There’s been a lot of talk that non-profit organizations are facing a double whammy in 2008 of poor economic conditions coupled with the fact that this is a presidential election year. What these factors are supposed to add up to is less giving by donors, but according to new research from Merkle Inc., the election may not be a factor after all.

Merkle examined the similarities and differences between donors who give to presidential campaigns and non-profit organizations and found that political campaign donors are typically younger, more likely to be male and have higher incomes. Nonprofit donors, on the other hand, are typically older, are more likely to be female, and are located throughout the country. Political donors tend to be located in the Northeast.

Merkle also found that political elections have no noticeable impact on charitable contributions and that both political fundraising levels and charitable giving continue to grow.

Merkle reviewed historical direct mail performance data from large national nonprofits from various sectors and compared it with political contribution data obtained from the Federal Election Commission for the report, Measuring the Impact of Political Fundraising on Nonprofit Direct Mail Performance.

DMNews was recently given a peek at the the results of an anonymous survey on b-to-b business conditions done by MeritDirect. The core question asked of the 38 respondents: “What keeps you up at night?” It’s a question near and dear to this insomniac’s heart.

In addition to the usual suspects: innovation and cost-effective customer acquisition, a majority of executives at b-to-b companies cited the economic downturn, Standard Flat postal rate increases, reliable metrics and shrinking margins as enemies of a restful slumber.

More surprising to me was the issues that weren’t as troubling. A majority had minimal concern about the cost of implementing government regulations and raising capital to finance expansion. Perhaps this is because the majority of the respondents expect positive sales growth this year and in 2009.

As for what I’ll be losing sleep over this year, it’s about bringing you the latest news on these troubling issues. DMNews will have it’s eye on these issues as well as others raised in the survey: increase in raw materials and packaging, increased freight costs, competitive pricing, consolidation and understanding how to the dynamics of multichannel sales. As always, reach me at cara.wood@dmnews.com about how our coverage can help you dream up positive ROI strategies for you and your clients.

This week saw two announcements from traditional marketing companies offering online expertise as well. Lighthouse List formed a new division for e-mail and SMS lists. And just today Direct Media Inc. announced that was launching an eMarketing Group to handle its online marketing services.

Increasingly traditional marketers have told me that the online world has everything to gain from traditional direct marketers using the channel. Perhaps one of the latest campaign examples of this is Valassis using its new RedPlum channel to deploy a classic sweepstakes. The Dooney & Bourke purse giveaway, done in partnership with Macys.com, allows visitors the chance to win Dooney & Bourke Chiara handbag, and Dooney & Bourke wristlets for up to 10 friends.

It’s lead generation; it’s viral; it’s a compelling offer from a well known brand. But perhaps most interestingly it’s one of the best known co-op marketers making good on its promise to be an online marketer as well.

Is your company putting traditional know-how to use on the Web? Tell me about it! I’m at cara.wood@dmnews.com

As serendipity would have it, the day after writing this post about the need for more industry people to speak up in defense of direct mail, I attended ALC’s For Brokers Only luncheon (a delightful event with fantastic food, great company and a worryingly close encounter with the sparkliest ballroom dancers I ever saw) and heard Donn Rappaport, CEO of ALC as well as this year’s DMA chairman, talk about this very subject.

During his speech, Rappaport revealed that the DMA has corralled a bunch of “celebrity” spokespeople – high-profile retail CEOs and the like – to help educate consumers why a do-not-mail bill will be harmful, and to put some of the environment facts and figures into perspective. This is a vital effort, as proved in our DMNews/Pitney Bowes survey on Direct Mail and the Environment (pdf) last December, which revealed that 48.4% of the consumers we polled thought that advertising mail accounted for 53% of total municipal waste. (If I were the type to use exclamation points, I would have added one there. It’s a shocking figure.)

More details of the DMA’s campaigns will be forthcoming. But it’s refreshing to hear the likes of Rappaport acknowledge that perhaps the DMA hasn’t been as proactive as it could be on this matter, and that its leadership cannot do this alone.

