I do not disagree with any of you that numerous surface mailed renewal notices is not the greenest approach and is also annoying. That said, I recall from direct mail campaigns I ran, (political, PR) that despite the obvious waste, these are some of the cheapest forms of advertising. (The cheapest and best being word of mouth). The stats from back then were that it requires getting your message in front of a person 10 times before they will respond. In today's noisy advertising landscape that number may even be bigger. 😞
I suspect AARP continues this practice because despite the inconvenience (and resulting ire) of some members, it remains their most cost effective manner to raise membership dollars.
"The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life - mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical." Julius Erving