End-of-Year Mailing Information Center

Printing and Delivery

More than at other times of the year, end-of-year mailings tend to be time-sensitive, and last-minute. Our goal is to be able to accommodate all mailings in our normal two-day turnaround time, but it's best if you allow for more time, especially if your mailing is more complicated than usual.

Can you mail merge a specific "ask" amount and/or a longer greeting into each letter?

Yes. Just include any additional merges as extra columns in your mailing list spreadsheet, and let us know where to put each item.

For any mail-merged letter, please be sure to include the greeting in the top third of the letter, so we can check to make sure they stay lined up as they're going through our mailing equipment. If you're unable to do this, we can include mail merged letters by hand, which will add a manual labor charge.

Please don't send us pre-merged documents, if possible. Our software has a particular way of sorting the mailing list, and it won't necessarily be the same order as the list that you send.

If your document is highly customized per person and needs to be sent pre-merged, we can do the mailing outside of our normal process using our custom printing price structure. Contact us for an estimate.

If you want us to send you the letters to sign and address by hand, however, it won't matter that they're not in the same order as our list. It'll still be a smaller file if we do the mail merge on our end, but otherwise feel free to send us the pre-merged file.

Can I include a picture or special message on the envelope?

Yes, as long as it's a white envelope, or one of the linen envelopes. The other colored envelopes don't work as well on our laser envelope printer.

A text message can be included using our normal laser-printing additional price of $0.03 (B&W) or $0.05 (color). If you're already including a high-res ministry logo, there's no extra charge.

A color picture will add roughly an additional $0.05, depending on its size.

Can I send diffrent letters or inserts to groups of people on my list?

Yes. Create a separate mailing for each list, containing the letter, an Excel or other file containing the mailing list for that letter, and any special instructions.

If you maintain your mailing list online here, you can download your list as an Excel file and divide it into several files. Let us know that the revised lists are just for this set of mailings, and we'll leave your regular mailing list unchanged.

How long will it take to print and send my mailing?

That question has been the focus of my (Steve's) attention since Labor Day.

The short answer is that we should be able to get any normal or mostly normal letter (e.g. letter plus a response card and #9 reply envelope) in the mail within two or three business days throughout the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas season. We usually give priority to simpler mailings – letters without inserts will typically get same-day or next-day service throughout the season.

The longer answer is that we're sending quite a lot more mail in November and December, and nearly every mailing includes inserts, which means they take at least twice as long to produce. As a result, we're more prone to getting backlogged than during the rest of the year, particularly in the first week of December.

Note that none of these times include the time between when we ask for your approval to send the mailing and when you give that approval, since that's completely outside our control.

If you're a process geek like me, read on for more details into the internals of the company. If not, rest assured that we'll be getting your letters in the mail as quickly as we can, and if we're doing all of the printing for your mailing (i.e. we don't need to wait for packages), we should even at the slowest times be able to get your mailing done within four business days.

On to the details.

In 2007, our average turnaround time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was four business days. That was shortly before Kevin started working here.

In 2008, there were a few days in early December where we got backlogged by a day or two, but otherwise, pretty much every mailing went in the mail within two business days if it didn't require waiting for a package.

For 2009, we have the same three staff, and roughly a 40% increase in the number of missionaries we're serving (it's been a good year). To keep up with that growth, I've made the following changes since last Christmas:

Nearly all our printing and mailing equipment has been upgraded in 2009 to be significantly faster and more reliable.
Right after last year's end-of-year rush, I changed our software and the layout of the office to be able to better handle large numbers of mailings all using different paper and envelope colors. We've been tweaking the software throughout the year to work out various kinks.
In September, we created a flowchart, diagrams, and step-by-step lists of everything that happens for every mailing, and then made some changes to our workflow to address areas where quality or efficiency wasn't as good as we'd like. In particular, nearly every standard and full-service mailing now gets a second quality check by a different person, and it's much easier for us to all work on mailings and E-Mails at the same time, not just in shifts.

We already had good equipment, a lot of automation, and a good workflow in place beforehand, but I'm hoping that these improvements, combined with an extra year of practice for each of us, will make it possible for us to keep up with this growth while still working a normal work-week.

How can I guarantee my letter will be in the mail by a particular date?

Send it to us a week or more before you want it in the mail. We're happy to prepare your mailing for you and hold on to it until a particular date. That will all but eliminate any risk of it getting delayed due to equipment problems or backlogs.

What's the latest I can send you my letter for it to arrive before Christmas?

Christmas is on a Friday this year, so if we mail it for you on Monday, the 21st, most people should receive your letters by the 24th.

If you send us your letter by December 17th, we should be able to make that deadline.

Can you ship the letters to me so that I can sign them and add handwritten notes?

Certainly. Let us know how much of the process you want us to do, and where to send them when we're done.

The most common two options are for us to do everything except sealing the envelopes, or to fold the letters but not put them into the envelopes. The cheapest option is for us to send you the letters unfolded, if you don't mind doing the folding on your end. It will be a little neater that way as well, since folded letters take up more space in a box. We're happy to do it any way you'd like, though.

If you want to hand-write addresses on the envelopes, let us know if you want us to pre-print your return address. We'll also include a printout of your mailing list in the same order as the letters, so you won't have to go hunting for addresses.

Will you be at the Campus Crusade for Christ, Northeast Region's staff conference?

Yes, I (Steve) will be at this conference, and will be happy to bring your letters there, to save you the extra shipping cost. I'm also planning on bringing the 4x6 photo printer with me this year, so if you want to take a family picture at the conference, I can have them printed and ready for you before the end of the conference.

In order to ensure that we'll be able to have your letters ready by the conference, please send them to us by Wednesday the 18th. After that, we'll still do our best to get them done in time, but it could be a close call.