Thursday, January 19, 2012

Charitable Giving on the Rise in Last Months of 2011

Approaching New Year's Eve, charitable giving was already up 15% for December 2011 compared with the same month of 2010, reported the Network for Good, a site that enables donors to contribute to more than 10,000 charities nationwide. That positive December report didn't even include an anticipated spike of last-minute donations in the year's final 48 hours. It also followed a 20% November-over-November donations rise. In the end, 2011 donations will still lag the pre-recession level of 2007. But, given positive economic trends, the year-end growth hopefully signals continued recovery of charitable generosity in 2012. For details, see http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/30/pf/holiday_money_donations/index.htm?iid=SF_BN_River

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

USPS to Offer Credit Billing to Direct Mailers

At last the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has a reason to praise the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Regulatory Commission has granted a USPS request to allow postage credit billing to direct mailers rather than requiring postage prepayment. For now, the credit lines will go to large mailers who enter into negotiated service agreements with the USPS, but the DMA is urging expansion of the ruling to aid all direct-mail marketers. To read the actual ruling, see http://www.prc.gov/Docs/79/79321/Order1099.pdf