The centerpiece of last week’s National Postal Forum (NPF) in Baltimore was Informed Delivery™. Postmaster General Megan Brennan, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer and Marketing Officer James Cochrane, Vice President, Product Innovation Gary Reblin, and Director, Product Technology Innovation, Bob Dixon all expressed great optimism about the new service that marries hard copy and digital in a way only the USPS can offer.

Informed Delivery™ is a true digital/hard copy monopoly service because it is built on images the USPS makes of mail as it passes through their equipment. NPF participants left buoyed with the feeling that the postal tide may have turned.

Informed Delivery™ is now available nationwide to anyone who would like to see digital pictures of their mail arriving each day. You can sign up as a recipient at informeddelivery/usps.com. Over two million already have enrolled to receive the daily notification, and the number is growing rapidly. Several hundred enrolled at NPF.

The exciting opportunity for nonprofit mailers is to find out whether you can enhance your direct mail fundraising by working with the USPS. In addition to the grayscale image USPS already owns, you can provide a color graphic of your mailpiece and a click-through link to a website, coupon, or other offer. That way, your mailing will have the chance to make two or more impressions rather than the one that most hard-copy mail is limited to. Your Informed Delivery™-enhanced mail also can engage multiple members of a household who might otherwise not see the hard-copy mailpiece. And your supporters could click to make an immediate donation.

Currently there is no charge by the USPS. Read more about the opportunity here: www.usps.com/business/informed-delivery.htm. And email the USPS to begin the production of a campaign: USPSInformedDeliveryCampaigns@USPS.gov.

Presentations at the Forum demonstrated that Informed Delivery™ has potential to enhance fundraising, and that USPS makes it fairly easy and low-cost to implement. If you are an early adopter, your color piece will stand out among a sea of gray. And color promotions will be shown at the top of the listings. The Postal Service can provide you with data on how many addresses on your mailing list are enrolled in this one of a kind service.

So, give Informed Delivery™ a try while it is new, free, and will stand out to recipients. The USPS plans to add further enhancements such as images of flat mail. Here are some quick links:

• Informed Delivery Overview (PDF)
• Interactive Campaign Guide (PDF)
• Campaign Elements Guide (PDF)
• Informed Delivery FAQs (PDF)