Days after renewing my annual membership to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, I received an unwelcome piece of direct mail.
From the beginning of the letter (amount X'd out):
Please accept our sincere appreciation for your recent contribution of $X.00. Your commitment to AIPAC makes an extraordinary difference and demonstrates your deep understanding of the critical role AIPAC plays...
This might be news to AIPAC, but I knew what my commitment was prior to renewing. I know what I understand. I know what the organization does. I don't need to know how my contribution membership helps AIPAC make a difference; I already knew that.
How can anyone - let alone a lobbying group defined by the art of communications - be sincere by cutting, pasting, and merging my name and contribution to a form letter? More to the point, why send a form letter to someone giving a gift?