The Time Value of Money, or The Value of Your Time: It Dunt Add Up!

I'm in a job search now. I've seen some good opportunities in NYC (I live in the Fairfield County suburbs), but I'm not sure the higher salary is such a good deal. So I decided to run the numbers, since I'm a bit OCD, and that's the kind of guy I am. Check it out:

1. Salary for a senior fundraising position in the city: $100,000

$100,000/12 months = $8,333

Let's assume you work an average of 180 hours/month (and I am low-balling this a bit):

Monthly gross of $8,333/180 = $46.30/hour

Let's assume, conservatively, 30% deductions from your gross (federal withholdings, retirement, Federal, New York, AND Connecticut income tax. Yes, you get it coming and going in this scenario).

Monthly net of $5,833/180 hours = $32.40/hour


2. Now we need to factor in direct commuting costs
Don't fret, time-cops, we'll get to commuting time shortly!
Metro North Rail pass, Fairfield station to GCT (that's Grand Central to those outside of the NYC orbit): $440/month
Let's assume I'm a tightwad, and I'll walk to Metro North station (that way I'll save 32 beans per month).
Now, you're not going to walk 20 blocks to the office from GCT, are you?
Monthly unlimited MTA transit pass: $110

Happy commuters

Now, let's add our direct commuting costs to this high-paying job:

$440 + $110 = $550/month

$5,833 net monthly - $550 = $5,283

$5,283/180 hours per month = $29.35/hour

How did that happen? That six-figure salary that I love to boast about has been knocked down to $63,400.

3. But wait! We forgot to include hours spent getting to and from work ... this will make a grown Wall Streeter cry.

I am making these figures up, on the conservative side. Your actual results may vary.
Here we go (times are all "each way"):

1. Walking to the train station (1 mile): 20 minutes
2. Waiting for the train to depart: 10 minutes
3. Ride to GCT (assuming the train is running on time; MNR has a very bad track record in that arena): 1 hour, 15 minutes 
4. Getting off the train, walking to subway stop and waiting for subway: 10 minutes
5. Subway ride: 10 minutes
6. Walk to the office: 5 minutes   ---- you made it!

Each day's commute time: four hours.

Now, 4 hours commute time
X 21 work days/month = 84.

180 hours worked + 84 hours commuting
Per month = 264 hours 

Drum roll .....

$5,283/month (net of direct commuting costs) / 264 hours (work + commute time)

= $20/hour, or $43,200/annum

What's the value of your time?

I think I'll just work from home ...

All the right moves

Originally published Oct. 2013
In the philanthropy profession, we often talk about the notion of “moves management” regarding our donors and volunteers. But donors are people too, and no one likes to be managed.

Just how do we make all the right moves? I'll tell you a little story.  Because so many of our donors come in through direct mail – and some give quite generously – we’ve lacked a personal connection. So I regularly invite donors in to tour our facilities, to see the impact of their giving.

Jim and Kate* came by for a tour – which was very educational for them, since they thought the food bank was a neighborhood food pantry, and had no real idea of the extent and reach of our work feeding the hungry. A week later they sent a nice five-figure check – a sizeable increase over their historic giving.

Kate became further involved, bringing her college-age daughter to volunteer at a mobile pantry site. Now, these are the “women of Fairfield County,” and did not have a lot of exposure to urban blight and poverty. “What an eye-opening experience! Thank you for including us,” she told me later.

After Kate had been volunteering at our warehouse for a few months, she came into my office one day and said, “I’d like to host a fundraiser cocktail party to benefit the Food Bank. Would that be alright?” After a year of unsuccessfully trying to recruit an event host, I thought I was going to levitate. The event raised over $10,000, introduced two dozen new affluent donors to the Food Bank, and one of the guests asked if she, too, could host an event.

Bottom line: When we don't push, allow our donors to move at their pace, we are making all the right moves.

* Names have been changed.

Under The Covers

I've discussed this with friends for some time, and finally got around to compiling this list. Here are 10 cover versions I feel are better than the originals (in alphabetical order). More to come!
 

1. Ain’t That A Shame:  Cheap Trick (Fats Domino)
2. Blinded By The Light:  Manfred Mann (Bruce Springsteen)
3. Come Together: Aerosmith (The Beatles)
4. Got To Get You Into My Life:  Earth,Wind,and Fire (The Beatles)
5. Grapevine:  CCR (Marvin Gaye)
6. Head On:  The Pixies (Jesus and Mary Chain)
7. I’m A Man:  Chicago (Spencer Davis Group)
8. Pictures of Matchstick Men:  Camper Van Beethoven (Status Quo)
9. Turn The Page*:  Metallica (Bob Seger)
10. You Really Got Me*:  Van Halen (The Kinks)

* Both versions are a tie for me.

