1.6.11 Products Mailable at Nonprofit Standard Mail Prices

[1-4-10] The following products are mailable at Nonprofit Standard Mail prices:

a. Low-cost items within the meaning of 26 USC 513(h)(2), Internal Revenue Code. At the beginning of each calendar year, the value of low-cost items is adjusted for cost of living. Effective January 1, 2010, the cost of such items cannot exceed $9.60. This cost is the cost to the authorized organization that mails the items or on whose behalf the items are mailed.

b. Items donated or contributed to the qualified organization. Such items do not have to meet the definition of a low-cost item.

c. A periodical publication (as defined in 707.4.0) of a nonprofit organization unless it is ineligible under 1.6 to be mailed at the Nonprofit Standard Mail prices.

Each year the USPS gives new rules for nonprofit organizations who mail products.  More information can be obtained at www.usps.gov.

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I wonder how some of you are doing with your move update changes and if you have paid any penalties for bad addresses?  The USPS is so quick to come out with new rules, but before they go into affect, they somehow get changed before the effective date.  We were told when the NCOA update penalties went into affect January 4, 2010 that the mailer would not know that the addresses were bad until after the mail was in the system.  However, when we talk to our local USPS they told us that they knew immediately that the addresses were bad and the customers are given the option of picking up the mail and correcting the bad addresses or paying the extra postage.  I think that is a much better scenario than to have the mail enter the system and then find out that the postage is going to be much more. The USPS reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live skit where the comedian says “forget all that other stuff I said.”

On a personal note, I haven’t posted very many blogs in the past few months as I have been sick.  I am feeling great now and looking forward to spring.  I have had a very uplifting morning today because I thought about all the blessings that I have and how grateful that I am to live in the greatest country in the world.  My prayers are with the people of Haiti and the rescuers trying to help. One of my best friends son is in the military and is there helping in a medical field hospital. When I think about the little problems that I have, they pale in comparison to the tragedy in Haiti.  The things we take for granted, food, water, medical care and a roof over our head is something that they do not have and may not have for a long time. “This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”  I don’t know about you but I am planning on a great day.

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We know that the USPS will start, at some point, charging mailers a penalty for bad addresses.  We know the penalty is .07 each.  No, not for just the bad addresses, but they can charge  .07 each for the entire mailing, if the mailing has a certain percentage of bad addresses.  The USPS keeps changing the date for the penalties,  so I won’t go into that.

The volume of Undeliverable As Addresses (UAA) in the United States is 9.7 billion per year. The following is some of the reasons:

• 75.8%  is move related
• 5.2 % is for missing or incorrect apartment or suite numbers
• 0.1% is for missing or incorrect directionals
• 0.8% is for rural or highway contract box numbers
• 4.4% is for missing or incorrect street name or number
• 0.13% is for missing or incorrect city, state or zip
• 13.6% is for other reasons such as missing recipient, illegible handwritten address, deceased, unclaimed, or no mail receptacle.

At Burns we work for a lot of nonprofit organizations and they use volunteers to input their data. As you can imagine, some of their mailing lists are a mess.  As the old saying goes “garbage in, garbage out.”  When the penalty for UAA is charged by the USPS there will be a lot of mailers reaching into their pockets to pay the penalties if they have not cleaned up their list.  Most mailing companies offer NCOAlink updates for nominal fees.  At Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. we offer free NCOAlink updates to our nonprofit customers, who print and mail with us.

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PMS in color printing stands for Pantone Matching System.  It is an industry standard for picking colors and is very important when you are branding your company or organization. Have you ever ordered printing from different printing companies and the color that you use for your logo is never the same?  If you select a PMS color and give the printer that number you should always get consistent color.  If the printer has a PMS number such as 485 which is red, the Pantone Matching System gives the printer a formula to mix the ink or to buy ink that is pre-mixed to that formula. If you are still not getting consistent color, it is time to look for another printer. If you search online for PMS you can probably find a color chart to select the color that you want to use but be aware that color on a computer screen is not a true color match.  If you want an exact color palette , ask your printer to show you a PMS color chart from which  to make your selection.  There are thousands of colors to pick for your next project.

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USPS®  Deliver® Magazine is allowing me to use this article by Elaine Appleton Grant

At a time when the corporate world seems increasingly obsessed with digital solutions, legendary direct marketer Ernan Roman has some compelling news for brands: Recipients actually want your traditional mail.

Roman says that prospects and customers have been so overwhelmed with e-mails in recent years that the deluge has turned off many of them.  It has also made them more receptive to mail.

