NCOA for Education Organizations

NCOA supports your organization

Update registrar and alumni databases

Track moves and update addresses to ensure outreach and engagement efforts are as effective as possible.

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, missed an engagement opportunity, and potentially lost contact with a graduate.

Address Completion & Improved Delivery Rates

Discover additional address details like apartment number or street pre-direction to complete addresses and mail to previously unreachable alumni.

NCOA services improve delivery rates in three important ways. First, they provide new addresses for moves within the last 48 months. Having an updated mailing address helps you ensure more of your mail pieces reach their recipient. Second, they identify other move data, which helps you avoid sending mail to a vacant, invalid, or just plain wrong addresses. Third, NCOA standardizes all of your addresses to meet USPS mail standards. This makes it easier for the post office to deliver the mail.

Reduced Costs

Identify duplicate donor records and addresses in your system to avoid unnecessary outreach and additional postage costs.

Too much returned mail can result in fines from USPS. Using an NCOA service helps you meet the Move Update Standard, qualify for bulk mailing and non-profit discounts, and avoid unnecessary fines. Between wasted postage and penalties, an NCOA process can save you up to $0.44 per bad address!

Alumni Outreach

An estimated 12% of Americans move each year. Imagine that you have a mailing list of 1,000 alumni. If just 12% of those alumni move between mailings, that’s 120 alumni you’ll lose touch with. That’s 120 lost engagement opportunities, 120 gifts you never asked for, and 120 stamps you didn’t need to buy. NCOA services play a critical role in making sure your alumni receive your mail pieces, thus contributing to donor acquisition, donor retention, and your bottom line. When more mail reaches your contacts, you create more opportunities for engagement (and gifts).

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. Use an NCOA service every 95 days to stay USPS compliant and to benefit from bulk mailing rates.