Here's the truth of it: Most people throw away most of their DM most of the time.*
* This is why writing direct mail still terrifies me ... even after years of training and decent-to-sometimes-great results. The mailbox is a tough, unforgiving, even hostile neighborhood. It's easy to fail there. It's hard to succeed there. It's also why the mailbox is the best school you can attend for donor communications. If you can succeed there, you can succeed anywhere.