“This started four years ago, and it has reached a crescendo over the last three years,” says Roman, a 35-year marketing veteran who heads Ernan Roman Direct Marketing in Douglas Manner, N.Y.

Of course, despite the good news that customers are asking for your mail, you still have to persuade them to open your envelope. To help you do this Deliver turned to Roman and fellow direct marketing legend Herschell Gordon Lewis, who started his career making gory films like “Blood Feast” and “2000 Maniacs” before turning to ad copy-writing.  Not surprisingly, both men know how to get attention.  Here are a few tips they have for those trying to capture mail recipients’ eye:

Understand What Mail is Good For.  Make sure recipients are expecting something they can use. Customers of Roman’s clients tend to prefer direct mail for important communications “that are relevant to the pre-existing relationship,” says Roman.  He adds that “the customer is going to get cranky if you start chopping down trees for a message that doesn’t have substantial value.”

Fulfill Personal Requests. Use preference information from opt-in campaigns to your advantage on the outside of the envelope. For instance, Roman’s company recently completed a campaign that encouraged viewers to name their favorite TV programs during the opt-in registration process.  Using the consumer-provided information, Roman segmented the company’s list and sent personalized promotions to the fans of various shows.

Keep the Envelope Clean. Generally, when sending high-level business information, keep your envelope simple –an address, a restrained logo and a personalized return address are all you need.  Don’t muck up the envelope with extra text, big logos or artwork.

Help Recipients Make Quick Decisions. If the product is relevant, but a commodity, says Roman, informational graphics and copy can help recipients prioritize the mailing’s importance: “We’re saving them time by letting them know about the product or offer on the outside of the envelope.”

Use The Right Words. Many overused words insult recipients’ intelligence. Lewis eschews the word “free” and “personal,” which at best, have little meaning – and at worst, incite consumers cynicism and even anger.

Avoid The “Bulk-Mail” Effect. Lewis recommends doing whatever you can to ensure that your envelope doesn’t look like one of millions, whether it’s an unconventional font or an eye-catching color. In this age of consumer-driven marketing, there’s no one size-fits all strategy that always will or won’t work.  You have to know your consumer well before you splash the envelope with promotional copy – or not.

Thanks to Deliver® Magazine a publication of the United States Postal Service for allowing the use of this article. Consumers don’t want to be duped or receive mail that insults their intelligence. If you care to check out the DMA’s ethical guidelines go to www. dmaresponsibility.org/guidelines/.

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Today is a sad day for me because I am losing two of my mailing mentors.  Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. started as printers in 1981 and in 1991, we added mailing to our services.  Being new to the business, we relied on two very knowledgeable United States Postal Service employees, Sheila Kirton and Tony Maples.  They have advised us on many things and co-hosted mailing seminars with us on numerous occasions.  The USPS is not immune to the economic down turn and so cuts are being made at the USPS.  Both of their jobs are being eliminated so Tony is taking retirement and Shelia is taking another job within the USPS as Post Master in Careyville, TN.  Tony has plans to keep busy as he is the Pastor of a local church and Shelia’s job will be a promotion.  We are happy for them but sure hate to lose them at our local USPS.

To Shelia and Tony we say thanks for all of your help, customer service and friendship. We wish you well and much success. You will be greatly missed by many.

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This is an excerpt from USPS®  Deliver® Magazine who kindly gave me permission to use in this blog.

“It’s likely you’re trying to produce more with less budget these days.  So it’s tempting to think about cutting expenses by simply going with the lowest-cost print provider. But, in this competitive market, that could be a mistake.

Sure you might save a few bucks in print fees, but what you could lose is far more valuable.  Today’s printers do much more than simply put ink to paper.  They are marketing consultants who use their knowledge and experience in creating and mailing printed materials to help their clients get the most out of their campaigns.

Printers are on top of the latest mail printing trends and efficiencies, which uniquely qualifies them to point out costly mistakes.  They also can manage or influence many campaign elements outside the printing realm to help you reach optimum ROI.

Printers are also at the forefront of new technologies that let your direct mail pieces target customers like never before.  If you’re using variable data printing, for example, your printer can provide insights on which aspects of the piece should be personalized, as well as guidance on how to make your message relevant to your target.

They also sit on a gold mine of information about postal capabilities and service standards.  Printers understand mail piece design characteristics, preparation requirements and economics so well they can often help you cut prices simply by combining projects, whether it’s through co-mailing, co-palletization or merging your mail with other customers’ products.

