for the $275 investment. But I don’t really understand money.
After President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas in November 1963, the limousine in which he was riding was sent in for upgrades by its owner. The license plates that were on the car were discarded. One of the employees of the company doing the work retrieved the license plates from the garbage and kept them. His daughter inherited them along with the story of their origin. She kept them in a drawer in her kitchen for years. They sold at auction for $100,000, well over double what was expected. At the same auction a menu from the last dinner served on the Titanic before it sank fetched $118,750. I really don’t understand money.
It seems to me that the values attached to items bear no relationship to actual worth. I suspect that the guitar, license plates and menu might be interesting to view in a museum, but I can’t imagine wanting to own such items.
For some reason last night after the dinner I was thinking of my mother’s father. He died when I was young and I know him mostly from family stories. He was a prominent lawyer and very active in his church. He was a generous man who supported a lot of causes. He would have been appalled at the dinner we attended. I don’t know if I could even have explained our choice to participate. He would have been upset at the alcohol served. The alcohol wasn’t a big part of the evening, but he was a teetotaler and objected to any public consumption of alcohol. He would have been upset over the raffle. He was ardently opposed to any games of chance and would have considered a raffle to be gambling. “You don’t get something for nothing. That’s not the way the world works.” He would have objected to our eating the fancy dinner while there were people who were going hungry within blocks of the venue. Not sharing would have appalled him. The music and dancing probably wouldn’t have been to his liking, either. He wasn’t much for public displays. He simply wouldn’t have enjoyed the way the funds were being raised.
Two generations later, my wife and I dressed up and made an evening of it. I respect my grandfather deeply, but I live in a different community in different times and I really believe in the work done by the foundation.
On the other hand, I’m thinking that I won’t be going to their banquet every year. Some years I’m just going to write a check and make a donation and let others attend the festivities. After all, I really don’t understand money in the first place.
Here is the part that I don’t understand: The evening was filled with evident extravagances. There were two stages set up in the room. After the program on one stage there was professional entertainment on the other. The raffle prizes were expensive items like a big screen tv, a mountain bike, vacation vouchers, spa treatments and more. Four huge projection screens showed professionally edited videos throughout the evening. There were two cash bars. The catered meal was fancy and I’m sure expensive. To raise the money, they spent a lot of money.
The evening was pleasant, but I probably would have been just as happy if they had not spent the money on the entertainment. I’m not anti social, but I would probably have been just as happy if they had served a few hors d’oeuvres, handed out the awards, and let it go at that. I suspect that the organization has a lot of donors who would be happy to make their gifts without expecting anything in return and who would be just as happy if the organization didn’t invest months of preparation and hours of staff time planning the extravaganza.
But, again, I don’t really understand money. I suspect that they raised more money in their one evening than the annual budget of my congregation. When it comes to dollars, I’m more comfortable staying out of the big leagues, whether we are talking about running a nonprofit or my own family budget.
Back in the late 1960’s, John McCaw bought a Gibson J-160E acoustic guitar for $275. That was in the days when I paid $60 for my first guitar. The thing about this guitar is that Gibson made it for a man named John Lennon, who used it for about a year then swapped it to George Harrison for another guitar. A few years later, Harrison started using another guitar and the instrument ended up on the used market. Gibson, however, puts serial numbers on guitars and an individual instrument can be traced. Beatles’ instruments expert Andy Babiuk identified the guitar as one used by John Lennon and it sold at auction last week for $2.4 million dollars. It was, I think a rather large profit for the $275 investment. But I don’t really understand money.
After President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas in November 1963, the limousine in which he was riding was sent in for upgrades by its owner. The license plates that were on the car were discarded. One of the employees of the company doing the work retrieved the license plates from the garbage and kept them. His daughter inherited them along with the story of their origin. She kept them in a drawer in her kitchen for years. They sold at auction for $100,000, well over double what was expected. At the same auction a menu from the last dinner served on the Titanic before it sank fetched $118,750. I really don’t understand money.
It seems to me that the values attached to items bear no relationship to actual worth. I suspect that the guitar, license plates and menu might be interesting to view in a museum, but I can’t imagine wanting to own such items.
For some reason last night after the dinner I was thinking of my mother’s father. He died when I was young and I know him mostly from family stories. He was a prominent lawyer and very active in his church. He was a generous man who supported a lot of causes. He would have been appalled at the dinner we attended. I don’t know if I could even have explained our choice to participate. He would have been upset at the alcohol served. The alcohol wasn’t a big part of the evening, but he was a teetotaler and objected to any public consumption of alcohol. He would have been upset over the raffle. He was ardently opposed to any games of chance and would have considered a raffle to be gambling. “You don’t get something for nothing. That’s not the way the world works.” He would have objected to our eating the fancy dinner while there were people who were going hungry within blocks of the venue. Not sharing would have appalled him. The music and dancing probably wouldn’t have been to his liking, either. He wasn’t much for public displays. He simply wouldn’t have enjoyed the way the funds were being raised.
Two generations later, my wife and I dressed up and made an evening of it. I respect my grandfather deeply, but I live in a different community in different times and I really believe in the work done by the foundation.
On the other hand, I’m thinking that I won’t be going to their banquet every year. Some years I’m just going to write a check and make a donation and let others attend the festivities. After all, I really don’t understand money in the first place.