Glossary

Glossary of Useful Terms

• Address correction service – a system of ancillary service endorsements that allows mailers to obtain the addressee’s new (forwarding) address or the reason for nondelivery.  MORE INFO
• Ancillary service – forwarding, return, or address correction service included within a mail class. Depending on the mail class, these services are performed at a charge or at no additional charge, if and when the service is actually provided.
• Ancillary service endorsement – a marking used by a mailer to request the new address of an addressee and to provide the USPS with instructions on how to handle mail that is undeliverable as addressed.  MORE INFO
• Automation discount – a postage reduction offered to mailers who barcode their mailpieces and meet addressing, readability, and other requirements for processing on automated equipment.
• Bangtail – that little piece of paper on the back of an envelope that gets removed via perforation and is another opportunity to get your advertising message seen. Commonly seen on credit card envelopes that are included with your monthly invoice.
• Barcode – a series of vertical bars and spaces that represent any numerical series, most often a correct ZIP code for the delivery address on a mailpiece. The barcode facilitates automated processing by barcode readers and scanners.
• Barcoded discount – a postage discount available for certain Standard Mail and Package Services, machinable parcels and Bound Printed Matter flats that bear a correct barcode and meet other size, shape, and volume requirements. ALSO CALLED AUTOMATION DISCOUNTS.
• BCS (barcode sorter) – a mail-processing machine that reads barcodes on mail and automatically sorts the pieces.
• Buckslip – a single sheet of paper inserted in a Direct Mail piece that’s usually used to deliver another offer or message within the package.
• Bulk Mail Center (BMC) – see Network Distribution Center (NDC).
• Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) – the area of a postal facility where mailers present bulk, presorted, and permit mail for acceptance. BMEUs include dedicated platform space, office space, and a staging area on the workroom floor.
• Business reply card (BRC) – (sender does not pay postage.)
• Business reply envelope (BRE) – (sender does not pay postage.)
• Business reply mail (BRM) – a service that allows a permit holder to receive First-Class Mail and Priority Mail back from customers and pay postage only for the returned pieces. These pieces must have a specific address, barcode, valid permit number, and format. Postage and per piece charges are collected when the mail is delivered back to the permit holder.  MORE INFO
• Carrier Route – a presort level in which all pieces are presorted for delivery on the same city route, rural route, highway contract route, post office box section, or general delivery unit. The mail requires no primary or secondary distribution.
• Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) – a service offered to mailers, service bureaus, and software vendors that improves the accuracy of matching to delivery point codes, ZIP+4 codes, 5-digit ZIP codes, and carrier route codes on mailpieces. CASS provides a common platform to measure the quality of address matching software and to diagnose and correct software problems, and a report must accompany each mailing presented at USPS.
• Control – the mail package format/creative that’s done the best for you; the one that’s yielded the greatest response — even when tested against another package.
• Courtesy reply envelope (CRE) – (sender pays postage.) Mailer encloses a reply envelope as a courtesy to assist the sender in replying.
• DDU (Destination Delivery Unit) – a delivery unit is a post office, post office station, or post office branch that has mail delivery functions. The Postal Service offers lower prices for mail that is transported by the mailer to certain kinds of postal facilities. Generally, the closer you take the mail to its final destination, the less postage you pay.  Why? Because the Postal Service doesn’t have to transport the mail as far: you’ve already done some of the transportation work for them.  This savings is passed on to the mailer.
• Dedupe – see purge
• Demographics – those characteristics that define a particular group of people, including HHI, age, education level, family size, etc.
• Facing identification mark (FIM) – a series of five or six vertical bars used by automated postal equipment to identify, orient, and separate reply mail and mail produced by PC postage systems and some postage meters.  It serves to orient and separate certain types of First-Class Mail during the facing-canceling process. The appropriate FIM is required on all letter-size business reply mail (BRM) under S922, on letter-size courtesy reply mail (CRM), and meter reply mail (MRM) provided as enclosures in automation rate mailings under C810. Letter-size mail with IBI printed with nonfluorescent ink directly onto the envelope by an IBI meter or a PC postage system must use FIM D. A FIM must not be used on any other type of mail.
• Facing slip – a paper label attached to the top of a package or inserted in a polybag that shows where the mail is to be distributed, the class and type of mail, and the country or military post office.
• First-Class Mail – a class of mail that includes all matter wholly or partly in writing or typewriting, all actual and personal correspondence, all bills and statements of account, and all matter sealed or otherwise closed against inspection. Priority Mail is a subclass of First-Class Mail. Any mailable matter may be sent as First-Class Mail.
