Beginning in April 2018, the USPS will begin using a new Move Update validation process.

What does this mean for mailers?

As you know, in order to mail to a list, the records must have gone through a data hygiene process called NCOA (National Change of Address) no longer than 95 days prior to your mail date. This helps the post office better manage their resources by reducing non-deliverable mail and the time-consuming task of forwarding and/or returning or trashing mail that cannot be delivered to the intended recipient. Move updates must be done for both Marketing Mail (formerly Standard) and First Class mail.

Nothing new there, so what’s changing?

Well, the USPS is changing the validation method used to determine compliance with Move Update –Mailpieces are scanned using Mail Processing Equipment and each mailing’s scores are maintained on a Mailer Scorecard. These results are aggregated across the calendar month based on the previous month’s mailings and measured against the established thresholds. Any mailpieces exceeding the threshold, which is an error rate of 0.5%, will be assessed a Move Update assessment fee.

What does this mean for you?

In order to keep your error score down, it’s important to keep up with your data hygiene protocols and process them through the NCOA hygiene in the prescribed time frame. Managing how your data is in your record will also help. Small things like ensuring your recipient name reads FIRST NAME/LAST NAME vs. LAST NAME/FIRST NAME will greatly decrease your error rate.

If you need assistance with any data hygiene, please reach out to us or our colleagues at MMI Direct.

We’d be happy to help, you can email your customer service rep or give us a call at 443-539-2640.

In this post, we share an update from the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers about the recent PRC proposal which allows increases above the CPI. It outlines the highlights of the increases as well as six things you can do to help now.

From the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers:

The PRC Proposal is Simply Bad

December 11, 2017

Alliance Members and Supporters:

We wanted to follow up with you on the Alert we sent when the Postal Regulatory Commission released its proposed changes to the Consumer Price Index cap system for postage increases. The PRC proposal is simply bad for all concerned—customers, citizens, the Postal Service, and its employees. It is bad because it arbitrarily proposes to add extra rate increases on top of the CPI that have no basis in common sense. The increases will drive much-needed mail volume away to alternate channels. It is similar to a doctor knowing that half a dozen treatments are needed to cure a sick patient, but having only one at his or her disposal, prescribes four times the recommended dosage to make up for the lack of other solutions.

The PRC proposal would cause annual 7% postage rate increases for at least the next 5 years, compounding to 40%, for much of the mail that nonprofits use.

Here’s the summary:

2% CPI (assume) + 2% surcharge for all mail + 1% for making their service and productivity goals (doing their jobs) + 2% for all “underwater” products = 7% each year.

“Underwater” products include Periodicals and Marketing Mail Flats.

There is another add-on for products that have pass-throughs of workshare discounts exceeding bands around 100%. So, for example, within Marketing Mail, certain categories of drop-shipped letters will get an extra increase that will have to be offset within Marketing Mail class. So, categories affected can expect a similar extra 2% (and total 7%) that underwater products get. Many nonprofits use these letters as their workhorse fundraising vehicle.

We want to assure you that we are diligently studying the PRC proposal to determine our best course of action. Whatever that course, it will be the best possible attempt to oppose the implementation of this mistake.

Our Board of Directors is meeting this week to discuss strategy.

The best things you can do now:

1. Renew your Alliance membership;
2. Make an extra contribution to our Litigation Fund;
3. Urge other nonprofits to join us through our website;
4. Urge your vendors to become corporate sponsors of the Alliance;
5. Stay tuned for further updates on our strategy;
6. And, if you want to take immediate action, write a letter to the editor expressing your reaction to this nonsensical proposal. Here is a letter to the editor that we had nothing to do with, but makes sense to us (although we would use an example other than Starbucks!).

As always, we are here to answer your questions and address your concerns.

Best Regards,

Stephen Kearney
executive director
Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers
steve@nonprofitmailers.com

New Rules for USPS Rate Increases Means Bad News for Direct Marketers

The Postal Regulatory Commission has announced that the USPS’s current pricing system is not adequate to meet the goals of the 2006 postal law. This is bad news for direct marketers because it means postage rates will likely increase by more than the rate of inflation over the next five years.

While the PRC has proposed keeping the CPI cap in the USPS pricing system, it has also added a number of adjustments to the rules for regulating rates. These include:

• Allowing the USPS to increase rates as much as two percentage points above the CPI for all mail for 5 years.
• Allowing an additional one percentage point more if USPS achieves performance goals (.75 based on operational efficiency and .25 based on service).
• For products not fully covering their attributable costs – the most prominent of which are Periodicals and Marketing Mail Flats – an additional two percentage points will be allowed.
• A requirement that products with workshare discount pass-throughs significantly different than 100% must get into prescribed bands within 3 years: 75%-125% for Periodicals and 85%-115% for every other product.

There is a 90-day comment period on these proposed changes followed by 30 days for replying to any comments. The PRC Chairman, Robert Taub, has emphasized that none of the elements of the proposed pricing changes will go into effect until the process is fully complete. This likely means the changes would not take effect until late 2018 or 2019.

We’ll continue to monitor the issue and keep you informed.