Your production staff needs to communicate your project goals and time frame to your print company at the concept and design stage, as it may be able to bring added expertise to the table – literally.  Clifton, N.J., graphic communications company Sandy Alexander Inc. often invites its local USPS® representative to sit in on client meetings to help design the most compliant and cost-effecient mailers possible.

For maximum ROI, make sure your production folks choose printers that can achieve your strategic objectives by either improving the effectiveness of the mail piece or reducing the cost of creating and mailing it.  The good ones will know enough about our business and your business to ask the right questions and make sure you ultimately get what you’re paying for.”

Article by Tom Foti – Manager for Marketing Mail at the United States Postal Service®

I gave a presentation at the Association of Fundraising Professionals today at lunch.  This was one of the things that I encourage everyone to do is to sit down at the conception of the project with your print/mail company and plan the project to meet your objectives at the lowest possible cost.  At Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. consulting is FREE to our customers.  We also offer FREE NCOAlink updates to our nonprofit customers who print and mail with Burns.

Yesterday I received a publication in the mail that did not have the addressing area at the top of the publication as specified in a directive that went into effect March 29, 2009.  The USPS will no longer accept mail that does not meet the new specifications. (I addressed this in an earlier blog) so the publication had XXX everything out and put it in the correct addressing area.  This made the publication look messy and the mailer of the publication look like they did not know their business.  Why go through all of that when you have a wealth of knowledge available with a good printer/mailer?

I would not expect too much help from the USPS® in regards to representative sitting down to discuss your project.  Unfortunately due to budget costs they are losing more and more of their knowledgeable staff.  At our local Post Office we are losing the only Mail Piece Design Analyst.  It seems there will only be one Mail Piece Design Analyst in the entire State of TN.  My advice is find a quality mailer/printer and let them work out the details for you.

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If your organization orders window envelopes in large quantities, you might want to check into the window envelopes that are now available for the Intelligent Bar-Code.  When the United States Post Office implements the discounts for the Intelligent Bar-Code the new window envelopes will be necessary because the window on the current envelopes are not large enough to accomodate the Intelligent Bar-Code.  So if you are ordering envelopes for the year or for 6 months, I would recommend that you switch to the envelopes that will accomodate the Intelligent Bar-Code.  At Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. we are already using the Intelligent Bar-Code, even though we are not currently receiving discounts from the USPS.  According to our local USPS the rumor is that the discounts for Intelligent Bar-Code may be coming as early as September 2009.  Don’t quote me on that.

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Today is my first day back after a week at the beach with my family.  Time sure flies when you are having fun.  We wait all year for a vacation and the time goes so slow but when you get to the beach, it is over before you are ready.  We stopped in Alabama to buy peaches so that we could make peach preserves again this year.  Last year was our first year after Miss Nancy, who works for Burns, showed my daughter Joy and I how to make them.  Since then we have made plum and strawberry.  I have seven boxes of wonderful Alabama peaches just waiting to get a little more ripe and we will get started on the peach preserves.  If you haven’t read my blog about Crisco baby, it was an accounting of how my then 1 year old grandaughter got a bottle of Crisco and poured it in the kitchen floor while we were preoccupied with the making  the preserves.  We will be sure to put the bottle of Crisco higher up in the pantry and out of her reach.  She is soon to be two years old and is certainly living up to the terrible two reputation according to her Mother.  For me, anything she does is pretty much O.K. How can anything that cute be irritating?

Speaking of all things summer, my husband Ken, is very pleased with himself because he had ripe tomatoes  before the 4th of July.  He does have a knack for growing things.  He has a coffee plant that actually has coffee beans on it and last summer he grew a pineapple that was small but big enough to cut and have a few pieces.  Keep in mind that we live in  East Tennessee, not too far from the Great Smoky Mountains.  If you have never visited the Smoky Mountains, this is a good time.  It is the 75th year celebration of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The most visited national park in the USA.

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According to the USPS, the penalty for not having your list meet Move Update standards will begin January 4, 2010.  The penalty will be 7 cents per piece for Standard Mail mailings that do not comply with the Move Update standards. Move update provides a tool for customers to ensure that their message gets to the right addresses. The Move Update requirements took affect on November 23, 2008 but the USPS has not applied a penalty currently, for noncompliance, but will begin the penalty phase on January 4, 2010.  It is my understanding that the penalty will be on the entire mailing and not just on the bad addresses.  Your list can be cleaned up in several ways but I recommend the NCOA (National Change of Address) update.  We offer the NCOAlink update at Burns Mailing & Printing, Inc. and it is free to nonprofits who print and mail with Burns. For more information on NCOAlink update call or email me, Phyllis Burns.  865 584-2265 and email phyllis@burnsmp.com.

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