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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, ·DECEMBER 30, 1983
The advertisement in the November issue of READER'S DIGEST offering a sub
scription to The PLAIN TRUTH magazine has pulled 1,221 requests so far.
The volume of literature mailed out year to date shows an excellent 57.6%
increase over the same period last year, reflecting the increasing sub
scriber interest in the publications of the Church.
Our Summer Educational Programme begins December 27 and plans are
progressing for what portends to be the most outstanding S.E.P. ever for
our young people in this country. A hive of activity at the S.E.P. site at
Lake Moogerah is already. under way, and working bees [ volunteer work
parties] from the local church areas are making valuable contributions to
the preparation of the grounds and buildings. This year 240 campers from
Australia and Asia have been accepted, and excitement is already mounting
in anticipation of Mr. Armstrong's visit to the camp in January.
Canadian Report November, as expected, turned out to be a very busy month
for the office staff. The bulk of the Direct Mail returns came in during
the second and third weeks of the month. Unfortunately, we did not receive
the 6% response we had been hoping for. Presently we are running at a 3.5%
response with replies still coming in. This represents 24,796 responses.
Working extremely hard, the data processing staff entered all the responses
into the computer in a very short space of time. Once entered, reports were
generated which allowed Mr. David Hulme and associates to analyze the lists
we had used and the various Direct Mail packages. Some packages, as ex
pected, pulled a much better response than others, and some of the lists
were considerably more productive than others. By refining our mailing
lists and improving our mailing package, we are looking for an increase of a
few percentage points in our response ratio. The next mailing utilizing
our latest findings will be in December, although it will only be a fraction
of the size of our first mailing.
The November READER'S DIGEST ad in the English- and French-language
editions is bringing a much better response than its counterpart of June
1983. The first English-language edition brought a total of 1,936 cards
and coupons. The current one--which has been running barely one month--has
generated 2,677 replies. The next READER'S DIGEST advertisement will be
tailored specifically for Canada.
Income for November, while on the plus side, was nevertheless lower than
expected. We registered a 3% increase over last year's figure, bringing
the year-to-date total to a plus 12.8%. We are not certain why this fall
off occurred, but we certainly hope it is only temporary and not the start
of a trend. Reports from the ministry show unemployment is still a problem
in many areas, so this may have affected the income.
November mail figures are as follows:
Total Incoming Mail:
Total Outgoing Mail:
59,159 (a plus 2.2%}
297,034 (a plus 60.1%)
November saw us mail out Mr. Armstrong's semiannual letter, thus the large
percentage of increase in outgoing mail. However, this will mean a busy
December and January handling returns.