We’re facing a lot of changes and challenges in our direct mail programs as we head into year-end and the new year. For all direct mail fundraisers, read on, prepare, and make contingency plans while there’s still time.
USPS Mail: 30% of first-class mail is now being processed to arrive in home s-l-o-w-e-r!
On October 1st the US Postal Service (USPS) changed its first-class service standards. Today first-class mail delivery has been revised from 1 – 3 days to 1 – 5 days. The reason? More mail will be trucked to its final destinations. Why? This is a much more efficient, cost savings approach for the USPS. The economic pressures due to COVID-19 related issues including labor costs, personnel shortages as well as increased fuel and freight costs, all conspired to create the reality we’re living with today.
If you’ve tracked the in-home delivery dates for your fundraising mail campaigns over the last few years, especially national mailings, you’ll see a somewhat predictable in-home delivery time frame for all classifications of mail.
Today that is changing. At the Harrington Agency, we are planning for mail delays and preparing our clients for what will be the new normal.
With the downward trend of first-class letter mail volume and the increased percentage of packaged mail to deliver, it makes sense for the USPS to realign to better serve while reducing costs (see figure 1). Ideally, these changes will position the USPS to better utilize their operational equipment and personnel. Let’s face it, the USPS still rocks the best pricing for first-class letter mail at 58 cents each compared with Australia at 79 cents and $1.67 in France.
Here’s what you can do to ensure your mail delivers on time.
- Prepare your mail using USPS approved software so it travels through the postal network to its destination most efficiently. This is the best way to ensure the quickest in-home delivery.
- Track your mail campaigns using the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) — especially important during busier mail seasons (Oct, Nov, Dec). Consistent mail tracking will help to inform accurate scheduling from campaign kick-off to the desired in-home date.
- Follow basic automation guidelines for all return envelopes whether a BRE or unstamped courtesy envelope (CRE). Also, standardize your address block formatting to include a Facing Identification Mark (FIM) and barcode. This is a USPS identifier that helps with reply mail/envelope sortation. Now more than ever, ask your mail shop partner to connect you with their in-house USPS representative to facilitate return envelope design review with the USPS Business Reply Mail department.
Learn more by reading the USPS Ten-Year Plan here.
Print and Production
Since the fall, production timelines have expanded from between four to six weeks to up to twelve weeks, depending on your direct mail piece. Printers are pressing for paper orders well in advance, lettershops are short on staff, and some materials are just not available.
Here are a few tips to weather out the storm – which is expected to last well into 2022.
- Be meticulous about hitting due dates — art release, print approvals, data due, and set up approval. Hoping your mail shop can make up for delays in your production process just isn’t a real solution. If we’re being totally honest, it never was.
- Discuss mail volume/mailshop capacity with your production partners to ensure you have the right mail shop services for the volume and importance of your mail campaign.
- Stay informed about the delivery time frames for specialty paper and envelopes – address labels, special finishes, colored paper, card stock for membership cards, and notecards. Here is a sample of paper delivery timeframes we are seeing right now:
- Envelopes and labels are 6 – 8 weeks out
- Commodity colored paper like cream, yellow, green, grey is now 8 weeks out
- Card weight paper for notecards, specialty higher-end inserts, folders is 8 – 10 weeks out
- Address label and sticker stock is difficult to find. And you can expect to pay 30% more.
Need a quick consult about an upcoming mailing? Just reach out! We’re happy to help.
—Cheryl Keedy, Design Director
With over 25 years of direct mail experience, Cheryl is widely considered one of the best design directors in nonprofit fundraising. She is also a foremost authority on how changes within the U.S. Postal Service are going to impact fundraising mail delivery.
Figure 1: Simplified Transportation Network for Increased Reliability
