Title: “Cutting Through the Noise: How Much Mail and Email Donors Receive and Read”

Organizations: Grey Matter Research and Opinions4Good

Summary: Charities appear to be chasing millennial donors by showering them with mail and email communications, according to a study of 1,000 donors who reported their interactions with nonprofits.

People under age 35 get about 27 emails and mailers from nonprofits per week, far more than older people receive. People ages 35 to 49 say they get roughly 14 emails and pieces of mail per week, while those ages 50 to 64 get 16. People 65 and older report getting 15.

On average, donors say they get eight mailings from charities per week — about four from organizations they already support and four from nonprofits seeking a first gift.

Donors also estimate they get about 10 emails from charities each week — four from nonprofits they already donate to and six from organizations they’ve never given to.

Over all, that amounts to 920 mailings and emails annually, or roughly 2.5 messages by mail or email per day, excluding other communications such as text messages and phone calls.

The report notes that because the estimates were self-reported, they could be inflated. Still, it’s helpful for nonprofits to know how much “noise” charities must break through, the report says.

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Among the other findings:

  • Nearly two-thirds of donors say they read — at least in part — all of the mail they get from nonprofits they already support, while some 62 percent say they read at least part of all the emails they receive from nonprofits.
  • Christians receive 18 messages a week from nonprofits, while people of all other religious faiths estimate getting about 20 emails and pieces of mail weekly. That’s compared with roughly 15 for those who claim no religious affiliation.