Author: Steve Kearney

Nonprofit Mailers Well-Represented on Marketing Mail Task Team: Hopeful for Positive Results February 6, 2019 With several MTAC members representing nonprofits on the Marketing Mail Task Team, we are cautiously optimistic.  It has been 166 days since the Postal Service announced it was contemplating changes to the rules about allowable content in Marketing Mail (Standard…

February 6, 2019 We recommend that nonprofits consider participating in the Postal Service’s tactile and sensory promotion.  For reasons very similar to nonprofits’ use of physical premiums, the USPS wants to encourage testing of specific kinds of enhancements that have been found to increase response rates.  They are offering 2 percent postage discounts for mailers…

February 6, 2019 With the President’s Task Force report out, and the Postal Regulatory Commission with a full slate of Commissioners, something all mailers will need to watch for is further action by the PRC on its ten-year rate review. The Commission’s first proposal was widely panned by just about every party, and even three…

February 6, 2019 PRC Chairman Robert Taub The Postal Regulatory Commission announced that it will host an off-the-record technical conference on February 15, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. in the Commission’s hearing room, which will be open to members of the public.  This might be the most highly-followed PRC technical conference in a long time because…

Get Your Forever Stamps Now January 15, 2019 Effective Sunday, January 27, 2019, the postage rate for single-piece First-Class letter stamps will go up 5 cents to 55 cents.  Nonprofits should consider stocking up on 50 cent Forever stamps before the record 10 percent increase. Forever stamps retain their value indefinitely regardless of future postage…

USPS Earned Value Promotion Good for Many Nonprofits January 15, 2019 Many nonprofits have found significant value by participating in USPS Earned Value Promotions.  The 2019 version continues, with slight variation, those held in previous years, but not 2018.  The idea is to promote the use of Business Rely Mail, Courtesy Reply Mail and Share…

Marketing Mail Content Task Team Off to Slow Start January 15, 2019 Day 145: Potential Shutdown of Merchandise in Marketing Mail The USPS public investigation into whether it will ban some or all merchandise from inside Marketing Mail has reached 145 days, with no clear end in sight.  We thought the Postal Service had promised…

USPS Watchdogs & Regulators Join Government Shutdown January 15, 2019 We do not see a major immediate impact from the shutdown of both the USPS regulator and its watchdog.  The January 27 rate increase will go on as planned.  The bringing on board of the new PRC Commissioner Michael Kubayanda will be delayed, as will…