Thanks so much for your feedback about Business Reply Envelopes! Frankly, I’m quite surprised by this feedback. In Mal Warwick’s book, Revolution in the Mail Box, he actually encourages the use of Business Reply Envelopes. Although it is an added expense, it removes barriers to respond, and typically increases response rate. For anyone wanting more info about Business Reply Permits, here’s a recent post that explains how to get one and how they work: http://bit.ly/2IbGpO I can understand wanting to be sensitive to donors feedback about perceived waste associated with this, but I wonder how they would feel if they knew that it increased overall response rate, and increased funds received by the nonprofit. Again, thanks for sharing-I think it’s important that other nonprofits are made aware that use of Business Reply Envelopes can have a negative perception.

Great question! Wow, this is difficult to answer in a comment because there are various forces at work here.
Yes, it’s quite possible for a small market post office to have slower service than a larger market or even another small market post office. However, possibly the biggest determination of speedy delivery is automation. Is your nonprofit mail automated? If you don’t know if it’s automated, then it’s probably NOT. Automation converts each address in your database into a barcode and prints it on the mail piece (or label) BEFORE it gets delivered to the post office. The post office LOVES this because it saves them time & labor (fewer steps to go through before it ends up in the recipient’s mail box). The other super-cool thing about automation is that it offers an ADDITIONAL discount off of your nonprofit postage (usually about an additional 5 cents a piece). In many cases (particularly in a small market) automated bulk mail gets delivered to a completely different processing center than non-automated bulk mail-this can also impact the delivery time.

If your nonprofit mail is not currently automated, then you have 2 options if you want to pursue this 1) purchase some automation software and do it yourself 2) work with a 3rd party bulk mail professional to have your mail processed. Both of these options cost money, but keep in mind that you’ll be saving about 5 cents a piece on postage so some, or depending on the size of your list, all of the expense can be covered by the postage savings. Of course if you work with a 3rd party, you no longer have to rely on staff or volunteers to get your mailing out on time.

One other HUGE factor impacting delivery time is the proximity of the members of your mailing list to your mailing location. If 75%+ are within a 100 mile radius or so, I would think that the nonprofit rate will suffice to get your mail delivered on time (particularly if it’s automated). If most of your supporters are dispersed across the country, then you may have no choice but to use the 1st class rate to assure timely delivery.

The best thing that you can do is to keep yourself, and other staff members on your own mailing list and ALWAYS track how long it takes to get delivered-sounds like you’re already doing this-great job! Please contact me directly or add further comments if I missed the mark with this comment. Thanks again for your feedback! Blase