My Two Cents: Direct Mail

At the risk of sounding completely "ranty", let me announce my frustration at the state of direct mail here in Canada.

I think Ken Burnett says it best. In an alert from plazapublishing.co.uk he says, “Sadly, most fundraising today is look-alike, stereotyped, aimed at the lowest common denominator, the victim of formulae and formats designed by marketing people for easy mass reproduction."

Amen brother.

As someone who designs a lot of direct mail, it gets tiring to see people doing the same things the same way they always have.

Yes - I know. You need to get your 8% response (or whatever your mathematically determined response is).
Yes - I know it worked last year and the year before that.. but have you noticed how the response rate has been dropping?
Yes - I know you have targets you need to meet - and you don't want to mess with a winning formula...

But - as fundraisers working in a industry that is rapidly evolving, we also need to evolve. Find, beg or steal extra money to try next things, new ways of communicating... get outside your comfort zone... For the sake of your organization. For the sake of the medium. For the sake of fundraising.

Burnett has launched a site that anyone who is in direct response or fundraising should join and be a part of. Check it out at: http://www.sofii.org/.