By J. TAUB
Santa Fe

Definition of non-profit snail mail overkill in 2022: 1,561 solicitations from 268 organizations, most from entities with which we never had contact or sent funds. Some were identical solicitations, received at the same time, same address, same name(s). And a few, still, for my Dad who passed 10 years ago.

I’ve donated to non-profits since my teens (eons ago!) and strongly believe in the value of non-profit organizations. But today, instead of applying my funds to further goals I support, they’re flipped to drown me in a tsunami of repetitive snail mail, while hijacking and sharing my contact information with over 150 organizations – without permission! That’s a form of identity theft.

This practice raises three significant issues:

1) a complete waste of financial, material and human resources;
2) a significant, detrimental environmental impact; and
3) a process that alienates donors.

Since mail houses thrive on quantity, lists are never cleaned or updated. Ceaseless mailings also take advantage of older recipients. My Dad tracked contributions, but that became more difficult as he aged. When asked if he’d intended the repetitive contributions I saw in his statements, he said, “No!!!”. I hear similar stories about older family members, including observations from many who feel they must safeguard that person’s finances by culling their snail mail.

I registered with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). I asked organizations to clean their lists and reduce snail mail frequency. All to no avail. 

I asked New Mexico’s Congressional delegation and Attorney General’s office to give snail mail recipients protection, as has been done for unwanted phone calls and email. At an absolute minimum require  every 501(C)(3) solicitation provide a box indicating whether or not your contact information may be shared, and a ‘Please take me off your list’ box. Each could also offer boxes indicating how often you can be sent snail mail per year (once, quarterly, emergencies, whenever). This focused approach would seem advantageous to non-profits, though clearly not to mail houses. Not one inquiry received the simple courtesy of a response.

Non-profit postage does not cover rejecting/returning that mail – the post office simply dumps them.  The Post Office and BBB’s Wise Giving Guide say, “contact each organization”. So, I’m responding to every solicitation, asking both ‘Please Take Me Off Your Mail List’ and ‘Do Not Share My Contact Info’ on their forms, mailed inside their envelopes. Since Jan. 1, 2023, I have returned 272 mailings to 130 of the (now 282) organizations. Envelopes lacking prepaid postage have cost me $83.16 in stamps. I am still drowning in solicitations, even from those organizations. I don’t know who receives response envelopes and have no confidence anything will change.

Why should getting off mail lists be so difficult and expensive, especially when someone has never donated and their contact information has been shared without permission? Why are non-profits supporting the waste going into recycling at best, and landfills at worst. The practice ignores duplicates, people who haven’t responded in years, volume – sometimes multiples per month. It seems a transparent philosophy: the ends justify the means – get what you can today, turn a blind eye to tomorrow.

There appears to be plenty of money to throw away on these mailings, so instead of supporting meaningful actions my funds simply perpetuate the waste.  I am not alone in resenting and reacting to this irresponsible bombardment.

At an absolute minimum, all solicitations should be required to protect donors by getting donor permission before sharing contact information, and providing  an easy way to opt out.