Is Move-Update/NCOA Required?

Avoid penalties and wasted postage

Returned mail can be an expensive double whammy. Any mail that’s returned to you is money lost on wasted postage. It costs a few cents here and there if a few mail pieces get returned. But, the cost of wasted postage can pile up if entire segments of your mail campaign are getting returned to you (remember… 12% of Americans move every year).

When a mail piece gets returned to your organization, it’s a drain on your time and resources. Someone has to review the mail, understand what went wrong, and correct the address in your database. On top of that, you’ve wasted postage and missed an engagement opportunity with your donor.

USPS Move Update Standard

Crucially, to qualify for non-profit and bulk mail discounts, mailers must meet the United States Postal Service’s Move Update Standard. This standard requires mailers who claim presorted or automation prices for First-Class Mail® or Standard Mail® service to demonstrate that they have updated their mailing list within 95 days before the mailing date.

Beginning March 1st 2018, the USPS Move Update standard was changed and began using a new census based measurement process to replace the MERLIN machines they previously used to assess address quality for bulk mailers. The threshold for this assessment process is o.5% applied to all mail submitted in a calendar month by a mailshop or other eDoc submitter. The penalty for exceeding this threshold was raised from $.07 per piece to $.08 per piece. As a result, it is more important than ever to stay in compliance with the Move Update standard by using a regular NCOA process.

You don’t qualify for these discounts if you don’t meet the Move Update Standard. Use an NCOA service every 95 days to stay USPS compliant and to benefit from bulk mailing rates.