Dollar Goals for the TOP Capital Campaign

I have been advised, hectored and nagged (okay, just advised, but those guys know who they are) to name a specific dollar goal for the Help TOP Move Print Offer, which is in reality (I'm told) a capital campaign.

The problem is, we really have no idea until they start how well any TOP sale will do. Our lowest-grossing sale earned less than $800 and the highest-grossing sale earned $136,000. It's impossible to predict. So it seems sort of pointless to name dollar goals.

But I can at least specify some levels of goals.

So here they are:

Goal level 1: If the campaign raises: $800…it would buy: a new ergonomic desk chair. $800 is way too much for a chair, which is why I don't own said chair now. GOAL REACHED!

Goal level 2: If the campaign raises: $2,000…it would buy: a new ergonomic desk chair and a new sit-stand desk. GOAL REACHED!

Goal level 3: If the campaign raises: $10,000–14,000…it would buy: an ergonomic chair and a sit-stand desk and an office redecoration/reconfiguration. No bigger, true, but the planner thinks we can shoehorn in a 36" wide desk for temp help as well as a medium-sized set of flat files. The office would be purpose-built and pretty, with cabinetry similar to that in a nice kitchen. And hopefully the cost could be 40–60% recoverable in the value of the house—an attractive home office being a moderately desirable feature in a home. GOAL REACHED!

Goal level 4: If the campaign raises: $35–45,000…it would buy: Remodeling the front of the house to double the size of TOP World HQ, to 250 sq. ft. SEE UPDATE

Goal level 5:If the campaign raises: $55–80,000…it would buy: that house down the street with an 8X–10X bigger office for TOP (the whole lower floor).

Goal level 6: If the campaign raises: $450,000…it would buy: A particular vacant lot near the edge of town that I saw when I was driving around and a custom-made single-story house with a billiards room and a spacious office. (I know. I'm just being funny now.)

Goal level 7: If the campaign raises: $6 million…it would buy: Retirement. I'd move to Normandy and tool around in an antique Jaguar and have a maid service come in and make my bed. This is probably a counterproductive goal level to all but a few of the most disgruntled TOP haters...because it would mean the end of TOP. So as soon as the dollar total exceeds, say, $2 million, people who like TOP  should probably ease up on buying anything further!

So anyway, good news. Based on Day 1, we have already reached the first two goal levels and are two-thirds of the way to the third-level goal. Our experience has been that about half the sales happen in the first day of the sale, so the chances of reaching Goal #3 seem a strong possibility.

This is very nice, and is giving me things to look forward to and making me happy. I have really wanted and needed a new desk. So BIG thanks!

Now that's enough of this. Back to photography very soon.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

David Dyer-Bennet: "A number of the high-bucks Kickstarter campaigns I've followed used this sort of set of levels. The Veronica Mars movie for example talked about how the fight scene at reunion could be anything from harsh words to a full-out brawl (and we got the full brawl; it did look expensive to shoot). Since you're selling prints, rather than just asking for contributions to the project, it's sort of a different thing anyway; at least some people will buy just for the prints without much consideration for the project. But it's interesting to me and no doubt others. And I'm amused at your high-end goals, yes."

Comments

[Marc Gibeault]

Stumbled upon this yesterday:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2036834894/the-most-affordable-automatic-sit-to-stand-desk

[jim]

Mike,
Do you worry that at the 6m level Zander might complain of there being no mention of HIM? I know my daughter would!

[Manfred]

None of the lower tier prints did strike me. I enjoy your writing and want to do my part, so I used the donate button.

[Bob Smith]

"If the campaign raises: $55–80,000…it would buy: that house down the street with an 8X–10X bigger office for TOP (the whole lower floor)."

GOD I would love to live someplace where you can buy a house for that kind of money....DC Metro area is obscene. I know it's all relative (location, opportunities, income) but this place has reached a tipping point where salaries are being outstripped by the cost of living. A salt box (type of house) goes for close to a million dollars on the street behind my townhouse. My tiny 1200 sq ft townhouse would sell today for close to half a million and the prices have been rising steadily for the last several years.

And a pound of bacon when not on sale costs almost $9.00 a pound! AAAHHHHHRRRGGGHHHH!

Sorry, that post brought on a rant. I hope you get enough $$ for the house down the street, that would make me weirdly happy.

I'm going fishing.

[Bob, Housing is very reasonable in this area, but not that reasonable. The house I was looking at started on the market being overpriced at $279k, but after months on the market has come down to $219k. The city tax assessment is something like $204k, and my realtor thinks it might appraise for less than that, meaning I probably couldn't get the mortgage to quite cover the whole purchase price.

My current house is a one-story ranch house that 25' wide and 40' deep, so 1k sq. ft., and it's worth about $135k. I'd be "moving up" pretty significantly. So what I'd get out of this house wouldn't cover the down payment on the other one.

They both have about the same living space, assuming I devoted the downstairs (a finished walk-out basement) to TOP.

Finally, the other house needs some upgrades, so I would have to put some cash into it before moving in. All in all it's a pretty expensive proposition. Hence the high numbers.

