Is the flood of junk mail fundraising's fault?

Quick: What percentage of the US Mail is solicitations from nonprofits?

My guess was about 20%. (It's about a third of what's in my mailbox.)

The truth? It's 0.5%.

Not even one percent. I'll bet you, like me, guessed a massively higher percentage than 0.5%.

So relax a little. We -- all of us together -- are not overflowing people's mailboxes. Others are doing the overflowing. Don't beat yourself up.

And then read this excellent post about fundraising through the mail at Passionate Giving: What's Wrong with the Mail?

Mail is still a great way to communicate with and motivate donors.

See also this USA Today article on the same topic.

Comments

[La Sridhar (@philresearch)]

Jeff-- As the cliche goes- it's quality over quantity. It's even scarier that NP fundraising is less than 2% (adding the nonprofit announcements also). It makes it even more critical to breakthrough the "clutter" of the junk mail and entice and engage the addressee to open that letter. The content inside is important...but this data point drives home the point to have a hook on the outside or a compelling visual to build a emotional connection right on the cover. Also, this reinforces the need for an integrated strategy of email, social media, and F2F for donor engagement and enrichment. Have a great week!