Returned Mail

Jennifer Rudder

Hello!


When you get returned mail due to invalid address, how to you all mark it in your systems? I'm trying to work on a standardized practice for this at my organization. Currently, some people click the box on Bio 1 tab, some people change the solicit codes, some people delete the address from the Address tab, some do all three! How does our organization handle it?


Thanks!


 

Carla Moya

Our organization uses the check box for "invalid Address" That way we will still have the last address if they call and ask why they didn't receive any correspondence. We try not to change solicit codes.

Jen Claudy

If it's an Appeal, we change the Appeal Response to RTS Mail (returned to sender).  If it's something else, we note it wherever appropriate.  There is a Constituent Notepad Type of Email/Address that is for any additional information or context, or anything for future reference.  Should there be no other valid addresses, and research doesn't turn up any new ones, then we would mark No Valid Address on Bio 1 and uncheck Send Mail? on the address record.  Never delete, and I prefer not to deal with Solicit Codes for this, as then you have to reset them if/when you get a new address.

Lindy Kingins

We never delete an old address. Sometimes old addresses provide clues for other things such a relationships to other people. If we've researched and are satisfied that no new address can be confirmed, then we check the 'Has no valid addresses' box on Bio 1. We also add a notepad so that we know when the box was checked and if any other information was available. This is especially useful for us when membership cards keep getting returned.

Gina Gerhard

We have very strict protocols on handling address changes. This is somewhat of a logic scheme we run through.

Depending on the situation, we would be adjusting the Address type, checking/unchecking Send Mail, and marking 'No Valid Address'.  

• We NEVER delete an address (unless it was a true mistake)
• We do NOT adjust Solicit codes due to the state of the address - these are two separate issues.

DETERMINE WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON WITH THIS ADDRESS RETURN:

• If it's a home address, does the person really not live there anymore?
  • Try to find a new address.
  • If you can't find new address
    • Change this address to 'Home, Former'
    • Uncheck the Send Mail
    • Are there any other addresses on the record you might use instead?
      • If so, make that address Preferred.
    • If there are no other addresses, check 'No Valid Address' on Bio 1.
  • Make same adjustments on spouse record if they have a shared address.
  • Also review phone numbers and see if there are changes to phone numbers related to address change.
• Is this perhaps a seasonal situation where you mailed to a seasonal address but in the wrong timeframe?
  • If that's so, then there may not be anything wrong with the address just the dates.
  • Try to find the correct date range and make adjustments
• If this is an organization address:
  • Does the individual no longer work at the organization? (you can use internet to research)
    • If not, change their employment status; you may need to change their preferred address manually.
  • Is the organization no longer located at this address?
    • Try to find a new organization address (you can use internet to research) and create new organization address.
  • Has the organization gone out of business?
    • If so, check the organization as Inactive; change address to Business, Former; check 'No Valid Address' on Org 1.
  • Ir organization still exists but you do not have a valid address
    • Change address to Business, Former; check 'No Valid Address' on Org 1.
    • Check the contact addresses to see if they also need to be adjusted manually.
  • Also review phone numbers and make any adjustments based on this address change.

JoAnn Strommen

First, we check address tab to see if there are other valid addresses. If not, check no valid address on bio 1.  On address tab, open the address and uncheck the send mail option.  On the address attribute tab, I have catagories with the first line of the various messages/stickers USPS uses.  2nd/3rd line info is recoded in description field and the date.  


Checking seasonal address info is great suggestion if you use seasonal addresses.

Joy park

Awesome guidelines, Gina!  We work with a very similar process.  


Don't delete addresses, just mark them as "Previous Address" and un-check the "send mail" boxes.  You might need the address later and it will help your data cleanups!

Daniel Bayer

Basically, what Gina said.


On a more personal note, I don't trust the USPS as far as I can throw them. So whenever we get anything back "Return to Sender" without a new address, I first check the constituent in Lexis Nexis, and then check the white pages (both the address and the home phone number, if we have it). If I cannot find a new address from either of those, then I put an annotation on the constituent's record that says something like "Mail returned 8/31/2016, RTS, NDA. On next return, mark as No Valid Address." (NDA for Not Deliverable as Addressed, this can be changed to whatever the USPS puts on the yellow sticker). I just like to have as many safeguards as possible because there have been more than enough times when I've gotten mail back from an address that I know is correct.


If the next piece of mail we send also gets returned and we still can't find a new address, the annotation gets deleted, the No Valid Address box gets checked, and in the address record, we change the Address Type to "Previous", Info Source to "Mail Return", the Send Mail box gets unchecked, and the Date To box gets filled in.

Gina Gerhard

Daniel - Yes I totally agree about USPS returns.  I even got a return on my own personal address - telling me I didn't live there anymore!!


