To my favorite charity:

After two years of monthly online donations, three volunteer gigs, and numerous Facebook and Twitter interactions with your staff, I thought we were family.  Whenever I hear people talk about the good work that you do for our community, I beam knowingly with pride. 

But recently, you’ve flooded my home mailbox with generic and impersonal direct mail that, to be honest, stung a little bit.  I know CRM budgets are tight these days, but have you forgotten all the good times we’ve had together?

One of the DM pieces tried very hard to sell me on the importance of your issue; the other called for a first-time donation. Now, I certainly don’t expect the kind of personalized bells and whistles that come with say, an Amazon.com piece.  But all I’m asking for is a knowing wink for one of your most ardent supporters.

As you and other charities become savvy online, it’s now more important than ever to connect the dots between all of your databases—online, social media, direct mail, events and even of your volunteers.  Chances are, you’ll find that many of your supporters engage with you in more than one way.

Will this little database snafu drive me away?  Of course not. But it pains me to watch you waste precious money hard-selling an advocate like myself, when the money can be far better spent chasing after a potential new donor. 

How about a holiday card the next time you want to send me something in the mail?  Or better yet, save a stamp and I’ll just see you on Facebook tomorrow.

Love,

Me