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July 22, 2010
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Postage Protest
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| Our next breakfast event is coming soon, with a big discount for nonprofit and association pros. Join us as top CEOs look at where they've been, and (more importantly) where they're going. CEO Outlook, Aug. 3, BLT Steak. Starts at $25. Sign up today! |
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| Two weeks ago, the USPS proposed raising the cost of first-class stamps from 44 cents to 46 cents. We reported that, to fight the hike, a coalition of associations, non-profits and businesses called the Affordable Mail Alliance was formed. Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers executive director Tony Conway (spokesperson for the group) has the lowdown on the rapidly-expanding coalition and what it means for the non-profit sector. |
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| Tony initially joined forces with the Magazine Publishers Association (who share office space) to discuss a plan of attack. The core group soon expanded to include the Direct Marketing Association and PostCom, the association for Postal Commerce. In two weeks, the group accumulated 630 members. (Membership is free, but the alliance has raised money through pledges.) Traditionally, postal battles have been fought within the Beltway, says Tony (who worked for USPS for 34 years). He initially worried that the decision, now under consideration by government regulators, would turn more on politics than on the law. So, the Alliance not only hired attorneys, but a PR firm led by Anita Dunn, who worked on Obama's campaign for president. "If we're going to have success, it wouldn't be on the legal arguments, it would be on public relations and getting the message out to Main Street," he says. |
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| USPS faces a $7 billion deficit. Tony says this is the first time the USPS has argued for a rate increase on the basis of immediate financial concern. The proposed increase would be about ten times the rate of inflation. "Our people are outraged," Tony says. "It's unprecedented, right now with the economy the way it is, the damage it's going to do." Consumers Union, the non-profit which publishes Consumer Reports, estimates that it would have a $2.5 million increase in postage if the proposal goes through. A small Catholic charity providing human services in Illinois told Tony that a 5% increase in postage would cost it $56K. The non-profit gets 85% of its income from direct mail, and the group estimated that cutting back one or two mailings could result in lost income of $250K to $500K. Tony says: "Every organization is going to have to sit down and say, 'OK, what are we going to sacrifice for this rate increase?'" |
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| Non-Profit Energy Alliance |
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| A new coalition of local non-profits can now claim: "By our powers combined, we are Captain Planet!" The Non-Profit Energy Alliance formed in May to help organizations save money on utilities while using greener sources of electricity. The 14 participating non-profits are now offsetting 1,539 metric tons of CO2 (roughly the equivalent of taking 300 cars off the road) through wind energy credits. By switching to a more cost effective energy supplier and exerting group purchasing power, they have also saved an aggregate of $178,000. Nonprofit Montgomery director Hope Gleicher (above) helped convene the group along with Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and Nonprofit Roundtable. She tells us the Alliance will allow the non-profits to funnel more money back into programs at a time when many are struggling with their budgets. Here's Hope being recognized for the Alliance by Montgomery County councilmember Roger Berliner and county executive Ike Leggett. |
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| Jewish Council for the Aging is among the "Planeteers" of the Non-Profit Energy Alliance. The non-profit owns a 31,000 sq. ft. building in Rockville and leases space to the Nonprofit Village, which subleases to nine more non-profits. COO Richard Stanley estimates that JCA will save $5,000 per year by switching from Pepco to an alternate supplier providing 10% wind energy. (Non-profits in the Alliance had the option to buy 50% or 100% wind energy at slightly higher prices. Richard noted that if JCA had gone with 100%, costs would have remained steady.) "The less we spend on overhead, the more we have to spend on participants directly," Richard says. The $5,000 is enough to provide 66 additional days of senior day care or 500 additional rides to its program center or on shopping trips. |
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| Win a Custom iPhone App |
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| New iPhones might not be able to get any reception, but we're still obsessed with the growing number of non-profit and association mobile apps. For those who are as equally enthralled, but don't have the budget to go mobile, we learned that Singlebrook Technologies is holding a contest to give a mission driven organization $10,000 worth of development time to create their own custom iPhone app. Singlebook CEO Elisa Miller-Out tells us the web/mobile development company is looking for proposals that will have a positive social or environmental impact (hopefully in a measurable way). Deadline is Aug. 15. |
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