But I do take your point--having once lived in D.C., I'm pretty proud of the affordability of housing in my area. We're within driving distance of Milwaukee, which is a major city if not a large one, and we have quite good schools and very low crime (statistically about 1/3 to 1/2 the national average in all major categories. For instance, homicides here are either zero, one, or two--there were a total of eight between 2000 and 2012. And those are usually people shooting their friends or loved ones in a fit of rage). People are nice, and it ranked 8th on Forbes magazine's list of the best places in America to raise kids. The absolute top of the RE market might be in the 700k range, but you can essentially buy the nicest houses in town for the 400's and you can find perfectly nice suburban houses for $250-300k.

I know that's a lot different than D.C..... --Mike]

[Huw Morgan]

Mike, I have an '87 Jaguar that you can have for free. It's in great shape and will only cost you a few thou' per year in maintenance and repairs. That should put retirement at the $1 million level!

[Lars Jansen]

As buying a print is a bit too steep for me currently I've send a small donation your way. Hope this helps at least getting you that nice larger office.

Enjoy the ride!

Lars

[Patrick]

Normandy? Cheese, wine, a more maritime climate?

[Tony Roberts]

Not-the-end-of-TOP-dept:
Normandy or Nice or Arles plus the Jag do NOT require $6M. Vintage Jags in UK are dimes not dollars and the taking the SS Minnow to Marseilles will cost pennies not dollars. A simple apt. in any of these cities is not too much more than mortgage/taxes in WI and the cost of healthcare (unless you're on ACA/Medicare)is, again, pennies to our rip-off system's dollars. TOP en France, what a concept! Fast trains to Wetzlar (Leica) or Oberkochen (Zeiss) will speed you to the homes of giants. How's your French, mon ami?

[RobinP]

I was going to say that Normandy is too cold in the winter but compared to Wisconsin it would probably feel quite mild :-)
Some snaps of Normandy at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66573565@N05/sets/72157639092364014/

[Calvin Palmer]

What's the attraction of Missouri? ;-)

[David Grundy]

Different thinga suit differemt people. Still ... recently I nearly bought a sit/stand desk for home. But then I realised I would probably gain substantially all the same benefit with less hassle with a Swopper stool. (But I have not yet done either. I haven't talked myself into the expensiture yet.)

[Richard Newman]

So your ultimate ambition is to be the 6 million dollar man????

[Euan Forrester]

Donation sent :). I enjoy your writing immensely and hope that this helps in a small way.

[David Lee]

A French maid, a Jaguar, fresh oysters...sounds like a plan!

[Hugh Crawford]

Houses in Wisconsin go for what???

https://www.google.com/search?q=million+dollar+parking+spot

What's the catch?

[Nigel Robinson]

At what stage can I apply to be an intern?

[Pak-Ming Wan]

I would second that you wouldn't need $6m to move to Normandy! The only problem would be the visa, healthcare, and probably taxes (to remain a US citizen, I think you need to continue submitting a tax return).

Pak

http://www.seloger.com/recherche.htm?org=engine&idtt=2&div=2236&idtypebien=1,2&pxmax=200000&&ANNONCEpg=2#idtt=2&idtypebien=2&div=2236&pxmin=75000&pxmax=200000&&tri=a_px&

[David Thorpe]

I am not a print buyer so I hit the donate button too.

[Trecento]

Mike,
Looking at the wonderful by-the-water pictures, I thought to myself "gee, why doesn't he rent a nice place in Annapolis?" or some place near Yorktown, near the southern tip of Maryland's western shore. The weather's more temperate here, by far, and if you aren't in commuting distance of DC, property isn't ridiculously expensive. Please think of adding something around the $250,000-750,000 mark along the lines of "will consider moving somewhere warmer".

[Michael Roche]

Hope you reach your target Mike,I've sent a small donation as the prints don't appeal,takes all kinds?

[Dale]

Why is it always that "tool" and "Jaguar" are found in the same sentence?

[Steve G, Mendocino]

Mike:

RE: Goal level 7.

As somebody who drove a '53 XK 120 coupe for a while a number of years ago and who has driven in France for a couple of weeks a year for the last few years, I'd advise against the Jaguar. Too long, heavy steering at low speeds and too large a turning radius. Think a Sunbeam Tiger with a few period correct upgrades - brake lines and pads, Nardi wheel, Konis and - since this is a fantasy after all - Webers.

[Jack]

While houses in Waukesha may seem less expensive than Washington DC, the property taxes in Wisconsin are quite high. Which is why the cost of acquiring real-estate is lower. The cost of property taxes regularly exceeds the annual mortgage payment.

Net: Mike needs more of your donations, or purchases.

[Jack, a beautiful 1924 mansion by the lake that used to be owned by some friends of my friend Dan's recently sold for a bit more than $2 million. It's a big, nice house, but not unusually big, and similarly the property is large but not unusually so. I was astonished to learn that the property taxes are a whopping $63,000 a year! Wow. That's an expense that could add up after a while. :-) --Mike]

[Eli VZ]

Before you drop $1,200 on a new desk, you might want to take a look at this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2036834894/the-most-affordable-automatic-sit-to-stand-desk. Unproven as of yet, of course, but looks pretty nice for half the price.