A worthy Des Moines Register op-ed on why banning “junk mail” will be bad for consumers can be found here, flagged up by the Direct Marketing Association in today’s 3-D e-mail blast.

I’m not sure if this article was something retired postmaster Jane Littrel simply wrote through real concern for the issue, or if it was also part of an orchestrated effort by pro-mail parties – either way, the DM industry needs more of these concerned parties to help consumers understand the big picture of what would happen if advertising mail were to be restricted or curtailed altogether.

While the DMA’s John Greco has been busy of late, having letters published in outlets from Advertising Age (sub req’d.) to The Wall Street Journal recently, the subjects he is covering range from green marketing to Internet sales tax to, yes the do-not-mail legislation. As admirable as his efforts are, his voice alone is going to stretch thin if unamplified. Op-eds like Littrel’s help at the local, grassroots level. Let us know if you see other examples.

As I checked out the booths at the Direct Marketing Association’s Insert Media Day last week with my colleagues Cara and Sharon, the three of us pounced on the insert samples on each table. “This is what we’re talking about!” we kept saying to each other, as we once again wondered aloud why we don’t have more insert specialists and marketers sending us the fruits of their labor. All the great, varied inserts laid out in front of us was a tantalizing taste of work we’d love to see more of.

So let this be a call to action: We know there’s some great work out there, whether it’s a one-off statement insert or the fruits of a sophisticated, long-term marketing partnership with a cataloger. We want to see it! While we of course would like to be able to write about what we receive, we’re happy to (grudgingly) keep things just to ourselves if you request it. Why do we want to see work we can’t write about? It helps us see some of the trends in creative and offers that are going on.

Our mailing address is 114 W. 26th St. New York, NY 10001. Make our day, and send inserts our way!

Here’s some news worth considering: An all-time high of 56% of the paper consumed in America was recovered for recycling in 2007, according to the American Forest & Paper Association

The news reflects that not only are consumers demonstrating a commitment to environmental sustainability, but increasingly industry is also doing more than just paying lip service to these issues.

In our neck of the woods, the Direct Marketing Association launched a major new initiative last summer to encourage consumers to recycle catalogs and mixed paper by encouraging member companies to add the “Recycle Please” logos to their catalogs and direct mail pieces. Williams-Sonoma, L.L. Bean and American Girl are among the many direct mailers supporting the program.

This weeks news about paper recovery was made at the Annual Paper Week Conference, which brings together representatives of the paper industry and was held in New York March 30-April. In making the announcement, AF&PA said a significant industry goal for recovery had been achieved five years ahead of schedule. The AF&PA also set a new goal of 60% recovery by 2012.

“In 2007, the US recycled over 25 million tons more paper than was recycled in 1990. This increase in paper recycling reduced emissions by more than 97 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, comparable to the annual emissions of nearly 18 million cars,” said Maria Vickers, deputy director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste, in a statement.

Since joining DMNews in November, I’ve already worked on two of our “Essential Guide” supplements – and quickly realized what a great resource they are in terms of learning about the industry, whether you’re been in the direct marketing business for years or are just getting started. With dozens of top industry experts contributing to various sector topics (our Essential Guide to Lists, Databases and Data Management ran in our 1/28  issue and the Essential Guide to Multichannel Retail will be in our 2/25 issue), I don’t believe you can read through an entire Essential Guide and not learn a tremendous amount.
 
Right now I’m in the thick of gathering submissions for DMDeliver, or the Essential Guide to Direct Mail, which will run in our 3/10 issue. We already have experts from all around the worlds of direct mail, postal and printing/production preparing contributions to the supplement – but of course I’m looking for more! With so many important industry issues on the table, from changing postal regulations and mail legislation to advances in printing technologies and data services, it’s more important than ever to share your opinions and best practices. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions about how to be a part of this exciting issue.