An Open Letter to the NRA Regarding Their Junk Mail
As a part of my membership application I signed up for, or not, various add-ons, mostly insurance policies, and the like. Since then I have received numerous re-offers for insurances, as though I wasn't taken seriously when I made my initial selections.
My wife is now getting unsolicited mail from the NRA. She is not a member. She is neither a gun enthusiast nor a hunter. She does not need screened for heart disease or osteoporosis at this time. And neither do I. I did not join the NRA to be reminded of health matters. I did not join the NRA so that the NRA would remind my wife of health matters.
As the months have gone by, the volume of unsolicited (`junk') mail from NRA has become ... I'm trying to find the words ... a lot, amazing, mystifying, staggering.
As a part of my membership I selected a subscription to American Hunter. I love to hunt. I love firearms. This is the mail that I DID solicit when I joined. But it seems that the magazine is getting smaller and smaller. Now it is almost laughably small. The last issue I almost threw away thinking it to be some kind of flier.
So, this month, I did something entirely `random' (an experiment, actually). I put my American Hunter magazine in one pile, and the unsolicited mail from NRA in another. My hunch was: "... it seems like I am getting more junk mail from the NRA than what I have paid for (to receive)." I was beginning to worry a bit that my experiment was going to fail, as the volume of unsolicited NRA mail seemed not as immense as in previous months; but, faithful to my hypothesis, and the purely random month chosen, when one month was up, I weighed both piles.
American Hunter, monthly, 3.75 ounces.
Junk mail pile, one month, 6.75 ounces.
(Plus, the Magazine is itself a lot of ads.)
Someone is unconscious.
What a waste (of paper and postage)!
I guess I would prefer being offered renewal just prior to expiration, and just once or twice, and have a monthly magazine that is several times as large. At the time of renewal (if I renew), I can review the various insurance programs and see if I need to make any modifications. Some of the unsolicited junk mail I have received probably deals with important legislative/political issues, but I think I mistook them for repeated offers for renewal and threw them away, unopened.
Published by Jeff Filler
Consulting Engineer, Educator, Aspiring Writer and Photographer, Husband, Father, and Serious Hunter. View profile
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7 Comments
Post a CommentI was an NRA member for over a decade. I didn't want the weekly ads, offers, and renewal letters much less the magazine. I wanted to support but the NRA simply wastes my memership fees on ads to me, the supporter? And finally the phone calls. Enough. I dropped membership last year. Guess what, yep, I still get regular renewal letters and spam in the mailbox. Thanks for listening to your supporters, NRA! Don't waste your supporters dollars because they have been leaving in droves and that's a fact. You've alienated your own supporters.
I am also unhappy with the spam the the NRA sends out and most likely will stop supporting them. That they never sent their "welcome" bag, knife or whatever was promised, I really do not care. I care though about the spam e-mails I get on a daily basis.
Bad to see that NRA loses support because of their STUPID and IGNORANT way of trying to get money. Sending rip-off offers to their members.... NRA - send your freaking SPAM to PETA... and the preseident.
My dad, who died in 2005, was an NRA member, and the NRA has been sending his magazines, political activism alerts, etc., etc. to my house ever since. I've emailed them and telephoned them a dozen times, told them he's deceased, and asked them to stop sending their crap to my house. It doesn't work. They won't stop. They are Borg. Resistance is futile.
Q: If I choose to `opt out' of the non-essential mailings will I receive a bigger magazine?
Take a look at their membership FAQ
https://www.nramemberservices.org/faq.asp
Q: How can I reduce the amount of mail I receive from the NRA?
A: Simply email us at membership@nrahq.org or dial 800-NRA-3888 and request to be placed on the "Do Not Promote" list. This will significantly reduce the amount of mail you receive without affecting important mailings, magazine service, or your membership renewal.
Thanks, Ugh.
True Words! And well written. If only marketing mailers didn't work...but they do! And so, prepare for more.