June 20, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Washington
The Postal Service’s Board of Governors today rejected a plan that would give nonprofit groups and other mailers a temporary discount for “flats,” mail pieces that are larger than letters.
The Postal Regulatory Commission, an independent body that reviews all postage rate increases, had recommended the discount after mailers complained about higher-than-expected increases for flats under new rates that took effect on May 14.
To help mailers adjust to the higher rates, the commission recommended that they pay 2 cents less in postage for each flat that cannot be processed in the Postal Service’s automated mail-handling equipment. The discount would expire on September 29.
Charities, which mail 3.6 billion flats annually, often use them for fund-raising appeals that include token gifts such as notepads and address labels to motivate people to give.
Many nonprofit officials had expected the Board of Governors to grant the discount because, during proceedings to set the new rates, it had expressed concern that the postage increases for flats would cause problems for many mailers.
“I was surprised and disappointed,” said Anthony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers about the discount decision. “I think a lot of people were.
Mr. Conway said that he has already heard from some of the alliance’s more than 300 members, including one big national organization, which he declined to name, that must now spend $300,000 more on postage in coming weeks than it would have had to pay with the discount. “They have a big flat campaign this summer, and it’s already in the pipeline” so it cannot be modified or dropped, he said.