• Flat-size mail – a mailpiece that exceeds one of the dimensions for letter-size mail (11 1/2” long, 6 1/8 inches high, ¼ “ thick) but that does not exceed the maximum dimension for the mail processing category (15” long, 12” high, 3/4 inch thick). Dimensions are different for automation rate flat-size mail. Flat-size mail may be unwrapped, sleeved, wrapped, or enveloped.
• Fulfillment House – a company specializing in responding to and tracking orders sold through Direct Mail, or gifts distributed by nonprofits in association with a contribution or membership club.
• HHI – household income.
• Indicia – a preprinted marking on each piece of Standard Mail (A) (formerly known as “Bulk”) that shows payment of postage by the sender.
• Insert – any item, such as a brochure, letter, or pamphlet that is placed in a Direct Mail package.
• Johnson Box – the top part of the letter, set above the body of the letter, that states the main message of the offer in a compelling way; the letter’s “headline.”
• LACS – was developed to help emergency services – such as paramedics, fire, and police – and identify address locations as quickly and accurately as possible. It converts non-specific rural addresses (e.g. Rural Route 7, Box 52) to street addresses.
• Letter-size mail – a mail-processing category of mailpieces, including cards, that do not exceed any of the dimensions for letter-size mail (that is, 11 1/2” long, 6 1/8” high, ¼” thick).
• Lettershop – is a one-stop shop mailing service center for all your direct mail needs.  Can be small and large volume mail. Some lettershops offer other services including but not limited to copywriting, graphic design, printing, list management and maintenance. The traditional functions are retrieving stock from a warehouse and collating mailing package components, trimming, folding, mechanical and hand inserting, sealing the envelope; addressing; preparing mail according to U.S. Postal Service regulations for entry to the mail system; and fulfillment/packaging/shipping merchandise.
• Lift letter (lift note) – an insert that delivers an additional message. Usually written by a person other than the main writer of the letter. Good use for a testimonial.
• List Broker – an individual or company that brings together owners of mailing lists and the direct mailers who use them. For example, nonprofits that want to mail acquisition appeals to attract new donors; the broker will suggest and order lists (either by rental or exchange) which he/she feels would perform well for that nonprofit. The nonprofit will either pay for the list as a one-time rental, or exchange a list. Exchanging is like a barter – if you order a list from another organization, instead of paying with currency, the nonprofit pays by providing a list to that organization with the same number of donors.
• List clearance – the process by which a list broker will request permission to use a particular list on behalf of a nonprofit organization.
• List compiler – an individual or company that specializes in gathering names, addresses, and information from a variety of sources to produce a customized list of prospective customers or donors.
• List exchange – nonprofit organizations will agree to trade/exchange mailing lists in an effort to acquire new donors through direct mail. Since money does not exchange hands, the cost is significantly less than rentals. The list broker will impose running charges.
• List Manager – list managers represent the list owner just as the broker is the agent for the mailer. The primary job of the list manager is to manage use of a particular mailing list and for those list owners who rent their lists for profit, to maximize income by promoting the lists to as many brokers and list users as possible.
• List rental – a business or organization may rent a mailing list, usually though a list broker, for one-time use unless otherwise specified, to reach out to new sales leads or donor prospects.
• Live stamp/live postage – a “real” stamp that a consumer would use, as opposed to metered or permit indicia mailings. Includes all levels of 1st class, 1st class presort, standard, and nonprofit stamps.
• Machinable – the ability of a mailpiece to be sorted by mail processing equipment.
• Merge – the process of combining two or more lists into a single one using the same sequential order, then sorting them together.
• Merge/Purge – the technique used to combine names, addresses and related data from various mailing lists to identify and then eliminate duplicate names for a single mailing or to create a marketing database.
• Multies: people/donors who appear on two or more independent rented or exchanged lists. Multi-buyers/donors usually respond better to a direct mail appeal/offer than others.
• Nth Record Selection – allows you to pull out a subset of your main data file by entering a number such as 4. ADS will export every 4th record of your database creating a file ¼ the size. Nth Record Selection creates a consistent sampling of your records, but makes it difficult for you to predetermine the number of resulting addresses.
• National Change of Address (NCOA) – an address correction service that the USPS provides to mailers through USPS licensees. The licensees match mailing lists submitted to them against change of address information for the entire country from all Computerized Forwarding System units. If a match is made, NCOA can correct the address before it is printed on a mailpiece.
