I got a solicitation recently from a major Catholic charity which was entitled "2007 Annual Renewal". (Yes, I am a bit behind.) I assumed this was a normal pledge-type thing, where you promise to give them so much money throughout the year, and then enclose your first installment. This charity used that model before, I think. But on the response slip (I threw the accompanying letter and other material away a long time ago) "pledge" was not mentioned, and in fact it was worded with the expectation (it seemed to me) that you'd send in the whole amount. ("My gift to renew my annual support is enclosed for [list of amounts]")
So I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is I'm supposed to do. Am I supposed to give my year's worth of support in one gift? Can't be true. That would mean they wouldn't solicit any other gifts this year, and you know that's not true. :-) Is this a way for them to determine who is going to give this year, perhaps to prune their mailing lists? I doubt they'd give up so easy. More than likely, my theory is it's a gimmick — nothing more, nothing less. An attempt to elicit a response by making it sound like a more important gift than the multiplicity of gifts they'll solicit throughout the year. It doesn't really mean anything different to them; they will still send me the same solicitations whether I respond to this one or not. In that case, I'm wasting my time scratching my head and speculating on how I should respond.
Gotta love these charities' marketing.
But at least it's not as bad as the Publisher's Clearinghouse. Somehow they started appearing in my mailbox again this year. Can't remember the last time I saw one. I decided to play ball. Oh vey! The absurd and pointless things they make you do! I wonder if there is a name for when marketers instruct you to take a sticker and put it somewhere (I should ask Yahoo! Answers), but these folks have it down to a science. Naturally, many of the stickers are embedded in the pages where they try to get you to buy stuff. And of course the copy is breathless — telling you how close you are to winning, and be sure to meet the deadlines (speeds up the orders, of course). And the attempts to sound personal and important — entry numbers, "one of these has won" with your name listed, occasionally so deceitful you could argue they are actually claiming you've won. Not to mention the artificial sense of urgency. In a way it's amusing to read.
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