Address Accelerator Addresses to Include

We validate every address everytime we do a large mailing but we don't do that many, maybe 3-4 a year and it is done by our mail house.



AddressAccelrator can be based off of a query so if you add an address attribute of "Last updated" you could query on addresses that haven't been checked as of a certain date.  Just a thought.

We do a couple of things:

• when new records are created, the process is for the user to use address accelerator
• we validate our addresses every quarter
• we update all of our addresses twice a year with NCOA

I also update new addresses once a week. I have a query for any changes in the last week and run that through AA. Then if there are any that cause an error, I look at those about once a quarter (to see if I can find a better address on Whitepages.com or somewhere else). Maybe once or twice a year I do all the records.

I run NCOA every 90 days so the addresses we use are all up to date for our mass mailings; and then do not find it necessary to run Address Accelerator.  Also, upon caging and viewing records we update addresses as we see the need is there.

Charles, check out both AddressFinder and Address Accelerator before you jump into either.  They are different levels, and you should evaluate which is better for you.

Our database is on the smaller side with only 20,000 constituents.  We do not have address accelerator but routinely run NCOA, every 6 months prior to our 2x year annual print newsletter, to ensure address accuracy with USPS. 

Use NCOA 4x/year

I set up a query to run AddressAccelerator because it's a step that's easy to forget and sometimes AA can hang and it's annoying.  It's not perfect, but basically my query is something like "primary address DPC is blank" and i just run it periodically or before I run letters or a mailing list.

We update addresses daily as mail is returned and our policy is to run each address through Address Accelerator each time.



Whenever we append data, we'll run those records through AddressAccelerator after they are imported into RE.



Hope that's helpful.

Shalena, we run the AddressFinder NCOA update quarterly per USPS guidelines on our mailing file, so I use queries with specific parameters for that. Then, as we add new names to our file, we have AddressAccelerator which verifies the address as the constituent record is being added. 

We run an NCOA screening every 90 days, because we do some in-house bulk mailing.  But our mailhouse does the screening for us (less expensive and more thorough than AddressFinder).  However, as someone else mentioned, you should be aware of the differences, and consider what your goal is.  AddressAccelerator will format your address, and indicate if it is a valid mailing address.  AddressFinder is an NCOA screening.



NCOA stands for National Change of Address and is a services of the Post Office.  Anyone who moves and files a Change of Address with USPS will be in their database with that change.  When you screen your database for NCOA, it will look for names and addresses in the NCOA database, and provide you with updated address information, including Moved, No Forwarding Address, and some other information...it also formats your addresses per USPS guidelines (+4 Zip, abbreviations, etc.).



The important thing to realize, especially if you are using a mailhouse/3rd party vendor for a NCOA screening, is that you have to update your database, because the NCOA database only retains data for 4 years.  If your data hasn't been screened in 4 years or the screening results weren't updated in your database, then Joe Smith who moved 4.5 years ago from 123 Main St to 345 Front St is still in your data as 123 Main St.  If you have your mailhouse screen your list when you do mailings, this address would be updated for each mailing, but as soon as it hit 4 years, now you're mailing to Joe at 123 Main St again, rather than 345 Front St.  Make sense?  (Not to mention if you do a first-class mailing, even 7 months after someone moves and the forward order has expired, you'll probably get returned mail, but it may be then too late for that letter to be effective because you sent it to an old address.)



In talking with the Data Manager at our mailhouse, she says most clients don't realize this...and most mailhouses & 3rd party vendors actually only screen for the past 2 years (you can select 2 or 4 years from the NCOA database).  So if you are exporting your data to send out for NCOA, whether your whole database or just for a mailing, be sure to first ask if they screen back 2 years or 4 (I would request 4, at least if you aren't sure how accurate your RE is) and then be sure they send you back the data so you can import it into RE.  And then import the data!  To drop your own bulk mail, you must screen your list within 95 days prior to the mail date, and the USPS BMEU (Business Mail Entry Unit) can reject a mailing if they test it (randomly selected by their system) and there is a high enough percentage of addresses that have obviously not been screened.



Our BMEU offers a free class on bulk mailing (once a month) and I recommend finding out if there's one available for you, even if you always use a mailhouse.  First, good to know information, and second, you get to know the folks at the BMEU and that is usually a good thing.  I've asked them questions, gotten answers and then a follow-up call with additional information and I've had them check over a mail piece before we printed everything to be sure it would go without issue.  They are happy to help, because it helps them in the long run.



If you don't do bulk mail, you should consider it.  Instead of $0.48 metered or $0.49 stamped first-class, you pay ~$0.13 in your area and ~$0.17 outside your area.  And if you like to have a postage stamp instead of a permit imprint, you can use non-profit precanceled stamps...buy them at your post office (you may need to either order them or go to a main branch) and put them on, then pay the difference in postage when you drop your mailing (the non-profit stamps are $0.05 each, and come in coils of 3k or 10k).  It usually doesn't get postmarked, but we like them because it looks less like a bulk mailing.



Sorry I got off-topic a bit.  Hope this is useful to a few people, and if you have questions, I'd be happy to share more of what I know (which isn't everything, but I've been regularly doing in-house bulk mail for 5 years now).