Business Reply Envelopes for Nonprofits – Are They a Good Idea for Your Organization?
How to Set Up a Business Reply Mail Account in 9 Steps
If your nonprofit sends out more than 437 pieces of direct mail per year, you might want to consider setting up a Business Reply Mail account with the Post Office. It may save you money, and it will definitely save you time – if you want to include business reply envelopes in your campaign.
Why 437? You’ll see in Step 1 below – it has to do with the setup costs.
First, let’s back up for a minute to be sure we’re all on the same page.
What Is Business Reply Mail?
You’ve seen business reply envelopes many times in direct mail advertising from businesses and nonprofits. It is an extra envelope, slightly smaller than the one you opened and included inside it, with postage already paid. It allows you to respond to their offer without needing to use a stamp or a return address label.
Business reply envelopes remove one barrier to giving or buying. They make it easier to respond. And every time you can make responding to your campaigns easier, you are serving your donors and will increase response.
What Are the Advantages of Business Reply Mail?
The best advantage of using business reply envelopes is that the Post Office only charges you for the ones you receive back from donors. So if you send out 1000 fundraising letters and get 20 back, you only pay postage for the 20. Compared to sticking 1000 stamps on those reply envelopes, you can see how business reply mail can save you a ton of money.
This article is about how to set up a business reply mail account with the Post Office. An article in the July 2019 issue of Advancing Philanthropy by Jaclyn Kramer, Development Director for Volunteer Lawyers for Justice in Newark, New Jersey explained how to set up an account and was my source material for this. Special thanks to Jaclyn for putting this list together. From her completely believable description, figuring out how to do this on your own using the Post Office website would be unreasonably frustrating.
So – here are the 9 steps for setting up a business reply mail account so you can remove a barrier to donating and save money and time for your organization.
Step 1: Determine If the Cost Is Worth It
Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
There are two costs for using business reply envelopes. You pay an annual fee to the Post Office and must renew each year. And, you pay for each reply envelope you receive back from donors.
In 2020, the annual fee for business reply mail was $240, and the cost per envelope received back was $1.40 for a standard-sized envelope #9. (#9 is recommended for a business reply because regular-sized envelopes you will be sending out are #10, and you need the reply envelope to fit inside the one you mail out).
This is where the 437 number comes from. If you mailed 437 letters and included your own reply envelopes that you stamped yourself, you would spend $240 on postage at the current cost of stamps, $0.55 each (.55 x 437).
So if you mail more than 437 and want to include a reply envelope, you’ll save money by paying the annual business reply mail fee.
If you mail in high volumes, the Post Office has a bulk rate, but it also comes with a higher annual fee. And for super high volumes, they offer Qualified Business Reply Mail service (QBRM). The Post office loves acronyms, and I hate them, so I am sparing you. But when you’ll go on their site, you’ll be deluged, so be warned.
For up-to-date prices, go to this Post Office web page, click on the PDF for Price Lists, and in the PDF, click on ‘Other Services’ under the ‘Service and Fees’ heading.
Step 2: Fill Out PS Form 3615
Find PS Form 3615 on the USPS website. You use this form to apply for a business reply mail number and choose the type of permit you want.
Step 3: Fill out PS Form 6805
This form gives you a special code called a ZIP+4 Business Reply Mail code. To be clear – this is not the same thing as your normal 9-digit ZIP code. Each business gets its own unique ZIP+4, and this is the form you must fill out to get yours.
Step 4: Take These to Your Local Post Office
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
Bring both the forms from steps 2 and 3 to your local post office, along with two forms of ID, a check for your annual permit fee (currently $240 for the normal permit), your nonprofit’s location information, and patience. This is the post office after all, and you may be there a while…
Step 5: Get your Business Reply Mail ZIP+4
Once the Post Office has accepted your forms and information, you can then call or email to get your actual code. You can call Mailpiece Design Analyst Support Center at 855-593-6093 or email mda@usps.gov. It can take 48 hours or more to get your code, so don’t do this if you’re in a rush. (and there are still 4 more steps!).
You will also need to renew this every year.
Step 6: Design Your Business Reply Envelopes
There are a lot of very specific standards for what business reply envelopes must include, so this is not something to hand off to a designer and let them run wild.
Use the Post Office’s tool for this – the Automated Business Reply Mail tool (ABRM).
To use this tool, first set up a Business Customer Gateway Account.
Then, get a Mailer ID number from within that account.
From within that account, you can find the Automated Business Reply Mail tool where you can add your logo, choose your font and envelope size, and input all your other information. Again, using a #9 envelope is best so you know it will fit into a standard size #10 envelope.
Step 7: Get Your Designed Envelope Approved
Once you’ve designed your business reply envelope, generate it, save it, and print the PDF. Then, show it to your local post office and have them confirm you’ve done everything right. You don’t want to send out envelopes that don’t meet all the requirements.
Step 8: Get Your Envelopes Printed
Send your PDF to your printing company, along with the required colors and your preferred seal type, and have them print as many as you want. Then, you’ll have a ready supply on hand when you send out your next campaign.
Step 9: Prepare to Pay for Donor Replies
When donors reply to your fundraising campaign and send money in your reply envelopes, there are two ways to pay. You can pay as you receive them yourself, or you can set up and pre-fill a Business Reply Mail account, which the Post Office will deduct from for each returned envelope.
You can set up that account at the Post Office.
Remember – you only pay for the reply envelopes you receive back.
And if you’re wondering if the extra cost of printing these envelopes is worth it, remember that if you were already planning to send out reply envelopes but were going to stamp them yourself, you were already going to pay for envelopes, so that cost is sort of a wash, more or less. And, you were going to have to take the time to stamp and label each one of them, so you’re saving tons of time.
Are There Any Downsides to Business Reply Mail?
Business reply envelopes are certainly less personal than handwritten and personally stamped ones, even if you include your logo on them. Personalization motivates response too, so that is something you must consider.
When in doubt, test it!
If you’re sending out several thousand direct mail letters per year, this is something you could test. Put business reply envelopes in half the mailings, and put personally stamped and addressed ones in the other half. See if there is a difference in response and if there is, factor that into the costs of doing both and the time required, then decide if you want to renew your business reply mail account the next year.
Hope this was helpful, and good luck with your direct mail fundraising campaigns!
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