November 4, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Fund raisers and nonprofit leaders breathed a sigh of relief this week when four senators introduced a new bill that would, in effect, preserve low postage rates for charities.
The measure has bipartisan sponsors: Republicans Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts and Susan M. Collins of Maine, plus Thomas R. Carper, a Delaware Democrat, and Joseph Lieberman, independent of Connecticut.
Because of that broad reach, lobbyists say the measure has better chances than another bill that Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican, proposed to phase out nonprofit postage rates. Similar legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican. All of the bills are primarily designed to deal with the postal service’s deficits.
Charities now are charged 26 percent less, on average, than businesses when they send fund-raising appeals and other mass mailings to donors.
If the bills by Mr. McCain and Mr. Issa were passed, the implications for charities could be harsh.
For example, the American Lung Association has estimated that postage for its direct-mail appeals, which raise some $31-million annually, would nearly double, to $12-million over the next few years under Mr. Issa’s proposal.
Lobbyists for nonprofit mailers say they don’t expect any action to be taken soon.
“This will drag into 2012, and then you get the question of whether they can move a bill in an election year,” said Anthony Conway, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, which represents about 200 charitable organizations.
“I would say the chances are not great.”