The other piece of this we didn't discuss:

• Do we then look for new addresses for our 'lost addresses' using a service like AddressFinder or some other service?
  • How do you determine the value behind the effort/cost of finding new addresses?  
  • Do you just focus on the 'VIP' records for this?

JoAnn Strommen

Too funny, Gina.  But believable and true.  I've often resent them also.


I had a school district employee walk into the desk at the Y to give us mail they had sent to us but was returned as undeliverable. All was correct.  What was ironic was at the exact time our mailman was at the desk delivering our mail.  I gave him a bit of a hard time.  He couldn't explain why it had been returned. 

susan snyder

Carla Moya:

Our organization uses the check box for "invalid Address" That way we will still have the last address if they call and ask why they didn't receive any correspondence. We try not to change solicit codes.

I created an address attribute of "Bad Address", Description is either YES or NO, enter the date you mark bad address and add in the comment returned mail.  Then I uncheck the send mail to this addressl box.  When creating mailing lists I add this into my suppression query; Address attribute, Bad Address = "YES".  Then all the bad addresses in RE should be suppressed from the mailing.    I have found that if you create a suppression query separate from the mailing list query and use the merge query feature with a "SUB" the lists work better for us. I hope you find this helpful.

Maggie Sis

 

Maggie Sis

Kerry Ayres-Smith:

Hello!


When you get returned mail due to invalid address, how to you all mark it in your systems? I'm trying to work on a standardized practice for this at my organization. Currently, some people click the box on Bio 1 tab, some people change the solicit codes, some people delete the address from the Address tab, some do all three! How does our organization handle it?


Thanks!


 

To piggy back off of Gina and Daniel.  We add an attribute to the address record that we had returned mail on this specific address with the specific USPS codes, and we give it three chances  before we code it invalid.  As Daniel mentioned - you cannot always rely on the USPS so we do not mark it invalid until three pieces of mail of been returned.

 

Christine Cooke 2

Kerry Ayres-Smith:

Hello!


When you get returned mail due to invalid address, how to you all mark it in your systems? I'm trying to work on a standardized practice for this at my organization. Currently, some people click the box on Bio 1 tab, some people change the solicit codes, some people delete the address from the Address tab, some do all three! How does our organization handle it?


Thanks!


 

Bio 1 tab:Check Invalid Address

AND Address Tab: Uncheck Send Mail, change Address Type to Former ....., and enter a To Date of Today


I never delete the addresses because, well -- sometimes you need them for confirmation and also if you work for a school -- you utilize that last known address when you send your lost alumni out to companies that do searches and find them. 

Faith Murray

Agree with Daniel and Gina. The first time we receive mail returned, I simply note it in Notes, because there have been frequent occasions of a "good" address being marked "bad" by the post office. Our more loyal donors will call us up asking why they haven't received their newsletters. So now, if I can't find evidence on White Pages of a new address, or an obituary online, I will wait until the mail has been returned twice in a row before marking it "No Valid Address" and un-checking the "Send Mail" button. Like others, I never delete, preferring to keep an address trail, because it helps later when AddressFinder services turn up old addresses during research. Our last DBA deleted all old addresses, and it's a bit frustrating still, when we find a "new donor" and it could be an old donor with the same name, but we can't verify because of no address records.

Phillip Bicknell

Kerry Ayres-Smith:

Hello!


When you get returned mail due to invalid address, how to you all mark it in your systems? I'm trying to work on a standardized practice for this at my organization. Currently, some people click the box on Bio 1 tab, some people change the solicit codes, some people delete the address from the Address tab, some do all three! How does our organization handle it?


Thanks!


 

I've found that NXT has streamlined my decision process on records - one can immediately see the total giving, last gift, automatic Tags, etc.


Based on that quick review of the record, I decide whether to deactivate the mailings, check further, apply a supression of just postal mailings, or do nothing.


I handle the returned mail in batches, copying the ID number to a spreadsheet and recording the reason for the return that's written on the envelope or ticked on the Royal Mail (UK) sticker, as well as the Appeal code. Then my manager uses Global Edit to add an Attribute of Do Not Mail to the records. If a constituent later queries the reason for cessation of mailings, then we've still got the spreadsheets - it's not necessary to put everything into RE.

Madeleine Holdsworth

Gina Gerhard:

We have very strict protocols on handling address changes. This is somewhat of a logic scheme we run through.

Depending on the situation, we would be adjusting the Address type, checking/unchecking Send Mail, and marking 'No Valid Address'.  

• We NEVER delete an address (unless it was a true mistake)
• We do NOT adjust Solicit codes due to the state of the address - these are two separate issues.

