E-mail vs. Direct Mail

To the Editor:

“Forging Links Online” (June 13) is a nice, high-level summary of the current state of experimentation in e-philanthropy. However, I am a bit concerned with comments attributed to Mark Rovner stating that direct mail may be more effective than e-mail. These thoughts may be correct, but there is too little direct evidence to support this conclusion at this time. We must be mindful, too, that there is a learning curve for both the organization and the donor around e-mail, and far less so with direct mail.

Direct-mail and e-mail solicitations must fight a great deal of noise to reach the prospective donor’s attention. I predicted four years ago that the Internet would be an equalizer of sorts: Small organizations would be able to produce quantity and quality on par with much more monied organizations, thus creating the illusion of less brand differentiation. This is all the more reason that organizations should develop careful marketing and brand-management strategies to differentiate themselves from the rest. The “noise” is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Darrow Zeidenstein
Senior Consultant and Head of Digital Solutions Practice
Marts & Lundy
Houston