How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

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RossEvans
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#11

Post by RossEvans »

Another scrap of advice regarding mass mailings: Postcards are much cheaper than 1st Class envelopes. I have clerked in wards that did their year-end mailings with fancy, custom-printed LDS-themed Christmas cards. Between the high cost of those specialty items and the full 1st Class postage, this was a very expensive undertaking. We now just mail custom postcards showing a meetinghouse locator map and meeting times for the upcoming year, and the total cost is about 70-75 percent less.

In addition to mass mailings, it is useful to mail something to new move-ins immediately if they have not shown up in church meetings. A significant number of those names and addresses typically turn out to be out of date or undeliverable, and it is better to learn this right away. Since the number of these mystery move-ins will be much smaller, it is more feasible to mail a 1st Class envelope with more welcome-to-the-ward information such as leadership contact info.
Gary_Miller
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#12

Post by Gary_Miller »

RossEvans wrote: (.....................with a lot of turnover and many inactives).
Unless you ward include a military base you don't know what turnover is!!!!!!!!!
jwtaber
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#13

Post by jwtaber »

Or a ward with a lot of apartments. That one didn't put the ward newsletter in the foyer - it mailed it out quarterly. I always got five to ten of them back with new addresses.
Gary_Miller
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#14

Post by Gary_Miller »

RossEvans wrote:In addition to mass mailings, it is useful to mail something to new move-ins immediately if they have not shown up in church meetings. A significant number of those names and addresses typically turn out to be out of date or undeliverable, and it is better to learn this right away. Since the number of these mystery move-ins will be much smaller, it is more feasible to mail a 1st Class envelope with more welcome-to-the-ward information such as leadership contact info.
Its more feasible to send the Elders Quorum Presidency or High Priest Group Leaders, and the Relief Society, to visit the new move-ins, and get the HT and VT going right away. Personal contact is much more important than a letter and they can bring back the information you need.
Gary_Miller
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#15

Post by Gary_Miller »

jwtaber wrote:Or a ward with a lot of apartments. That one didn't put the ward newsletter in the foyer - it mailed it out quarterly. I always got five to ten of them back with new addresses.
Sounds like they had a HT and VT problem. I rely on the HT's and VT's to provide the information for move outs. They are the first point of contact, if someone says so and so move then they better hand me an address as the HT and VT are the first point in finding the correct address.
RossEvans
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#16

Post by RossEvans »

Gary_Miller wrote:
RossEvans wrote:In addition to mass mailings, it is useful to mail something to new move-ins immediately if they have not shown up in church meetings. A significant number of those names and addresses typically turn out to be out of date or undeliverable, and it is better to learn this right away. Since the number of these mystery move-ins will be much smaller, it is more feasible to mail a 1st Class envelope with more welcome-to-the-ward information such as leadership contact info.
Its more feasible to send the Elders Quorum Presidency or High Priest Group Leaders, and the Relief Society, to visit the new move-ins, and get the HT and VT going right away. Personal contact is much more important than a letter and they can bring back the information you need.
These activities are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, the ward can do both, and the outcomes can feed back to the clerks. But it is more efficient to screen out bogus "move-in" records before committing leaders' scarce time. If the "move-in" has already moved out elsewhere (a common occurrence, especially with apartment dwellers) or the address is not valid, the letter return should find this out without a wasted trip by leaders. And door-knocking alone may yield zero information if no one answers the door -- an extremely common occurrence -- while a postal return might discover something useful.
jwtaber
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#17

Post by jwtaber »

I once sent a letter by certified mail and it got kicked back because no one ever answered the door.
ksteurer
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#18

Post by ksteurer »

The USPS has a web page for additional information on labeling a letter with "RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED".

http://pe.usps.com/businessmail101/addr ... ddress.htm

and

http://pe.usps.com/text/qsg300/Q507.htm

We found this helpful in our stake.
jasonfitt
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#19

Post by jasonfitt »

We send letters out all the time marked 'Returned Service Requested'. The visiting teachers often send letters out to their families, and we have requested they put that on the envelope. However, one of the steps required before we can move the record to the address unknown file is contact the occupants at the last known address to see if they know of a forwarding address. So, even if a letter is returned with no forwarding address a visit to the last known address is still going to be required. So, the RS, HP Group, EQ or missionaries will still have to take time out of their busy schedules regardless.
jasonfitt
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Re: How to use Postal Service to find a forwarding address?

#20

Post by jasonfitt »

Gary_Miller wrote:Sounds like they had a HT and VT problem. I rely on the HT's and VT's to provide the information for move outs. They are the first point of contact, if someone says so and so move then they better hand me an address as the HT and VT are the first point in finding the correct address.
That, or they had a communication problem. I regularly remind the priesthood and relief society to notify the clerk when they find a member on their route that doesn't live at the address on file. Because what our auxiliary leaderships will do sometimes is just take that member off the HT or VT routes and forget to inform the clerk.
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