Here we go again
Howard Lake | 7 January 2015 | Blogs
I have to confess that I had a slightly weary feeling of déjà vu when my November copy of Fundraising Magazine arrived. For what was on the cover but a headline that asked what might be the future of direct mail. Another onslaught at that wheezing old dinosaur of fundraising then.
Yawn. Heard it all before. Direct mail is dying, send it to a Swiss clinic and we can all move on. In fact I can remember being at a conference pre-millennium listening to dire predictions of the end of paper and envelopes in a matter of a few short years.
I nearly binned the magazine, but I read the article anyway and I’m jolly glad I did. It was fair, factual, balanced, and with ample contributions by the likes of Nick Thomas and Jenny Crabtree, clever people who know their stuff.
Not something old – something new!
More than that it had something fresh to offer the debate, namely that the mail-digital divide might be something to do with age. Not that of the donor however, but that of the fundraiser.
Really? Do younger fundraisers who can’t remember life without mobile phones tend to prefer digital because it’s what they’re most used to themselves? And do the long-toothed ones who lived with Bakelite dial phones on a table in the hall tend to prefer mail because it’s what they got used to before they grew up and grew old(ish)?
Oh I hope not. I hope instead that we know our responsibilities well enough to see that the right choices are the ones with the best results no matter what the pattern on our own comfort blankets. Happily, as the facts about mail show, it’s clear that most fundraisers are far too clever to let their hearts rule their heads when it comes to investing their donors’ money. Most – young and old – put it where it works.
Festive Cheer
Which brings me nicely to another reason that I liked the article so much, which is that it was immensely upbeat. No hoarse raven for a doomed king nor grudging, early obituary. Instead we got a good natured look at how and why direct mail works so well after all these years. Thanks guys, it cheered me up no end.
I like direct mail, always have. It’s never been the blunt tool its detractors claim: with science and with skill it’s amongst the most targeted of all channels that gives free reign to the data wallah and the creative alike. Oh, and it makes huge amounts of money too. Direct Mail helps cure disease, protect animals and feed hungry people. What’s not to like?
Ninety five percent of all journeys….
Too often we’re guilty of what I call the Tube effect: we moan about always being delayed on the train when in fact most of the time we get home no problem at all. We remember the bad far more than we do the good. So instead of always wringing our hands in despair about what on earth will replace mail let’s take a lot more time to celebrate the fact that we have a mature and high performing channel on which to rely year-in-year-out.
And let’s not forget one of the reasons for this is because we’re a profession stuffed with bright people and we’ve got very, very good at it over many years practice. Well done us.
Main photo: full letter-box by Anton Gvozdikov on Shutterstock.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.