If you just have to extort money from me...

...then at least spend it wisely. Here's a good example:

Say you need to design a new glove for astronauts. You could establish a new NASA Glove Design Laboratory, or you could take $200k (which wouldn't cover the annual salary of a few government engineers, let alone equipment, facilities, and assistants,) print that amount on a big cardboard check, and offer it to the person who brought you the best space glove.

Hey, presto! It works.

(I wonder if we'd achieve similar results if we just printed a quarter of NASA's budget on a cardboard check and offered it to anyone who, say, gave us a space program...)