ViewPoint returns!
The wind-up of 2011 has been a busy month as ViewPoint made the annual trek from East to West to avoid winter in all its glory back East. Not much of an excuse for absence in the Blog world but it was not completely a washout. In fact, it was an opportunity to do something that has been moving up on the 'pending' list for a long time. If you have had a similar reaction to an ever increasing flow of US Mail requests for funds from all kinds and types of solicitations - many of the usual origin (and particularly around the year end Holidays) - plus a deluge of new requests including many from organizations totally unknown to you perhaps this 'survey' will ring more than XMAS bells!
What ViewPoint did was to save every solicitation piece with the suggested amounts for one month. From Thanksgiving to Christmas we accumulated 44 separate pieces, each addressed to your writer, with no 'resident or occupant' addresses - so we knew that they had obtained a real live recipient to tap.
The results of the survey revealed a minimum request for amounts ranging from $15 to $30 with a handful of oddities starting at $5 and topping out at $160. But that was not the eye-opener worthy of comment. Four (4) suggested $1000, and another four went for $500! Now, that takes real belief in the power of mail solicitation! Too bad our survey was unable to learn how many wrote checks for the top requests.
Our response to the revelation that we were correct in estimating huge increase of mail order solicitation, was to deep six virtually every one. Did ViewPoint's failure to support the multitude of causes seeking funds from strangers have any discernible effect in the finances of any organizations? Doubtful. Not likely. The entire marketing of mail solicitations rests on a percentage of responses equal to, or in excess of, the cost of the mailing.
So, dear reader, make your own decision. Getting off the merry-go-round may free you from endless appeals - although it won't happen after one rejection. But, if 'junk mail' is simply a nuisance, well, live with it - but know that it will surely increase over time - and you may find yourself doing a ViewPoint survey in desperation!
By way of mention, we should note that many included calendars, address stickers,silly 'scratch pads' - and other 'gifts' intended to find your check book! What a waste of money!
Did this ViewPoint find a sore point with many readers? We're interested to know. Next issue will be back in the usual critique with the Republican result in Iowa due for a slam-bang column - with one theme. WIPE THE SLATE CLEAN! Start over with candidates qualified to be President!
And a Happy New Year to all!
Richard Carlton
December 28, 2011
Issue No.26
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