Much as I’d like to support the ACLU, being a fan of civil rights for all, I can’t support an organization that lies in order to get support.
I joined back in ’01, when the current re-marking-up of the Constitution began, but after a year of multiple mailings all asking for more money, and a series of ever-more-desperate emails warning me that my membership was expiring, I decided I preferred to spend my support elsewhere. It’s now been 6 years since I was a member, and I continue to get mail, both postal and e-, asking me to re-up. But okay, if they find it’s worth the postage then whatever.
The problem is that these mailings have a strong tendency to state things in such a way as to imply that my membership is about to expire, and I need to send money right away to keep that from happening. They never come right out and say it, but it’s sleazy nonetheless.
Here’s what I got today: Your ACLU Membership Has Expired
Uh, yeah. Six years ago. Hey, Anthony Romero, wait wait, don’t lie to me. That subject line is not what you say to someone who hasn’t been a member of your organization for six years. It’s exactly the kind of political double-speak I’m against. Sure, technically it’s true, but it’s meant to mislead. It’s no better than the series of postcards I got from Petro when I moved in, addressed to me, telling me my oil contract needed to be renewed. Well no, since I never had one before. Which you know, since you clearly got my name from the database of existing home sales. Mr. Romero, you are doing the same thing; trying to trick me into “renewing” my non-existent membership in your organization. Well, keep fighting the good fight, just not with my money.
Here’s a thing: How many letters per year do you think I get from the EFF? Try “one”. A nice letter thanking me for my support and letting me know how to send them more money if I want to renew. When I stopped giving to them for a few years, for fiscal reasons, they didn’t bug me once. How ’bout that? Guess where my money is going now?
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