March 25, 2011
Should Your Fundraising Efforts Go Green? Take the First Step.
When your organization thinks about fundraising and the color green – what comes to mind? Do you think of the CASH that your efforts produce? Or are you concerned about the environment? As a savvy fundraiser, perhaps you should be thinking about BOTH of them!
Direct mail has earned a bad reputation from environmentally aware organizations and the press. Visions of entire forests – wiped out. Mountains of junk mail, rotting in landfills. And admit it, even direct marketers that are not raising money for environmental causes feel a bit guilty about direct mail. After all, no matter how good your mission is, or how compelling the photos and stories you share in your direct mail package – your organization would probably be DELIGHTED to receive a 1% return from an acquisition mailing. That means at least 99% of your mailing did NOT generate a response!
Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to be a responsible steward of both your organization’s fundraising dollars – and the environment.
You can start by making environmentally friendly choices in the production of your direct mail packages. Many printers use recycled papers as their “house” stocks – meaning you may not have to pay extra to use paper with at least some recycled content. Here are some of the common terms used to describe some of the green decisions you may be asked to make:
- Recycled paper contains recovered fibers which may be either pre-consumer or post-consumer. Basically, a recycled logo indicates that some portion of the fibers have been used before. Sometimes the logo is accompanied by a statement that specifies more information about the paper, such as “60% post-consumer waste”.
- Recyclable paper refers to pieces that are capable of being recycled — not necessarily containing recycled content.
- Soy inks are generally made from soybeans grown in the United States – as opposed to traditional petroleum-based inks. Soy inks have low levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which helps reduce air pollution. Many printers have converted to soy based inks.
- Choose FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified products. FSC sets high standards that ensure that forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable way. Your direct marketing vendor must be a member of the FSC and follow the chain of custody guidelines for any FCI products they produce. When you use the FSC logo on your direct mail pieces, you are demonstrating to your donors that you support the social, economic and ecological needs of the environment.
- Consider SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) papers. This certification indicates that the fibers used in the production of their direct mail packaging come from a legal and responsible source.
- If you use environmentally friendly papers or ink, make sure you let your donors know by printing the appropriate logos on your pieces.
As your organization focuses on more green initiatives, don’t forget to educate your donors. This quote from International Paper removes many of the misconceptions about the environmental impact of direct mail:
“Have you heard someone suggest that by using less paper, you can ‘save a tree’? The fact is, that when the demand for paper declines, tree farming also declines, taking all of the important ecologic impacts like clean air and water and wildlife habitat right along with it.” The reality is that decreasing paper use may well cause a forest somewhere to be replaced by development.”
In future blog posts, we’ll explore the additional steps that you can take in your direct mail marketing efforts to “go green.” For more information today, you can download the resource, Green Options for Direct Mail.
