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You are here: Home / Updates / Do You Take Advantage of Bulk Mail Discounts? Read This.

Do You Take Advantage of Bulk Mail Discounts? Read This.

November 1, 2012 By Robert 4 Comments

Did you recently receive a letter from the USPS?

Every so often, we get a question from one of our customers regarding the use of barcodes for bulk mailing. The question typically comes up when a church receives a letter from the post office saying something like this:

Effective January 28, 2013, mailings of letter-size and flat-size mailpieces, as well as postcards, will need to have an Intelligent Mail R barcode to be eligible for automation prices.

The letter is full of jargon and somewhat confusing so we emailed Chad at our local post office to find out exactly what this meant for our customers.

To cut a long story short

If your church is not currently using barcodes, these changes will not affect you.

Bulk mail resources for churches | picture of vintage mail bag
Photo Credit: Marcin Wichary

Interested in the long story?

Below are some additional explanations and resources so you can learn more about bulk mailing.

Postage Pricing Calculator

http://dbcalc.usps.gov/

Note: When using the calculator, start by selecting ‘Standard’ from the drop-down list under ‘Letter’.

Nonprofit Postage Discount Calculator Standard Letter

Automation vs. Machinable

Nonprofits work on two levels: Automation and Machinable.

Automation mail is mail that is 100% barcoded and prepared for the Postal Service’s high-speed mail processing equipment.

In order for automation mail to be cost-effective, an organization would have to send thousands of mailings multiple times a month.

Machinable mail is presorted and does not require barcodes. This type of mail is divided into one of two levels, AADC and Mixed AADC. This will be determined by the post office when you drop off the actual pieces of mail.

Another good site to reference

http://savepostage.com/

This site lists and explains each of the different levels of discounts. An organization receives the biggest savings when mail is sorted by zip code.

Please note: IconCMO, our web-based church management and accounting software does offer the ability to sort mailings by zip code.

The next level of discounts requires that the mail pieces have a barcode and are address verified using a CASS or PAVE system. The report that is given once the address list is matched to the USPS zip code database is called USPS Form 3553. The additional cost of the permit and the software essentially wipes out any discounts that the church would have received. The cost savings also vary depending on if mail pieces are going to the same 5 digit zip code or different ones.

Another SavePostage page with additional information about CASS:

http://savepostage.com/bulkmail101/cass.html

Why does the post office send these letters?

This letter was intended to inform you that Intelligent Mail barcodes will be replacing the POSTNET barcodes as of January 2013. Again, you can just disregard this letter if your church is not currently using barcodes.

 

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Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: church management software, communication, non-profit

Comments

  1. Chandra Meyers says

    November 1, 2012 at 1:52 pm

    I totally agree with the good comment. Some postal letters are confusing and getting your detailed explanations on various subjects such as this one, is really appreciated. Chandra

    Reply
    • Michelle says

      November 1, 2012 at 1:57 pm

      Thanks, Chandra! =)

      Reply
  2. Janis Hanson says

    November 1, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    Thank you, thank you, thank you….for a great explanation that alleviated my concerns about this. The post office letters always seem to make things so complicated to figure out and you simplified it to a very understandable process, including where to go to find out even more (IF…I want or need to!), so your article was very helpful. Now I truly feel like I can file away those letters and be confident that we are doing what we need to be doing with our bulk mail.

    Reply
    • Michelle says

      November 1, 2012 at 12:46 pm

      You are more than welcome, Janis! And thank you for the comment; we are glad to hear you found the information useful.

      Reply

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