# Moving goalposts: no wonder direct mail isn't easy

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/07/20/moving-goalposts-no-wonder-direct-mail-isn039t-easy/
- Published: 2007-07-20T00:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

In ‘How clean is your data?’ in [Professional Fundraising](http://www.professionalfundraising.co.uk)
this month, Steve Cast, managing director at Redbourn Business Systems, presents
some striking statistics:

“Did you know that every day in the UK 18,000 people move house? Or that 1,000 people
leave the country? Or that 1,600 people pass away? At the same time, 1,800 people
register with the Mailing Preference Service while a substantial 18,000 individuals
register with the Telephone Preference Service. Meanwhile, 5,000 addresses are changed
by Royal Mail every day.”

Overall, “the UK’s population shifts at a rate of 11 per cent per year and if left
alone your database will decay at this rate year on year.”

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My sympathies and increased respect to good direct marketing fundraisers. Your goalposts
haven’t just moved: every morning you wake up to find you are playing on a completely
different pitch.

 * **[NSPCC and Whitewater in new legacy strategy](https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/07/26/nspcc-and-whitewater-new-legacy-strategy/)**(
   26 July 2007)
 * **[Cats Protection tests direct mail to online approach](https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/07/28/cats-protection-tests-direct-mail-online-approach/)**(
   28 July 2007)
 * **[RAF Benevolent Fund's fundraising campaign is… "a pilot initiative"](https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/08/01/raf-benevolent-fund039s-fundraising-campaign-quota-pilot-initiativequot/)**(
   1 August 2007)