No Postal Rate Hike May Stall Other Mail Savings

Direct mailers will cheer if the Postal Service's current 4.3% exigent surcharge disappears and no rate hike occurs in the spring of 2016, and it is a possibility given that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used to set the annual postal rate increase is now close to zero. But even good news has its down side when it comes to the U.S. Postal Service, warns Al Urbanski, senior editor of Direct Marketing News magazine, in a recent article. Joe Schick, director of postal affairs for major mailer Quad/Graphics, points out to Urbanski that a number of operational improvements translating into money savings for mailers might be stymied by because they require rate changes for separate classes of mail, which are dependent on a blanket CPI rate boost. Schick cites planned savings from changes in handling of Intelligent Mail barcode service and Flats Sequencing System (FSS) mail as improvements disrupted by a rate rollback. According to Schick, the USPS leadership is aware of the problem and "sincere in wanting to do the right thing," so there is hope that mailers may get rate relief without sacrificing other efficiency savings. But hold the applause for now. For more detail, read http://www.dmnews.com/postal/when-no-postal-rate-increase-is-a-bad-thing/article/432772/

Politics Marks 2015 Top Nonprofit Mailers, E-mailers

Target Marketing magazine recently published a list of the top 10 mailers and e-mailers in the nonprofit sector for 2015, using Who's Mailing What! data from monitoring of mailboxes and inboxes. For direct mail, the list of top nonprofit marketers is eclectic, with strong representation by animal welfare and humanitarian causes; just the top five mailers are the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Wounded Warrior Project, AARP, Republican National Committee and World Wildlife Fund. Only the Republican National Committee indicates the ramp up to a 2016 election year. However, when it comes to the top nonprofit e-mailers, politics is paramount, with all top 10 e-mailers from politically motivated campaigns; just the top five are the Center for Individual Freedom, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Presidential Task Force and National Republican Congressional Committee. For the complete lists, go to http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/2015-top-10-nonprofit-mailers-emailers/