DETERMINE WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON WITH THIS ADDRESS RETURN:

• If it's a home address, does the person really not live there anymore?
  • Try to find a new address.
  • If you can't find new address
    • Change this address to 'Home, Former'
    • Uncheck the Send Mail
    • Are there any other addresses on the record you might use instead?
      • If so, make that address Preferred.
    • If there are no other addresses, check 'No Valid Address' on Bio 1.
  • Make same adjustments on spouse record if they have a shared address.
  • Also review phone numbers and see if there are changes to phone numbers related to address change.
• Is this perhaps a seasonal situation where you mailed to a seasonal address but in the wrong timeframe?
  • If that's so, then there may not be anything wrong with the address just the dates.
  • Try to find the correct date range and make adjustments
• If this is an organization address:
  • Does the individual no longer work at the organization? (you can use internet to research)
    • If not, change their employment status; you may need to change their preferred address manually.
  • Is the organization no longer located at this address?
    • Try to find a new organization address (you can use internet to research) and create new organization address.
  • Has the organization gone out of business?
    • If so, check the organization as Inactive; change address to Business, Former; check 'No Valid Address' on Org 1.
  • Ir organization still exists but you do not have a valid address
    • Change address to Business, Former; check 'No Valid Address' on Org 1.
    • Check the contact addresses to see if they also need to be adjusted manually.
  • Also review phone numbers and make any adjustments based on this address change.

 

Our procedure pretty much mirrors Gina's, which means a mail return is not a simple process!

Maria Turiel

We check off the box "No valid address" in Bio 1, which allows to exclude those constituents easily from exports and in-house mailings if needed, and we add an attribute to the constituent, "Invalid address", under our category "Special Mailing Codes". In the attribute we record the date we stopped sending mail to that constituent and the reason (i.e. letter returned in the comment field). We never delete addresses, even if there are no longer valid. They are very handy to have when cleaning your database of duplicates.

Megan Shackle

We never delete an address. In addition to the No Valid Addresses checkbox, we have a Bad Address solicit code. The checkbox literally means they have No Valid Address, usually because we have no address or an incomplete address. The solicit code for Bad Address means that at some point, their mail was returned to us and research wasn't able to provide a new address. We do this so that those with the No Valid Address checkbox are suppressed from every mailing all the time. However, those with the Bad Address solicit code are included in mass mailings and run through NCOA in the hopes that we can obtain a new address. If that happens, the solicit code is then removed.


 

 

Catherine Burns

 

We check the no valid address box, untick the send mail to this address box and add an end date to the address.We do not update solicit codes as these capture how the donor has told us they want to be communicated with and this hasn't changed because they moved and forgot to tell us their address.


ALSO if it was an appeal we change the appeal response to Mail Returned to Sender - GNA OR if the mail piece is recorded as an action we change the action status to Mail Returned to Sender - GNA. It it was a receipt then we add an action with type receipt and status Mail Returned to Sender - GNA. This way if we get a new address we know what mail they missed.


I have streamlined this process using barcodes. We use SegmentOmatic and ImportOmatic so our appeals have a finder number barcoded on them to speed up gift entry. For returned mail my volunteers scan these into Excel, I use a lookup to match finder number to appeal ID, and then I import them using ImportOmatic to update the Appeal Response. Next I use the IOM query to check that we have not received a new address for any of the donors since the original mail was sent, and I use a global update to update the no valid address, send mail to this address and date to fields. It sounds complicated but makes processing returned mail very painless. Unfortunately our volumes mean we cannot look up each donor to try to find a new address at the time, but my volunteers do this periodically and we do look up our major donors.


I have a similar process using the Action Import ID for non-appeal mailings, but I need the donor ID for this too. And I use the same process for returned mail marked deceased with a different global update.

Gina Gerhard

Catherine - Just curious on this item you mentioned.

 

 This way if we get a new address we know what mail they missed.

If you get a good address and then can see what they missed, do you actually send out the missing mail to their new address?  How does recording this information affect your actions/operations?

ShawnAlis Cusato

 

Very interesting!  No one copies the current address to alternate as we do.  Copying to alternate changes the address type to Previous, adds a Date to, and unchecks both the send mail to this address and set this address to the preferred.  

Next, we delete the address lines still on Bio 1.  We check the No valid address then go to the More button and add an Info source (returned mail) and a date from (today).

Since it's always easy to skip something, having nothing in the address box ensures against a missed No valid address.  Plus, it's visually commanding if the record is opened. 


I liked the ideas for searching for another address.  We need to do more of that.


 

Gina Gerhard

Of course we use the 'copy preferred address to alternate' when updating an address. That's the preferred method of properly copying and creating a new address -- and it keeps all the address linking in place.  I guess it was just assumed that's how everyone does it?