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A Better Way
We're happy to report that a vanguard of courageous companies have looked at the social and environmental costs associated with Junk mail and consciously decided to avoid it. We've briefly described the strategies employed by just a few of the organizations that don't use Junk mail, as well as the tactics of a few of those that are trying creative ways to wean themselves off of it.
Check out these short case studies:
Center for a New American Dream - that rare bird, a national non-profit that never buys, sells or exchanges mailing lists
Izaak Walton League - an 80-year old non-profit seeks a new way to build membership
The Simple Living Network - on-line on purpose
Grist Magazine - integrating humorous appeals into existing correspondence
EcoStewards Alliance - a small non-profit finds a challenge grant with a twist
Mountain Rose Herbs - a mail order retailer that seldom mails
Center for a New American Dream
that rare bird, a national non-profit that never buys, sells or exchanges mailing lists
In early 2000, the young non-profit Center found itself between a rock and a hard place. The rock: the organization that helps Americans consume responsibly was offered a large grant to significantly increase its membership rolls by 1500 people in only a few short months. The hard place: virtually all marketing experts stressed that the fastest and most reliable way to pull in 1500 members was also a very wasteful and irresponsible way - buy a list of 150,000 names and launch a direct mail solicitation.
So the Center caved in and resorted to Junk mail, right? Wrong. Not only did the Center stay junk-mail free as an organization, but it launched a campaign to unseat Junk mail from its throne as a U.S. marketing status quo! While its long-term goal is still very much a work-in-progress, the Center's 2000 campaign was a smashing success. Among its accomplishments: dozens of media stories about our effort, including a terrific feature on CNN; over 50,000 users of the an online form to opt-out of Junk mail, thus saving thousands of trees and reducing the emission of CO
2 and dioxin; and, most vital to the organization's survival, a groundswell of supporters to help us reach our membership goal and win the grant! Please support the Center's continued efforts to be a viable Junk mail-free membership organization by joining or giving a gift membership today.
Izaak Walton League
an 80-year old non-profit seeks a new way to build membership
The Izaak Walton League's "Conservation Needs a Friend" membership campaign drive aims to reduce Junk mail and costs. "The campaign uses our strongest asset, the members themselves," says Earl Hower, the League's membership development and marketing director. Inside the spring 2002 issue of Outdoor America, the League's national magazine, members found a postcard for a one-year gift membership. Each and every current member is encouraged to send it to someone they feel is a good candidate for a new membership. "Expanding our grassroots member base when there are so many different groups and you are competing with people's hectic lives is a problem," says Hower. "We have used direct mail but, like other nonprofits, find that it is expensive in dollars and resources. This approach should save the League about $22,000 in direct mail expenses and, while we haven't eliminated paper entirely, we will save about 2.5 tons using this method. But most importantly, we think that potential new members will respond better to a personal invitation from someone they know and trust. It's a way to build the community of conservationists person to person."
For more information on the "Conservation Needs a Friend" membership campaign, contact Earl Hower at (301) 548-0150 or see the League's newsletter (pdf).
The Simple Living Network
on-line on purpose
In 1991, Dave Wampler dreamed of a small home-based business that would provide books, resources and community services to help people live a more simple lifestyle. The only problem, he reckoned, was that such a business would surely require lots or paper catalogs and other wasted resources. Not wanting to get compromise his dream's integrity, Wampler put it on hold. Once the Internet took off in the mid-90's, however, Wampler worked to make his dream a reality. Always spam and Junk mail-free, the Simple Living Network is now even phasing out their paper receipts. Starting this fall, customers will receive nothing more than a bookmark with their orders.
Check out SLN's way of recruiting Cyberangels to support the Network's community services.
Grist Magazine
integrating humorous appeals into existing correspondence
Renowned for their comprehesive survey of environmental news, or 'doom and gloom with a sense of humor,' this online magazine stayed true to form with its fundraising drive. Whether it be wacky letters from fictitious protesters or humorous 'asks' interspersed amongst their news coverage, Grist magazine kept their campaign humorous and paperless.
The result? Well, here's how the e-magazine's staff reacted: "Grateful, thankful, appreciative, indebted, overwhelmed, awed, amazed, astounded, thrilled, touched, moved, delighted -- you know, we Grist folk are pretty good with words (it's part of the job description), but we practically had to bust open the thesaurus to adequately express our feelings about the first-ever Grist fundraising campaign. In just over two weeks, we (or rather, you) raised more than $70,000. To give you a sense of scale, that's more than a fifth of Grist's annual budget -- or, quantified differently, a big, huge help in tough financial times." For more, read Grist Magazine's Reader Testimonials.
EcoStewards Alliance
a small non-profit finds a challenge grant with a twist
Partly inspired by the Center for a New American Dream's Junk mail-free membership challenge, one of the Center's local Turn the Tide partners eschewed Junk mail and instead sought, and found, a group of donors to offer a $15,000 matching challenge grant. One innovative twist on Potomac Valley-based EcoStewards Alliance's campaign is that the donors match volunteer hours at the rate of $5 per hour. Check out EcoStewards Alliance's "Deepening Our Roots: Spreading Our Branches" campaign.
Mountain Rose Herbs
a mail order retailer that seldom mails
Mountain Rose Herbs, a California-based mail order retailer, sends out two catalogs per year. If a customer has not ordered in 18 months, they are taken off the mailing list. The company does not rent its mailing list. Mountain Rose also has an 800 number that accepts name deletion requests.
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