How to Save Money on Postage
Nonprofits Qualify for Reduced Postage, but USPS Doesn’t Make It Easy
I’m the kind of person who gleefully uses my vacation time to re-arrange my office. Or pantry. Or sock drawer. There’s just something about getting organized that makes me feel at peace with the world.
I also love to save money, whether it’s finding a brand-new Herman Miller Aeron Chair at Goodwill or cruising Craigslist for my favorite, but way too expensive, Elfa shelving units.
Mailing at the nonprofit rate
What I don’t like is seeing your nonprofit spend too much money on postage for your donation letters. The U.S. Postal Service offers you the chance to mail your fundraising letters at a reduced rate of 18.8 cents apiece, but not enough folks take advantage of this smart way to boost your mail profits.
Why? Because you have to navigate the USPS bureaucracy to obtain your Nonprofit Authorization, or NPA. And that takes your most precious resource: time.
I’ve committed the USPS Domestic Mail Manual to heart. But luckily, you don’t have to. Here are 3 quick things to know about the NPA:
It’s free to apply for your NPA. Follow this step-by-step process. Fill out the online application, provide the necessary documentation, submit it for no charge, and wait the 2-4 weeks it takes USPS to issue the NPA.
Where some nonprofits get off track is when they take their application to their local post office where a clerk that knows little to nothing about the NPA steers them off track.The NPA and a bulk mail permit are different things. The NPA is available to nonprofits that send at least 200 addressed pieces per mailing. (All Abeja-produced fundraising letters meet USPS content and design requirements.)
Because your local post office doesn’t handle these free NPA applications on a daily basis, they may try to steer you toward a bulk mail permit – which costs you money. Don’t fall into this trap! You need a free NPA, not a fee-based Marketing Mail permit, permit imprint, or indicia.Your NPA application has to exactly match the organization name and address you will use on your outer envelope of your mailing. If you’re applying for a new NPA, this should be relatively easy. But it can get complicated for organizations that have an existing NPA and have since changed their name, switched to an abbreviation, or have a new address.
One of our clients recently rebranded without updating their NPA with USPS. For their year-end mailing, they had to use their new logo and name with text underneath that said the old organization name. Lesson learned, but money saved nonetheless!
The last few years have been challenging for nonprofits. And it broke my heart to receive year-end fundraising letters from nonprofits I love that spent 60 cents (old first-class stamp) or even 70 cents (non-machinable butterfly stamp) when they didn’t have to.
Resolve to have an even more profitable fundraising year by making this small postage tweak now.