East Is East

Note:  This piece was begun winter 2011

Following 21 years in Washington State, here are some observations:

Food: Man, I miss Dungeness crab and Thai food. But the pizza? Oooh, the sublimely thin crust!

Eggplant parm grinders! (do my friends in the PNW know what a grinder is)? Bagels that are sublimely chewy on the inside, hard on the outside (that’s what she said). Italian restaurants.  There are no fewer than 12 within a 3-mile radius of me. Most of them outstanding.

Grocery shopping: This takes a little getting used to. Even the most pedestrian Safeways and Albertson's are nicer than the stores here. But at the deli counter, they slice the meat for you, as thick or as thin as you wish. The choices! Also, I have never seen such a selection of Parmesan cheese in my life. Mexican foods are classified as “Spanish” (it also includes Jamaican, Cuban, Caribbean). There’s also a “European” section (British, German, French), and a huge Kosher section.

Nickel returns: Doh! I hate nickel returns! It’s like mandatory recycling!

Driving: Now driving on the freeways (west coast term there) is not so much aggressive as it is assertive. Decisive. Intentional.  The left lane is for passing. On the arterials, I’d give a tank of gas for center turn lanes. If you’re turning left on the Post Road, you get into the left lane. If you’re behind me and want to go straight, you gotta wait. Also, I’ve got two words for city planners here: synchronized lights.  This modern marvel was a given on many urban arterials in the Northwest.

Ray Kelly's, where the bikers go

My neighborhood: I live in Bridgeport, which has a reputation for crime, arsons, vacant factories, but it’s coming around the curve. Really! It's a  tough place to love, which is why I love it: gritty and proud. Reminds me of Tacoma. Despite all of this, my street is so quiet. Black Rock is an awesome neighborhood. It’s quieter than my apartment in Olympia, next to that skanky hobo park. My street is one-third Anglo ("white"); the rest of us are Mexican, black (African American and Caribbean), and a few Asians.

Restaurants (all of this within a 5-block radius):  Chinese, Salvadoran, three pizza places (one is brick oven), southwest, Turkish, Irish, and a taqueria inside of a Mexican grocery (four of those, a Mexican bakery, plus an Indian grocery).

Bars:  10. A lot of people out on the sidewalks at night; some are sober.

“Health salons”: 3 (to my Northwest friends, this is where you get a massage from a hot young Asian babe). Note: All of these health salons were shut down in a crackdown fall 2012.

Barbershops: 4

Tattoo shops: 3

Dunkin’ Donuts (not a Starbucks for miles! Wooo-hooo!)

Pilates

Cineplex

A Mercedes-Porsche-Audi dealership, so the street behind me is like a German auto show on parade. Also, Lexus and Smart Car dealerships nearby.

Black Rock Lighthouse

Observations:  A lot more bikers in CT than in Washington State. Theory: No state helmet law plus drier climate. A lot more mustaches here. Theory: none.

Job: rocks.  I’m building a major gifts program from the ground up. My boss says “I hired you to do the job for your skills. Just do it!” So different from my last job, which had gotten a bit inert.

So it’s a good life here. Family, old friends are easily accessible, and I get to maintain my independence. 

Lazing on a Sunday

Sunday was a day of recycling, refreshment, renewal. I did my regular (quarterly) purging at the Westport Goodwill. Donated a fine, wool Joseph Abboud two-button suit (which I'd purchased seven years ago at a Seattle Goodwill for $35), classic double-breasted London Fog raincoat (with the bonus zip-out lining), books, dress shoes, Skechers, oven mitts, and those little porcelain "collectibles" that come in every box of Red Rose tea. In return, I scored a sweet beige cashmere wool mock turtleneck (Barney's! Made in Italy!) for $13 with tax.

By now, I was ready for renewal - my bi-weekly massage with MZ. Damn, she relaxes me.-balances my chakras and Reiki. I'm not sure exactly what she's doing, but damn, I feel fine.Centered, as they say. I often go all set to vent and unload the Women Issues of The Week on her (yep, I've got a few), but I wind up snoring after about 15 minutes.
Now I'm wondering what they'll sell that suit for at Goodwill ...