Sending Political Campaign Mail at USPS Bulk Postage Rates

 Scott Hochberg


Political candidates and campaigns can send mail at the same bulk mail rates that businesses can use. There are a few extra steps that USPS requires to help make sure political mail gets delivered in a timely manner (though bulk mail is always a secondary service, with no particular deadline for delivery).

You need to know:

• If you're mailing to everyone in an area, "Every Door Direct Mail" has very low postage rates and requires very little preparation.
  
  
• If you're mailing to a targeted list, you should use USPS Marketing Mail.
  
  
• Political bulk mail is usually considered to be commercial mail and is not eligible for nonprofit rates. However, mailings sent by national and state party committees can qualify as nonprofit, as can some materials mailed by voter registration officials.
  
  
• For the best delivery, be sure to follow the special instructions for political candidate mail.

More details, including rates, below:

Political mailings using Every Door Direct Mail.
Political mailings using Marketing Mail.
Special Instructions for Political Mailings.
Postage Rates for Political Mail.

"Every Door Direct Mail" (EDDM) is the cheapest and easiest way to mail to every residential address in an area. The postal carrier simply puts one piece in every mail box on their route (just like grocery ads).

It's simple for you, because you don't have to address the pieces, or even have an address list. And, unlike all other bulk mail, you don't have to sort the mail in any order and no USPS mailing permit is required.

It's cheap for USPS to handle, because they don't have to worry about getting the correct piece to the correct recipient. USPS passes that savings on to you, charging just no more than 19.1¢ per piece for pieces up to 12" x 15". Large pieces like this would cost $1 each to mail if you used regular First Class!

Instead of addressing each piece, you just choose the postal routes where you want your mail delivered. USPS provides a nifty mapping tool to help you find the routes you want to target, and how many pieces are needed for each route.

Then you just take the correct number of pieces to USPS, with each stack of pieces marked by zip and route according to USPS rules. (The stacks are marked, not the individual pieces.)

Unfortunately, EDDM does not work well in every circumstance. Here's why EDDM may not work for your campaign:

• You cannot use EDDM for letter-size pieces, half-sheet cards, or any mail that is not larger than 6 1/8" vertically or 10 1/2" wide. (It does not have to be both.) If you absolutely want to send letter-size pieces, this is a dealbreaker for EDDM. But since the postage rates are so low, it may well be worth spending a bit more on printing to send a piece large enough to qualify for EDDM, especially since larger pieces get more attention.
  
  
• You must mail to an entire carrier's route. Since postal routes don't line up with political districts, some of your mail may end up going to households outside of your boundaries.
  
  
• If you mail more than 5,000 pieces to any zip code one any day, you need a bulk mailing permit and must meet more complicated preparation requirements.

If you think EDDM will work for you, here's where to get started with Every Door Direct Mail.

What if EDDM won't work for you? Say your district lines don't match up well with the postal routes, or you have to send a letter-size piece, so EDDM won't really work. What then?

In that case, you get the cheapest postage rates by using "Enhanced Carrier Route Marketing Mail". To do that, each piece will need an address, and pieces will need to be sorted in the exact order that the carrier delivers the route.

While there is software that will prepare Enhanced Carrier Route mailings, it's expensive. And you'd have to make sure to keep every piece in the correct order.

Unless you know what you are doing with bulk mail, I'd recommend you use a professional mailing company to prepare mailings to every door if EDDM won't work.

Or, if it's a small mailing (or you're not trying to go to every residence), for a small increase in postage you can use regular Marketing Mail (not Enhanced Carrier Route), which does not require pieces to be sorted in carrier route order.

Keep reading to learn about regular Marketing Mail.

Marketing Mail is the most popular type of USPS bulk mail. It's what's typically used for targeted political mailings where you don't have many pieces to any one particular postal route.

You'll typically pay less than 30¢ for regular business envelopes or half-sheet cards, and 36¢ - 60¢ for larger pieces. See more rate details below.

Unfortunately, to get these rates, you can't just take your mail to the post office. You have to get a mailing permit, sort your mail into specific trays or sacks the way USPS wants them, and fill out paperwork.

Unless you're mailing to just one zip code, the sorting and postage calculations can get complicated, so to do this in-house, you'll need software like our Postage $aver Pro that will figure all of that out for you. Or, if you'd rather have someone do it for you, try one of these local print/mail shops that use Postage $aver Pro to prepare bulk mail for a small fee.

If you think Marketing Mail will work for you, here are more details on geting started with USPS Marketing Mail.