Screen your mailing list for unnecessary names, duplicates and incomplete addresses.
Use “Certified” instead of “Registered” mail whenever possible, as it costs less and still provides a receipt and notice of delivery to the sender.
Do not over-insure. The USPS and UPS will pay only the actual value of an item, not the declared value.
Use postcards for short messages or announcements. The cost is 1/3 less than an envelope.
Combine mailings when possible into a larger envelope for distribution at destination.
Use business reply envelopes provided by vendors, instead of department envelopes.
FAX the information when time is crucial, instead of using Express Mail.
Request library and Media Mail whenever possible. Savings can be as much as 50% of the cost of first-class mail.
Use intra-campus envelopes for on-campus mail. Use regular business envelopes for off-campus mailing only.
Use Non-Profit or Bulk Mail. Your savings amounts to about 20 cents per mail piece.
Whenever possible fold material in ½ and place in a 6×9 or #10 envelope to reduce postage.
If you use Priority mail, use the envelopes and boxes provided free by the Mail Center: call the Mail Center at 53786.
Reducing Junk Mail
Junk mail is unsolicited mail sent out usually by direct marketing or direct mail firms. Used mainly for introducing new products, books and magazines, investment opportunities, merchandise catalogs, etc.
Most junk mail is the result of direct marketing efforts that profile your buying habits and sell your name as a prospective buyer to new and existing companies.
On a daily basis, the university receives significant amounts of unsolicited mail that is wasteful and creates an administrative problem for 51ԹϺ.
Mail that is disregarded and discarded also adversely impacts many aspects of our environment.
It is estimated that more than a third of 51ԹϺ’s incoming USPS mail consists of bulk rate advertising mail. While some proportion of this may be considered useful information, a large amount is discarded as “junk mail.”
Getting Removed from a Junk Mail List
There is no simple solution to the junk mail problem. However, there are a couple of actions that can be taken to address the problem.
First of all, you can reduce the amount of unwanted bulk rate mail you receive by requesting that your name be removed from the mailing list. This won’t work in the case of a one-time mailing, but it will certainly make a difference.
Send a postcard to the company requesting them to take you off their mailing list. To instruct a company to remove your name/department from their mailing list please contact the Mail Center at ext. 53786 for postcards you can use for this purpose. The preprinted postcard has a space for the name of the publication and a section to print or paste in the address label. You can also order the postcards from Integrated Graphic Services.
Sample Postcard Request for Removal
In addition to the postcard, contact the customer service departments of the companies that send you unwanted mail, ask that they remove you from their mailing list. Mailing lists are often sold or rented to other organizations, so, you may have to call the companies first to ask where they got your information.
If you read the code on your mailing label, the company will be able to tell you the supplier of your name. Often, this is a list broker, a company that specializes in selling mailing lists, but it also may be an individual company that rented or sold their membership or marketing list. You will need to call that company and ask that your name be removed from its list.
Contact all organizations/companies that you currently deal with through the mail and ask them not to rent or share your name. (Your credit card company, charities and other non-profit groups to which you send money, all potentially may rent or sell their lists to unrelated companies.)
Other Resources
Other options exist in addition to the direct contact approach:
: Catalog Choice is a free service that allows users to reduce the number of repeat and unwanted catalog mailings. Users set their mail preferences for catalogs and Catalog Choice contacts them on your behalf, requesting that their preferences be honored.
: DMAchoice is a free, on-line service offered by the Direct Marketing Association to help you manage your mail. Users can request to start or stop receiving credit offers, catalogs, magazine offers and other mail offers.
Other steps are offered by
. This website contains valuable information regarding the nature of junk mail and multiple resources to help reduce the flow of unwanted mail.
