In recent weeks, the current status and stability of the USPS and the potential impact of changes made by newly appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (June 2020), has come into focus and has been prominently featured throughout the media. While the primary, and very valid question being raised is how changes made at USPS might impact the upcoming Presidential election, those of us in the nonprofit industry have additional concerns regarding the potential effects of changes made at the USPS on upcoming fall fundraising campaigns and all campaigns planned for 2021.
Most recently, the House approved legislation this past Saturday to allocate $25 billion to the US Postal Service and ban operational changes that have slowed mail service around the country.
S&W is committed to providing the most up-to-date information and any new developments with the USPS to our clients. We continually work with our industry partners and colleagues and refer to trusted resources to guide us as we assess this situation and make recommendations to our clients.
Some current resources and articles regarding the evolving situation with the USPS are listed here:
- Stop Panicking About the Post Office from GEN, by Nick Harper
- USPS Facts Vs. Politics by Steve Kearny of the Alliance of Non Profit Mailers
- And keeping up to date on the legislative reports provided by TNPA (The Nonprofit Alliance)
Key highlights and takeaways from these resources are:
- While the Post Office is in a dire financial situation, as of June 30, 2020, they have reported having enough funding to continue operations through at least August 2021. So while the threat is not immediate, it is something we will be keeping a very close eye on over the coming year.
- Delivery was slow during the third quarter, in the height of the pandemic, but has been reported as being back to normal rates.
- The majority of the measures the new Postmaster has taken that would cause delivery delays in the fall (removal of blue mailboxes and older sorting machines) have been stopped until after the election. However, there is still a mandate that postal workers can no longer claim overtime, which means that workers would have to leave distribution centers on time and could leave some mail left behind for the next day.
- In order to ensure mail-in ballots will be received on the time, the Post Office will prioritize all election mail in the upcoming weeks. This does mean that other types of mail, like nonprofit marketing mail, could experience increased delays.
S&W is proactively identifying solutions to a possible mail slow-down during election season, including remaining flexible with maildates and presenting additional tracking resources, etc. Please feel free to reach out to us with any additional concerns or questions you may have and be assured we will provide regular updates on this evolving situation.
