This is just my random thoughts about people and money. Sometimes people and money can totally deify logic. Sometimes be transparent can back fire big time. Let me explain.
I have planned a luncheon. In the past I have taken the cost of the meal, tax and added the 18% tip plus 5 or 10 dollars rounded up to the nearest 5 or 10 dollar mark for the fund raiser portion and people did not blink. No one complained.
In a group I belong to money has been an issue all year. Plus the place we are having the luncheon has a nice discount for those over 65, which is most of the membership. If I had paid for all the meals at once, I would have had to pay the under 65 price plus a drink which is higher. So I naively thought that everyone would like to save a little money, since a lot of people I know drink water with meals they would also save the cost of a drink. So I asked for a 5 dollar reservation fee to cover miscellaneous costs of the luncheon with the balance going into the nonprofits bank account, and everyone could choose their own options when they arrived. In this case trying to save people money, a fundraiser and being transparent has turned into a big mess. A lot of hurt feelings and talk about unjust fees. That I am being greedy, please note that the $5.00 will be going into the non-profits bank account. That I don't know the value of money and so on. The funny thing here is that if they take the over 65 price with no drink that would cover most of the $5.00 reservation fee.
My take away on this whole fiasco is too skip the options and being nice. In the future all planned luncheons will be a single price even if it cost people more money. All luncheons will include the cost of the meal, drink, 18% tip and the fund raiser portion rolled into one price. No options on cost. Only main course options from a very limited menu.
