Reminder: donor receipts must be mailed First Class

Just as the last quarter of the calendar year is associated with nonprofit annual appeal solicitations, so the first quarter of the year typically contains a flurry of donation thank you receipt mailings.

We want to remind our nonprofit customers that USPS rules clearly state that since acknowledgments of organizations or individuals who make donations are considered financial documents, they are ineligible to be mailed at nonprofit rates and must be mailed First Class. These types of mailers are considered non-advertising matter.

USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-322 evaluated a donor receipt that "includes instructions to the addressee to 'keep this notice as a receipt for tax purposes.' Thus, the personal information (the amount of the previous year's donation) is not included in the mailpiece exclusively to support the advertising or solicitation in the mailpiece, but has a "dual use" as both a tax receipt and support for a current request for contributions. Therefore, the mailpiece is subject to First-Class Mail prices."

So, when developing your mailing strategies for thanking donors, please budget for the fact that your postage costs will be higher for these mailings than they are for the solicitations that preceded them.

If you have any questions about nonprofit mail, please contact your sales rep. They would be happy to help you figure out postal rate eligibility with the experts in our mailing department.