That thumping noise is me dancing a jig of joy, because in my hot little hand I have a direct mail piece from the RSPB. This is a cause of great celebration because five months ago it seemed like the charity was eschewing print in favour of a switch to email for its fundraising campaigns.

At the time I wondered at the wisdom of such a move. Email just seems so blandly anodyne in comparison to the RSPB's typical mailings which are image-rich and very engaging.

The pack I'm now in receipt of is a case in point - it's a fantastically impactful appeal fundraising for the Great Crane Project. The striking envelope features crane images and inside there's a nice A3 poster along with other collateral that is similarly engaging.

Why the change of heart? Having checked with the charity a spokesman responds thus: "We never actually said we'd be doing less direct mail - just placing more emphasis on email based appeals. I suppose proportionally we are placing less emphasis because this is an extra channel for this product."

I would dearly like to be privy to the response rates/relative costs per donations generated for the two mechanisms, I remain convinced that email will be nowhere near as effective as print when it comes to encouraging people to give.

In lieu of an answer I'd better put my money where my mouth is and do my bit for both cranes and print by stumping up some cash sharpish.