BIG’s Blog: Ramifications of chopping down forests

Is it just me or do you have trouble getting your head around your "carbon footprint?” Does anyone really know what that is in concrete terms?

It seems my 20-something daughters intuit that we are killing our planet through our burning too much fossil fuels…pollution, warming temperatures.

I don’t know.

But here is one thing I know for sure:  In my lifetime of direct mail marketing…30+ years… I have personally been responsible for a lot of chopped trees. Sometimes, in a quiet moment I shudder at the forests I have personally been responsible for chopping down. And yes, I know trees are a renewable resource, but trees do a lot of other really good things while they stand, like clean the air. And, of course, unlike annual crops like wheat, corn, or avocados, trees take a long time to grow.

How do I know some of this stuff about trees? Well, the Arbor Day Foundation happens to be in my hometown. But then, the Arbor Day Foundation mails tons of direct mail every year…so.

I know that direct mail appeals have carried your organization for decades, and you are worried that there isn’t a viable alternative. I understand that. But there really is a viable alternative, and it is called the Internet . . . and the viable alternative model of fundraising that is 100% online isn’t just an electronic form of direct mail marketing.

I also “get it” that you think you know how to do this . . . but you don’t. Neither did I when I started.

What works online is building relationships and then…and only then…asking for support. No, it is not transaction-focused like the way you practice fundraising today. It is relationship focused.

It is very different than the way you are practicing fundraising today.

It is also very green.

Join us.

-Mike

Welcome to BIG's Blog!  Please feel free to forward this post to your friends and coworkers...and email me a comment at: mike@big-db.com