An old friend emails me:
I've just contributed to Donna Edwards...but I was a little reluctant to do so. Why? Because I'll be deluged by more paper. Letters from the candidate, and then of course they'll sell my name to other candidacies and...it just explodes.
I get literally pounds of political mailings. Sacks and sacks of the stuff. It really is making me reluctant to contribute.
I just wish there were a check box on each campaign's electronic donation page that allows me to opt OUT of mailings and OUT of my information being sold or transmitted to other campaigns. I do not need a machine-generated, snail-mailed letter (or dozens of them) from these people. I will not read this letter...and it will be thrown into the trash.
When a lot of people are donating small amounts, the multiplication of PAPER sent out must cost the campaign as much as the donation.
It really is infuriating. I blame direct mail consultants who charge per piece sent. They must love these growing contributor lists because they get to send more crap to people who OBVIOUSLY prefer to donate online. I get direct mail from campaigns and it goes straight into the shredder and recycling bin.
So here's what I'm going to do -- starting in December, I will NOT FUNDRAISE for any candidate who does not pledge to stop direct mail to people who contribute via ActBlue.
It's a waste of money, and it's degrading to the environment. I'm tired of it. People are tired of it. And if campaigns won't listen, then I'm through with them.
Update: I've asked ActBlue to include an "opt out" check box in the contribution form. That way, individual donors can decide for themselves whether they want to receive snail mail correspondence.
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