Christmas Seals’ On-Line Greeting

Two years ago, the American Lung Association expanded its annual Christmas Seals campaign to the Internet (http://christmasseals.org). The organization wanted not only to find a way to combat sagging responses to its direct-mail appeals but also to introduce Christmas Seals to a new generation of donors.

Although the Internet campaign has not brought in much money — last year it raised only $800 — the site was viewed 163,000 times, the association says.

On the Internet, Christmas Seals are not stamps but on-line greetings that look like traditional Christmas and Hanukkah cards. Senders can choose among several designs and greetings and add their own messages. They then fill out a form on the site, providing the e-mail addresses of intended recipients. The association sends the recipients a message notifying them of the World-Wide Web address at which they can find their seal.

Like the direct-mail Christmas Seals, the on-line seals are free — but the association does suggest that people who use them make a gift to the association.

Lung-association officials say that as the Internet grows more popular, they expect the on-line seals to become more lucrative.

Even though last year’s site did not produce much, it did demonstrate the potential of the Internet, says John Garrison, the association’s managing director.

“People who give on the ‘Net tend to be bigger givers” than those who respond to direct mail, he says. The average gift elicited by the on-line seals was $35, compared with $10 from direct-mail solicitations.

Charity officials think that one reason the effort did not bring in more money last year was that people could not actually donate on line but had to print out a form to mail in with their gift. This year, donors will be able to use a credit card to make their gifts on line.

For more information, contact Michele >Rosenshein, American Lung Association, 1740 Broadway, New York 10019-4374; (212) 315-8700; e-mail: mrosenshein@lungusa.org.