Like many people nowadays, I spend the majority of my waking hours at or near a computer. I get most of my news online... and more specifically, I get almost 100% of my information about Congressional and Senatorial campaigns online. When I choose to donate to one of those candidates, I make that donation online.
So why oh why do so many of them feel compelled to send me snail mail in response?
Let me give you one example (the proverbial straw that prompted this diary):
In June, I made a couple of contributions to the Orange to Blue group on ActBlue. Dan Maffei's cut of my donations to the group worked out to a little over $15.00. I felt good about contributing for more and better Democrats in congress, and I wouldn't have minded an email update from time to time as his campaign progressed.
Instead, I received not one but THREE hand addressed thank you letters, each bearing a 42-cent stamp. That's right - between postage, paper, envelope and volunteer time, Dan Maffei's campaign just pissed away almost 10% of my total contribution.
I get it. Really. I was brought up knowing that the proper response to receiving a gift is to send a thank-you note. But in this day and age, can't we move past the need to kill trees and burn fuel just to thank me for my support?
As the internet makes grassroots campaigning more effective, and as more and more campaign contributions start to fall into the $25 and under category, it seems silly to waste resources on paper responses. At the very least, give me the ability to opt out.