Easier Said Than Done: Fundraising Urban Legends Debunked

Next time you hear one of these legends repeated by a wide-eyed fundraising colleague, you can nod sagely — secure that you know the truth (or lack thereof) behind the legend.

Direct mail: dead or alive?
A widely circulated document tells this sordid tale: Late in 2008, direct mail — suffering from a deadly combination of rising costs, falling response rates and insufficient retention — faked its own death by setting up a gruesome situation involving a vat of fugitive glue, a letter press and 600,000 No. 10 window envelopes. Direct mail then stole across the border into Canada, where it's eking out a living selling hearing aids.