What is "The Big Opportunity" for Marketing in Today's Internet Focused Climate?

Direct Mail Tops Overall for PBS Fundraising

Public television stations have reversed their decline in acquiring new donors through direct mail campaigns, new research shows. The study, conducted by DMW Direct Fundraising, a direct response advertising agency which supplies fundraising services to public television affiliates nation wide, analyzed data from more than 700 campaigns for 73 stations from 2005 through the end of 2009, representing 34 million pieces mailed.
 

According to their findings, PBS stations in 2009 raised $295.21 per thousand pieces mailed, up 16.3% from 2008, with an average gift of $42.10, up from $41.64. Performance had bottomed out in 2006 with $236.58 per thousand and an average gift of $39.80.

Based on a review of the overall retention rate, the group's findings show that direct mail is the channel that generates public television's most loyal donors.

Re-posted from Print in the Mix.  Sources: The Philanthropy Journal, Public TV direct-mail drives on the upswing, May 12, 2010, and DMW Direct Fundraising, DMW Direct Study Shows Major Turnaround for Public TV Direct Mail Donor Acquisition, April 29, 2010.

Printing Solar Cells on Paper

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, have found a way to put solar cells on paper with an ink jet printing process. Although the technology is years away from commercial development, it does raise interesting possibilities for future applications. Apparently, the cells do not generate the same amount of power as current solar cells, but their low cost may offset their lack of efficiency. Imagine solar panels that can be easily transported and then mounted with only a staple gun. Maybe you could even print up a batch at home and take them on camping trips to keep your coffee warm. As a paper product, it may have the added benefit of being completely recyclable.

MIT's discovery is not the first nexus between the printing industry and the production of solar panels. A company called Nanosolar uses printing equipment to produce solar electric foil at very high speeds. The foil is then laminated onto a substrate material to produce the solar panel. This is a significant breakthrough in reducing the cost of solar power.

I can't help thinking that Ben Franklin would have loved these innovations. He was a genius at applying a practical application to known technology, as he did with his invention of the lightening rod. If he were around today, he would certainly applaud the efforts to improve production methods for the newer technology of solar power with traditional methods from his own chosen field. 

"Buying printing on the internet is like buying fast food. It's cheap and convenient... but you can't live on it."   Mike Corridori