Postal Rates Would Increase for Nonprofits Under Proposal

Charities could pay substantially more to send appeals and other types of mail if recommendations made by the Postal Regulatory Commission for a new rate system are adopted.

Nonprofits and other big mailers have already attacked the plan, released in December, which would give the U.S. Postal Service more latitude to increase fees on mail typically sent by nonprofits to raise money.

“The proposal is simply bad for all concerned — customers, citizens, the Postal Service, and its employees,” said Stephen Kearney, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, in an email to member organizations.

The commission’s proposal keeps in place annual increases in postage rates tied to inflation but also allows the Postal Service to impose a rate hike of up to 2 percentage points annually for all mail for five years and an additional increase of up to 1 percentage point annually if the agency meets certain efficiency and quality goals.

The plan would also let the Postal Service adopt new fees for mailing periodicals and other types of mail that cost more for it to ship than the agency charges.

When — or if — the Postal Service will get this authority is yet to be determined. A final rule has not been drafted.

Charities and other high-volume mailers can comment on the measure until March 1. The Postal Service will post responses until March 30.

The commission suggested the potential rate increases as part of a review of the effects of a 2006 law that tied postal rates to inflation. The review found that the rate system hurt the Postal Service’s long-term financial stability.

Charities Express Concern

Charities “are going to be hit hard by this,” Mr. Kearney said in an interview with The Chronicle.

The American Lung Association, for instance, said its costs could soar under the proposal by almost 40 percent over the next five years. The organization says it would have to reduce its annual mailings — which, according to one organization official, could hamper its ability to raise money.

“Because the Lung Association relies on direct-mail campaigns for approximately one-quarter of our revenue, higher rates of postage limit our reach and reduce the net revenue that our organization can spend on critical lung-health programs and funding for much-needed lung-disease research,” said Erika Sward, assistant vice president for national advocacy for the organization, in an email to The Chronicle.

While the organization continues to invest in an array of fundraising methods, “direct mail is a still a proven entity from which we are able to more accurately predict our return on the investment,” said Sue Swan, chief development officer for American Lung.

Ms. Swan added: “Our donors have come to expect the American Lung Association’s direct-mail solicitations and respond enthusiastically. If postal rates go up dramatically, our budget for mail will not — a dangerous cycle for both the Lung Association and the Postal Service, which won’t have the benefit of the first-class mail responses our direct mail generates.”