Postage increases impact your revenue, but key USPS promotions and incentives can help cut the costs of your direct mail program.
Every new year marks an opportunity for the United States Postal Service (USPS) to increase postage rates, and this year was no different. Not only did we see increases in January, we’re coming up on July, which brings a second postage increases. These increases doubtless have, and will, cut into your mailing budget.
To keep revenue up in light of these increases, you need to get smart about your mailing budget.
For “Non-Profit Marketing Letter” mail, the first increase in 2024 was, on average, around a 1.5% increase. “Mixed AADC” went from 0.226 cents per piece to 0.228 cents. “Saturation Non-Profit” rates, which are the best possible rates (you need a big mailing—300,000 to 500,000 or more pieces—to get these prices), went from 0.143 cents to 0.147 cents per piece.
These aren’t huge increases, but each is an increase nonetheless, and every increase cuts into your revenue—which cuts into your mission. Even with a 1.5% increase, you need to find ways to navigate these new costs.
USPS 2024 Promotions and Incentives
The best way to protect your mailing budget as 2024 progresses is to use the USPS 2024 Promotions that offer postage discounts to your nonprofit.
The USPS is offering six promotions this year to help offset the postage increase, and every organization doing direct mail should try to use at least one of them. Here are three that I highly recommend:
- Emerging and Advanced Technology: 2024 Emerging & Advanced Technology Guidebook | PostalPro (usps.com). This provides a 3% mobile shopping postage discount, and all you need to do is add a QR code in your mailing to your “donate now” webpage. The promo period is anytime in 2024, extending six months from the date you start using it. You can enroll on your USPS Business Customer Gateway.
- Tactile, Sensory, Interactive: 2024 Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive Guidebook | PostalPro (usps.com). Glossy paper, textured paper, peel-off cards, scratch-off devices, soft-touch varnish—they all qualify for this 5% discount. The promo period extends through 7/31/24, so you stand to benefit on any mailings over the next three months. Ask your printer to handle enrollment in this with the USPS.
- Informed Delivery: 2024 Informed Delivery Guidebook | PostalPro (usps.com). This 4% postage discount (promo period 9/1/24–12/31/24) has amazingly simple requirements to participate. Informed Delivery® enhances the mail experience by providing eligible residential and personal PO Box™ consumers with a daily email digital preview of their household’s mail. With Informed Delivery, business mailers can engage users through an integrated mail and digital marketing campaign that generates additional consumer impressions, interactions, and insights. Currently, 52 million USPS customers have enrolled in this program. Your printer can handle the enrollment for this with the USPS.
You can only use one of these at a time, so I recommend using one of the first two now, and Informed Delivery towards the end of the year. Details for each of these are in the last three documents below.
USPS 2024 Mail Growth Incentive
There is one last promo the USPS is offering for 2024, but only nonprofits that mailed more than one million pieces of mail in 2023 qualify. The USPS Mail Growth Incentive is to incentivize mailers to increase their 2024 mail volume over their 2023 mail volume. If you mail more mail pieces in 2024 than you did in 2023, you will qualify for a 30% Postage Credit. The USPS will use your Customer Registration ID # (CRID) to determine your 2023 baseline mail quantity.
There are three date ranges to be aware of for this opportunity:
- Baseline Period: October 2022 through September 2023 (FY2023)
- Registration Period: November 2023 through June 2024 (so move on it this month!)
- Incentive Performance Period: January 2024 through December 2024
Mailers will receive a postage credit for qualifying volume in excess of 100,000,000 pieces or FY23 baseline volume, whichever is higher.
Selecting Your Promotions
To implement any of these promotions, you must register in the Mailing Promotions Portal of your USPS Business Customer Gateway. Here’s how to go about that:
- Use your Business Customer Gateway (BCG) credentials to access the Mailing Promotions Portal (MPP).
- Select the incentive you want to use.
- Fill out a spread sheet online with all your CRID’s.
- USPS will determine your baseline for 2023 and provide that number for you to approve.
For any organization using the Mail Growth Incentive promotion, 30% is a huge discount/credit to receive—but even the 3-5% discount will bolster your mail program!
If you are looking into these promotions, please feel free to reach out to me for assistance. I would be happy to discuss the best way your nonprofit can apply these in your direct mail efforts! In my work at AmPhil in 2023, I used all three of these promos with our clients, and I can help you learn how to save postage costs in 2024.
Let’s schedule a meeting to discuss how you can use these promos to help your mail program.
