Why I really hate "informational" magazines from for-profit companies but less so from nonprofits

I checked my mail on Friday and found a multi-page glossy thing from Geico. Sure, they provide my car insurance, so they send me mail. That's fine. But why did I need this waste of ink and paper and postage and staff time?

Since I'm a nonprofit fundraiser, I hear a lot of criticism about nonprofits spending too much money (or, more accurately, appearing to spend too much money) on glossy mailers. Most of these mailers are what we call "soft asks" -- they aren't a direct request for funds, but they make the larger case for why you should donate and often include a return envelope or reply card. They serve the dual purpose of getting money back and educating/advertising. When I get soft asks from nonprofits like Heifer International, I cringe, but only a little. It takes money to raise money, and the two major ways to get money are to ask for it, and educate/advertise. I expect that any money I give to a nonprofit supports, in part, some of their fundraising activities, and I also expect that they use appropriate fundraising strategies to turn my money into more money. So, for example, our direct mailers at work generally make 150-200%. If we spend $1,000 (which would be a very small mailing), we make back $1,500 to $2,000. If Heifer** made a 150% return overall on their fundraising each year, and has an average-to-low overhead amount of 20%, that would mean my money is spent like this:

I give $1.00.
$0.80 is spent on sending milking goats to formerly colonized countries*
$0.20 is spent on sending out fundraising materials, and makes back $0.30 overall

My money is now worth $1.10, even though I only gave $1. Do this with a few more people, and their overhead shrinks as a percentage. Sure, it would be nice if the whole $1 went to sending milking goats around the world, but I'd rather they make my money grow into something more sustainable and more impactful.

When Geico sends me a glossy mailer, this presumably does something similar. They get more customers (except they're sending it to existing customers...) and thus more money but the final outcome isn't "more people get help," it's "Geico's bottom line grows." That's not really where I want my money going.

*I say this rather than "third-world" because it puts the onus of continuing poverty on the pillaging the West has done. Also "third-world" means something now that it didn't originally.

**I should note that these are numbers from my job that I'm applying to Heifer, since they do a lot more in the soft ask area. I have no idea what Heifer's numbers are.