In the United States, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is a trade organization which seeks to advance all forms of direct marketing.

The DMA was founded in 1917. It is based in the United States, but its members include companies from 53 other countries as well.

The purposes of the DMA are:

• Promoting direct marketing techniques and companies to consumers.
• Fighting negative images of the direct marketing industry.
• Providing training and professional development opportunities to marketers.
• Conducting industry research.
• Hosting networking conferences for marketers.

The DMA has attracted controversy, as its purpose includes defending and promoting spam, junk mail, and telemarketing, which many consumers find irritating and intrusive. The DMA has a political action committee that makes political contributions in order to further its causes. The DMA asserts that the mass-mailings done by its members are both economically and environmentally beneficial (the latter because they supposedly reduce the number of car trips taken by shoppers who would otherwise shop at conventional stores).

The United Kingdom DMA promotes direct marketing, informs consumers of the safeguards that exist, and promotes the DMA as their protector, contact point and regulator. The DMA also tries to ensure that its members create consumer confidence advises how companies should use information by operating within the terms of the Data Protection Act.

The UK DMA manages the industry's preference services:

• Mailing Preference Service (MPS) ^*
• Baby Mailing Preference Service (BMPS) ^*
• Telephone Preference Service (TPS) ^*
• Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS)
• Fax Preference Service (FPS) ^*

These services are designed to make consumers aware of the services that stop mail, email, telephone and fax marketing to them as individuals.

Members

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The Direct Marketing Association claims a membership of over 5,200 companies, including the following non-profit organisations and charities:

• Consumer's Union, publishers of Consumer Reports
• American Kidney Fund
• American Red Cross
• Disaster Relief Fund
• America's Second Harvest
• ASPCA
• Association of Marian Helpers
• Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the U.S.A.
• Christian Appalachian Project
• Christian Children's Fund
• Disabled American Veterans
• DAV Disaster Relief Fund
• Easter Seals
• Focus on the Family
• Food for the Hungry
• Food for the Poor
• Global Marketing Direct^*
• Girls and Boys Town
• Habitat for Humanity
• Heifer International
• Humane Society of the United States
• International Fund for Animal Welfare
• Joyce Meyer Ministries
• MAP International
• March of Dimes
• Mercy Corps
• Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
• The National Cancer Coalition, Inc.
• The Nature Conservancy
• North Shore Animal League America
• Oxfam
• Paralyzed Veterans of America
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• The Salvation Army
• The Student Conservation Association
• UJA Federation
• Vietnam Veterans of America
• Volunteers of America
• World Emergency Relief
• World Vision

Large companies

• "most of the major cataloguers"
• AT&T
• IBM
• Time Warner/AOL
• RR Donnelley
• Home Shopping Network
• Cisco Systems
• Prudential Insurance
• Phillip Morris
• Procter & Gamble

External links

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• The DMA's website
• Remove yourself from mailing lists
• The UK DMA's website

Direct marketing | Promotion and marketing communications | Marketing