Thought we’d bring some of the old band back for this timely topic—the state of the US Postal Service and the deliverability of direct mail.

In simpler times—say 2019— the U.S. Postal Service was not a political football.  But as with so many of 2020’s “features,” that’s where we are.  Thankfully, much of the harshest and most threatening rhetoric surrounding the USPS has not come to pass: it didn’t shut down for lack of funds in June, nor is it going to be allowed to cease to exist if it doesn’t charge Amazon more.

To help sort through fact and fiction, we’ve enlisted the expertise of Carolyn Angelini, Director of Resource and Supplier Relations at Production Solutions.  Here’s what she’s finding:

There have been no delays in mail delivery for nonprofits so far. The new Postmaster General is making waves by, among other things, nixing overtime.  To get to the root cause he’s asking that existing policies and metrics be adhered to and that operations remain open to trying some new Ideas out to streamline their processes.

A leaked PowerPoint deck in mid-July alluded that this could mean that any mail left at the end of a shift would go undelivered until at least the next day.  This led to concerns about potential delays in service, but the point was being called out as a possible temporary situation and not the new norm.

Thankfully, we can track this, so Carolyn delved into the Mail Tracking Data.  A mail piece is (ideally) scanned when the USPS receives it and scanned again when it’s delivered.

Usually, Marketing Mail letters receive about a 97% scan percentage which provides a quick sense of whether your mail is being processed and in the hands of the Postal Service.  And 95% of this same mail receives delivery scans, which firms like Production Solutions use as a guide to know these mail pieces made it to the donor’s or prospect’s home.  (100% isn’t achievable because not all mail and processing facilities scan mail.)

So, what are we seeing?  The results are still 97%/95% for scans nationwide along with normal in- home delivery – so no delays in nonprofit mail. 

Other mail may be being delayed but so far, our sector’s is not.  We have heard of other mailers experiencing issues in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Detroit and Production Solutions is keeping a close eye on these areas and will keep us posted.

So why are we hearing about delivery delays?  It could be that items other than Marketing Mail are affected.  Packagevolume (all those ‘essentials’ from Amazon and the other e-commerce firms) jumped up higher when COVID-19 hit –higher than during the holidays and hasn’t fully returned to baseline levels.  And, since many of the reports of delays are anecdotal, this would fit with packages being delayed because consumers generally expect packages in a certain period of time and thus the end user knows it is late.

But so far this isn’t the case for the latest fundraising packs –except for those containing seeds. Other more politically inclined observers venture the guess that some of the reported delays may be due to the postal unions pushing back back on the new work rules about overtime and such.

• The USPS has access to more funding. One potential stumbling block reported earlier this year was that the USPS us running out of money.  The CARES Act authorized an additional $10 billion in borrowing if needed (yay!), but there were risks that that funding would have onerous conditions put on it (boo!).

Happily, last week, the USPS and the Treasury agreed on terms to get that money if needed.  The USPS Board of Governors unanimously ratified this.  The USPS can’t draw against this money until they are below $8 billion in cash and as of now, they still have $13 billion on hand.  So, they should be solvent for a while.  USPS projections from earlier this summer put this date at between May and November of 2021; this additional funding should increase USPS’s survival beyond that witching hour.

• We did have challenges at the beginning of COVID-19. The Moore DM Group reported the challenges at the beginning of the pandemic; at that point, mail was not being processed on time in postal facilities at some certain urban areas hardest hit by the virus.  USPS recently shared their second quarter Service Level performance.  Here is their on-time mail, 2019 vs 2020:

Carolyn reports that Production Solutions is not seeing delays in nonprofit mail and in some cases Year to Date they are seeing faster delivery in-home compared to the same period in 2019. Yes, the USPS is saying their processing is slightly behind last years’ service metrics but overall Carolyn notes there is no need to panic.

Hopefully, this helps you fend off the latest clamor from the “mail is dying” crowd in your organization.

We’ll stay vigilant and bring you updates as warranted.  If 2020 has taught us nothing else, it’s that just because something is working, that sure doesn’t mean it will continue you to work…

What are you experiencing?

Roger and Nick