Standard Mail is Ok

The United States Post Office is sorting through hundreds of mail campaigns to see weather they can continue to mail at standard rates or need to change to 1st class once a new rule takes effect June 1. Most of the reviewed mailers are OK at the classification submitted, postal officials said last week, but the issue still has nonprofit groups concerned.

The rule change aims to clarify the circumstances in which mail containing personal information will be eligible for standard rates rather than 1st class. The rule allows “personal information” in standard mail if:

• The mail piece contains an “explicit solicitation” for a product or service for sale or lease, or an “explicit solicitation” for a donation.
• All of the personal information is “directly related” to the advertising or solicitation.
• The “exclusive reason” for including each item of personal information is to support the advertising or solicitations in the mail piece.

Since the change was proposed last year, nonprofit mailers in particular have voiced concern because a literal application of the rule might disqualify nonprofit mail consisting of program-related content as well as a solicitation for donations.

If your mailing is discovered to contain personal information that is not directly related to the solicitation, then you don’t just pay the difference between Nonprofit standard and commercial standard, you pay the difference between Nonprofit standard and 1st class mail, which can be as much as (25 cents) per mail piece, “multiply that by 150,000 pieces, and that starts to become real money”.

The heart of the problem at the moment is any mail piece that does not directly tie the solicitation for a donation. Other cases will be those that do not contain an explicit solicitation for a donation in the mail piece, but include personal information which is beyond name and address, such as calls to action on a legislative matter that contains the name of an elected representative.