American Cancer Society's Pioneering Decision: One Year Later

However, I am also realistic — it takes a major shift in thinking and leadership to drive big changes in programs that have been around for decades and represent significant percentages in organization revenue. As outlined in the original article a year ago, the Society is going through a significant transformation that is much bigger than just decisions about direct mail. But this is the kind of movement within an organization that creates the opportunity for wholesale change.

In my opinion, there are so many challenges facing today's nonprofits. Is this something that every organization should be taking on today? The answer is, "It depends." There are multiple levels to "integration," and if direct mail is a significant portion of your revenue, you should not tolerate a high level of risk to make sweeping change. However, the movement away from what the American Cancer Society considers a "single-channel approach" is a very important discussion to start. As an industry, we must be where our donors are, and as the donor population ages and shifts, one thing is for sure — they are not ONLY reading your mail.