• Network Distribution Center (NDC) – a highly mechanized mail processing plant that distributes Standard Mail in piece and bulk form. Formerly called Bulk Mail Center (BMC), this network of centers consolidates the processing of originating mail into fewer sites to increase operational efficiency, decrease cost and maintain excellent service while expanding the surface transportation reach for more products.
• Nonprofit authorization – qualifying nonprofit organizations may receive special, reduced postage rates. In order to do so, you must have applied for and received authorization to mail from the USPS. A copy of your 501(c)(3) is NOT enough. You must complete postal form 3623 and submit it with required documentation. There is NO FEE to apply for nonprofit status. When your application is approved, you will receive an authorization letter from the USPS. A copy also will go to the post office where you are authorized to mail at nonprofit rates. Be sure to save your copy of the letter as evidence that you have been authorized. MORE INFO
• Nonprofit Standard Mail – a subclass of Standard Mail that is available only to qualified nonprofit organizations specified by U.S. statute.
• Nonmachinable – the inability of a mailpiece to be sorted on mail processing equipment because of size, shape, content, or address legibility. Such mail must be processed manually and is subject to a surcharge.
• Optical Character Reader (OCR) – an automated mail sorting machine that interprets the address information on a letter-size mailpiece and sprays the corresponding ZIP code information onto the piece as a barcode.
• OE (outer envelope) – the envelope in which your package will be delivered. Often, an image, “teaser” or “tag” line is printed on the front to entice the recipient to open your letter.
• Overs (or overruns) – the portion of a print run that exceeds the quantity specified in the purchase order. When printing, one must always order more than the actual quantity needed to allow for some spoilage during the lettershop process. For personalized pieces, always order even more.
• PDF (Portable Document Format) – an Acrobat file, it is “portable” because it is cross-platform and can be read regardless of what software was used to create the original file or what other software you have loaded on your computer besides Acrobat Reader.
• Perf – perforation.
• Polybag – a plastic “envelope” in which a mailpiece may be inserted in accordance with the proper addressing requirements.
• Postage statement – documentation provided by a mailer to the USPS that reports the volume of mail being presented and the postage payable or affixed, and certifies that the mail meets the applicable eligibility standards for the rate claimed.
• Postcard – postcards get a special “postcard” rate from the USPS. A postcard as defined by the USPS may be no larger than 4.25” x 6” (minimum size is 3.5 x 5”) and at least .007 inches thick. It must be rectangular in shape. Special 1st class presort rates are also available. There is no special, nonprofit rate for postcards. NOTE: Double postcards do not fall into this category. Cards that are LARGER than these size requirements to not fall into this category and are considered letter-sized selfmailers.
• Precanceled stamp – a postage stamp canceled by marking across the face before it is sold to mailers for use with bulk mailings. Also, a stamp designated by the USPS as a precanceled stamp without cancellation marks. The USPS sells precanceled stamps for Presorted 1st Mail and regular and nonprofit Standard Mail. Mailpieces with these stamps do not go through a canceling machine at the time of mail processing.
• Premium – a free gift sent to a potential customer or donor either with the mail piece (front-end) or after the prospect has responded (back-end).
• Presort – the process by which a mailer groups mail by ZIP code so that it is sorted to the finest extent required by the standards for the rate claimed. Generally, presort is performed sequentially, from the lowest (finest) level to the highest level, to those destinations specified by standard and is completed at each level before the next level is prepared. Not all presort levels are applicable to all mailings.
• Presort Accuracy Validation and Evaluation (PAVE) – this program is a process designed in cooperation with the mailing industry to evaluate presort software and determine its accuracy in sorting address files according to Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) standards. PAVE is available only to presort software developers and vendors, i.e., companies that develop presort software or perform retail services for those developers. Participation in the PAVE program is voluntary.
• Presorted 1st Class Mailing – a rate category for a First-Class mailing that consists of at least 500 addressed mail pieces and is sorted and prepared according to USPS standards. Barcodes are required for automation discounts.
• Presorted Standard – the postage rate for Standard Mail pieces that are part of a mailing and that meet minimum volume and preparation requirements. Many mailers choose to presort their mail because it results in lower postage. Because you’re doing some of the work, it costs the Postal Service less money to process and deliver those pieces of mail. They pass that savings on to the mailer in the form of commercial postage prices. Basically, “presorting” means grouping mail by ZIP code. All of the pieces going to the same destination get grouped into the same bundle or tray. You’ll sort to specific areas, and then work your way up to more general areas. All leftover mailpieces are combined together.  Delivery time for standard mail is longer than 1^st class mail. MORE INFO
• Priority Mail – First-Class Mail that weighs more than 13 ounces and, at the mailer’s option, any other mail matter weighing less than 13 ounces mailed at Priority Mail rates. Priority Mail provides expedited delivery. Any mailable matter may be sent as Priority Mail.
