Nobody likes to fail. But when it comes to direct-mail efforts, lessons that arise from stunning failures often can lead to stunning success

By Margaret Battistelli Gardner

I mean, really, how could any true environmentalist refuse this unique and simple way of providing ongoing support to our organization and be able to “go green” at the same time — with reduced mailings? We had just seen how effective using an alternative paper type had been on our supporters — when we went out with our “straw paper” it was the most successful mailing to date. So why not this great idea?