Words are funny things. When I was a kids we would say someone was “yellow” if they showed cowardice, or “blue” if they were sad. Now you can say people are “green” if they try to be environmentally sensitive in the way they manage their life. Here are the Mission we have always been “green” in the sense that we use pre-owned things and recycle items given to us to manage our operations. But in addition we began a program in 2008 called the “Green Donor” program.
The Green Donor program allows individual donors to automate their monthly giving and receive all of their donor information, newsletters and correspondence, by email. This benefits the donor in that they can make giving a easy and regular part of their lifestyle without feeling like they are being inundated with mail.
On occasion I have heard from donors that they wish we would send fewer pieces of mail. I totally understand the frustration of getting a lot of mail. However, our data shows that almost no one thinks to send money unless they are sent a reminder. The Green Donor Program answers these conflicting concerns – regular giving is automated and no physical mail is sent. It’s great compromise. Those who are in the program give us good feedback.
Secondly, it answers a concern I have about the rising cost of printing and postage. With more people sending emails instead of mail, the cost of mail will only go up. As an organization we have to begin to ween ourselves off of paying postage. It’s a leap of faith, because as I mentioned earlier nearly %100 of our private dollars are from our mailed reminders.
If you are a regular monthly donor or perhaps you are considering it, think about becoming a Green Donor. Contact windyb@trm.org to sign up. If you work at a charity and have more examples of how we might be more environmentally sensitive and use technology to raise funds to support our important work, please let me know.
David