• Purge  – the process of eliminating duplicates and/or unwanted names from one or more lists.
• Return-On-Investment (ROI) – anticipated profits above costs incurred.
• RFM (recency/frequency/monetary) – a key formula used with most databases. It lets direct marketers know the recency and frequency of purchasing, and the amount of money spent by the people in their database.
• Saddlestitching – stapling a publication from the back to the center.
• Sectional Center Facility (SCF) – a postal facility that serves as the processing and distribution center (P&DC) for post offices in a designated geographic area as defined by the first three digits of the ZIP codes of those offices. Some SCFs can serve more than one 3-digit ZIP code range.
• Selfmailer – an unenveloped mailpiece, usually secured by a wafer seal, tab, or glue dots/strips.
• Service bureau – a company specializing in such computer services as mailing list management and merge/purge operations.
• Sheet Fed – printers (whether offset, laser or digital) that print on sheets rather than rolls of paper.
• Sorting – in Direct Mail, the arrangement and preparation of pieces in a bulk mailing by ZIP code to facilitate processing and more reliable delivery.
• Specs – short for specifications. Information about a mail piece.
• Standard Mail – a class of mail that weighs less than 16 ounces. It comprises the subclasses of Regular Standard Mail, Nonprofit Standard Mail, Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail, and Nonprofit Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail. These subclasses include circulars, printed matter, pamphlets, catalogs, newsletters, direct mail, and merchandise. Standard Mail may be sent at presorted rates and at automation rates.
• Suppress – using information on one or more lists to remove duplication of specific names before a mailing, or to eliminate those undesirable names.
• Tab (also called wafer seal) – a self-adhesive seal, usually round, that is used to close the open ends of selfmailers. The USPS requires that unenveloped letter-size mail pieces prepared for automation rate mailings must be secured (tabbed) to prevent an open edge from jamming their high-speed processing equipment. Construction of the mail piece plays an important role in determining automation compatibility. Standards for tabbing are based on basis weight of paper stock used and the location of the folded or bound edge. As an alternative to tabs or wafer seals, the open edge of the length of the mailpiece may be continuously glued or spot glued. Continuous glue or spot glue is permissible with single-sheet self-mailers and cards. Tabs can be clear with a perforation, or white (other special order colors are available).  MORE INFO
• Tag Line – similar to a slogan or catchy short phrase that captures the essence of your campaign. Usually printed on the outer envelope to entice the recipient to open it.
• Tap Test – when the address vehicle showing through the window of the outer envelope is moved to any of its limits inside the envelope, the entire barcode must remain within the barcode clear zone. Also, a clear space must be maintained that is at least 1/8 inch between the barcode and the left and right edges of the window, at least 1/25 inch between the barcode and the top edge of the window, and at least 3/16 inch between the barcode and the bottom edge of the mailpiece.
• Tracking – the maintenance of records concerning various aspects of mailings, e.g., response rate, date mailed, location of respondents, etc.
• Unders – the number of pieces by which a printing run is short of the quantity specified in the purchase order.
• USPS – United States Postal Service.
• Wafer seal – see tabs.
• Walk sequence – the order in which a carrier delivers mail for a route. This order is required for most carrier route presort mail.
• Web press – a press that prints on rolls (or webs) of paper instead of single sheets.
• White space – areas on a page that have no printing on them.
• Window envelopes – envelopes having an opening through which an address printed on an insert is visible.
• ZIP code – a system of 5-digit codes that identifies the individual post office or metropolitan area delivery station associated with an address. ZIP+4 is an enhanced code consisting of the 5-digit ZIP code and four additional digits that identify a specific range of delivery addresses.
• ZIP+4 code – a nine digit numeric code composed of two parts: (a) the initial code: the first five digits that identify the sectional center facility and delivery area associated with the address, followed by a hyphen; and (b) the four digit expanded code: the first two additional digits designate the sector (a geographic area) and the last two digits designate the segment (a building, floor, etc.).
• ZIP+4 barcode – a nine digit POSTNET barcode consisting of 52 vertical bars.