6 Ways To Use Direct Mail Shops

Many businesses and nonprofits prefer to use e-mail rather than direct mail. The reason for this is simple: It's quicker. When it comes down to it, people would rather adapt to new technology than potentially organizing countless pieces of mail.

Despite this, "snail mail" is far from dead. There are many organizations that still use it, such as St. Joseph's Indian School, which integrates direct mail with e-mail communications. Still, the thought of sorting through individual pieces of mail remains overwhelming. That's where direct mail shops come in handy.

In his book "Direct Mail for Dummies," Richard Goldsmith reminded readers that local mailing shops can make the tedium of mail sorting much more bearable. He listed six ways these shops can work for your organization:

• Addressing the Mail: Mail shops take your files and address your mail by either labeling, ink jetting, or lasering it.
• Bursting Continuous Forms: This technique enables high-speed personalization equipment to be used for the addressing and other personalization.
• Affixing Stickers, Cards, Stamps, and Tabs: Using a machine called a Labelaire, mail shops can apply stickers and labels for you. They can also seal self-mailers and double postcards with tabs.
• Inserting Components Into Envelopes: Machines in the mail shop can insert up to six different items in an envelope.
• Sorting and Traying the Mail for the Postal Service: The mail is bundled according to Postal Service requirements.
• Delivering the Mail to the Post Office: Your mail shop should get a receipt from the Postal Service, proving that your letters were accepted for mailing.

Seattle Hates Junk-Mail

You think you hate junk-mail? Your hatred is nothing compared to Seattle's crusade against unwanted mail.

The Atlantic reported Monday on a new ranking put together by Berkeley, Calif.-based Catalog Choice, a privacy protection company, shows that Seattle, Wash. is the top city in the country when it comes to battling junk-mail. The organization surveyed its customers and found that the Emerald City had the most people who contacted them to get removed from the lists of junk-mail senders. Other cities that made the list were Santa Fe, NM, Boulder, Col., and Ithaca, NY.

Junk-mail is mostly associated with e-mail these days, but the death of junk direct mail has been delayed thanks to an initiative by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The "Every Door Direct Mail" program will essentially allow business to bombard your house with mail. Companies don't even have to know your address to send to you; they can simply select a neighborhood they want to target and their mail will be delivered to every house in that area.

Spam mail is not only annoying to recipients, it also is very pricey for city budgets. It costs about $40 a ton to send garbage to a landfill. On the other hand, it costs only $10 for them to work with Catalog Choice to get them removed from junk-mail lists.

You can read the full list of cities ranked by Catalog Choice in The Atlantic.

Choosing Your Direct Mail Font

All of the talk these days is about high tech communication. Whether it's e-mail or texting, there's very little mention of direct mail when we talk about communicating with supporters. But don't bring out the shovel yet; direct mail isn't dead.

In a story in the February 1, 2012 edition of The NonProfit Times, Kory Christianson, executive director of St. Joseph's Indian School, talked about his organization's use of direct mail. For example, they send a letter with an e-mail follow-up confirming they received it. This is one of the many ways a nonprofit can continue to make use of direct mail.

Appearance is everything when it comes to sending out letters. This all starts with choosing the right font when composing your message. It's all well and good to use the default font in your word processor (usually Times New Roman), but that can be a little bland. It's worth experimenting to see if there are other fonts that can jazz up your message without making it look over the top.

In his book "Direct Mail for Dummies," Richard Goldsmith wrote about four types of fonts that can give your direct mail increased readability:

• Serif Type: These fonts have little tails hanging off the ends of the letters. Serif fonts are easier to read.
• Sans Serif Type: These have no tails and are harder to read in small type. Sans serif fonts are often used for things like headlines.
• Reverse Type: This is white letters in a background color. It’s also more difficult to read depending on size.
• Italic Text: Although good when used to emphasize important words or phrases, italic text is difficult to read when it’s used for long paragraphs.

Goldsmith also urged writers not to mix too many typestyles or sizes. This will make your direct mail message look random and unprofessional. 

Nonprofit Mailers Ask USPS To Drop Rate Increase

The United States Postal Service (USPS) submitted another request to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) last month for a 5.6-percent exigent postal rate increase after its initial appeal was rejected.  Nonprofit mailers have a message for the USPS: Give it up.

In the latest update on this issue from The NonProfit Times, we learn that four nonprofit mailing organizations have sent a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe requesting that they drop their continued appeal for an exigent rate increase.  Postal officials have publicly stated that they do not want an increase, and the mailers want them to act on those words.  "If you do not want an exigent increase and you do not want mailers to plan for one," they wrote, "withdraw the case. Actions speak louder than words.”  They also argue that even the possibility that mailers may face an above-Consumer Price Index increase has cast "a pall of uncertainty" over the industry, making budgeting and mailing plans difficult.

The letter was signed by Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA); Tony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers; Jim Cregan, executive vice president, government affairs, for The Association of Magazine Media, and Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce.  To read the full story, head over to NPT's website.

Changes To First Class Mail Coming?

UPDATE, 4:00 PM EST: We have updated the story with more reactions from nonprofits.

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In a story that we posted on our website this morning, the USPS announced plans to close half of its processing facilities in an effort to shift First Class mail to a two- to three-day standard for destinations in the continental United States. 

