November 11, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
The United States Postal Service has revised its standards for charities and businesses that send bulk mailings at reduced rates. The revisions, which take effect in June, were spurred by requests from organizations for a better definition of what personal information about recipients such mailings can include and still be eligible for the reduced rates, says Sherry Freda, who oversees Postal Service rates and rules.
The new Postal Service rules state that personal information is permissible in charity-rate mailings when included “solely to support an advertisement or charitable solicitation.” For example, an appeal sent at reduced rates can list the amount of a donor’s previous gift as part of a request that they give more.
The Postal Service did not issue a definitive list of what personal details are permissible and what are not, because “the list won’t always describe adequately what people are doing,” says Ms. Freda. She adds that any list would instantly be out of date, since marketers are constantly creating new mailing strategies to attract donors and consumers. The Postal Service is now revising case studies charity officials can review to help determine if a mailing complies with the rule.
However, says Ellenor Kirkconnell, assistant director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, in Washington, without specific guidelines, charities are confused about what information to use.
The new guidelines on mailing rates were included in the October 27 edition of the Federal Register and can be found online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.