The Postal Service says this change will allow them to save $2 billion, which will help in their efforts to reduce operating costs by $20 billion by 2015.  Despite it being the most profitable category of mail, First Class mail is on the decline.  Volume was down to 78 billion pieces last year, with projections of 53 billion in 2016 and 39 billion by 2020.  They insist that the changes to First Class mail, which is also scheduled to receive a postage increase in January 2012, will have only a small impact on the "average postal customer." 

Most nonprofits use Standard Nonprofit mail for their direct mail solicitations, so it's unclear what the response will be from the nonprofit community.  Tony Conway, executive director of the Association of Nonprofit Mailers (ANM), said the USPS has “all these plants to handle all this mail that’s declining every year."  He went on to say: “They need to downsize the network. That drove the whole decision.”  We are continuing to check the pulse of nonprofits, and will update our story when we get more reaction.  Stay tuned.  In the mean time, let us know what you think of this news.

Legislators Introduce Postal Reform Bill To Save USPS

Struggling to stay afloat in a down economy, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is receiving much needed life support from a bi-partisan group of legislators.

At a press conference held this morning, four members of the U.S. Senate's Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs backed The 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2011: Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Scott Brown (R-Mass.).  It contains a number of provisions, including:

• Preserving six-day delivery for another two years.  After that period, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will determine whether the Postal Service's financial situation is in good enough shape to support a six-day delivery.  The prospect of a five-day mail cycle was a huge concern for nonprofits and other businesses, so this will be a major relief for them should the bill pass.
• Refunding $7 billion to USPS through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as overpayment to the Federal Employee Retirement Health System (FERS).  About a quarter of that money would be used as retirement incentive buyouts of up to $25,000 (or credit service years toward retirement annuity) to reduce staff by 100,000, and pay down USPS debt.
• Giving USPS the authority by 2015 to deliver to curbside, sidewalk, or centralized mailboxes, rather than direct delivery.

These provisions, and the others included, are designed to help USPS and those that rely on it.  As Lieberman said at the press conference: “Too many people still rely on the Postal Service for us to sit back and allow it to collapse."  Tony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, has already announced that his organization will support the bill.

In this era of bank bailouts, the members of the committee were quick to emphasize this is not a bailout of USPS.  The senators emphasized the $7-billion in payments to the FERS that originally came from ratepayers.

The 21st Century Postal Service Act of 2011 joins two other measures that are currently held up in Congress.  This one, however, seems to have a better chance of success since the four members who introduced it hold key committee assignments related to USPS.  Still, nothing is ever a given, so we will have to wait and see what happens with this bill.  Stay tuned for further updates as they occur.

4 Ways To Maximize The Reach Of Direct Mail

We live in a society of instant gratification.  That's why e-mail and other digital means of communication have become so popular.  This has led to the perception that direct mail is yesterday's news.  This couldn't be further from the truth.  Although it may be seen as a relic of the past, direct mail still performs as one of the most cost-effective and wide-reaching fundraising method.

How can you make this very much alive method of communication work for your nonprofit?  The NonProfit Times recently posted a management tip on this very subject.  Here's a sample of the tips:

• Plain Packaging -- Testing shows that the most effective direct mail package for health care consists of four components, a carrier (outer) envelope, letter on foundation or hospital letterhead, reply slip and reply envelope.
• Avoid “Fancy” Packages -- A large package with brochures or other enclosures won’t work well. It will cost more and perform worse. Keep consistent branding a hallmark of the packaging.
• Writing Style -- Remember to keep the language personal, informal and conversational. The copy should be fast-paced, easy to read and concrete.

Make sure to read the full article on our website.

A "Modest" Postal Rate Increase?

The NonProfit Times featured an article in yesterday's NPT Weekly Newsletter that had some important news when it comes to direct mail.  Though some mailings, like standard mail letters, will be seeing a decrease in price next year, rates on a whole will increase by 2.1 percent on Jan. 22, 2012.  In the article, a spokesperson for the United States Postal Service (USPS) said that the increase is "modest," and that it won't hinder nonprofit mailings.  Indeed, it doesn't appear that nonprofits are that upset about this increase, especially since it does not exceed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based on inflation rate.  Anthony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, had this to say about the proposed increases:

“The changes reflect the CPI for October, so the USPS has every right to increase mailing service charges.  Nonprofits are now prepared to deal with these increases as they can be predicted based on where the CPI is. This is not bad compared to other increases and at least they are not trying for an exigent increase again.”

The proposed rates are definitely not as severe as they have been in the past.  In 2007, the USPS proposed changes that increased the price of flat mailings by 30 to 40 percent.  More recently, the USPS had proposed an increase of 5.6 percent due to "exceptional circumstances," but that proposal was turned down by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). 

What do you think about the new rates?  Are they justified, or do you think that they will negatively affect your nonprofit?

Nonprofit Management Tip: Direct Mail And The Recession

Mailing during the recession was not easy for nonprofits, but there are lessons to be learned from its aftermath.  During a recent DMA Nonprofit Federation conference, Craig Finstad of the American Lung Association shared some of these lessons:

* If your piece is not in their mailbox, someone else's is. The strategy is to stay in front of renewal donors. The organization resisted pressure to cut the number of appeals without testing.


* If you mail it, they will come.


* Dance with the girl who brought you. Pressure from management and complaints from donors will make you want to cut back on the number or cost of mailings or on winning packages. Resist the temptation of making changes without testing.

Want to read more?  Head on over to our website to get the full scoop on this important subject.