This past week, a friend named John wrote, asking, “Help! We lost our paper newsletter service. For those of us who still have friends who prefer paper newsletters, can our readers recommend some US-based services out there?” Got a favorite service you can recommend for this? Maybe someone to whom you send some text and/or the completed PDF and the service/vendor takes care of printing and mailing to a list you’ve provided? If so, please click Comment following the web or app version of this item. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
I have used Click2Mail for the past eleven years. I found them on a link through the USPS. I upload a PDF and Excel address file. It may be too technical for some, but I like the ability to send a different letter to financial supporters versus those who don’t support financially. I also will send some letters B/W and others in color. It always mails in 24-48 hours.
I have used Click2Mail and it was good
I’ve tried prayerletters.com a few times when we were without an office volunteer, and experienced good service from them.
http://www.myletterservice.org is awesome!!!! I’ve used them for at least 10 years and they are impeccable and very affordable.
I’ve had great success with Chalkline (chalkline.org), and I can easily export my mailing list from MPDX or upload one if I want. I usually have a few that I want mailed in an without folding, and they’ve always handled every customization I’ve asked for.
I would recommend this person solicit the help of one of his support team to do this printing & posting. Usually there are few supporters who require a posted copy of our newsletter. So we ask one or two churches to do this work for us. We just send them an updated address list as required. This increases our connectedness to those churches and fosters a team spirit. If we automate all our team processes then we are losing personal connections with people. I’m sure that’s not what we want.
We use BMC letter service. They have given us great service for more than 20 years. We used to have our home church help us in this way, but it is alot of work for the individuals doing the mailing- depending how large your mailing list is.
https://bmcletterservice.com/
I’ve got mixed feelings about the use of a service vs. DIY. While overseas, we did use a service (can’t remember which one). They did a decent job, but we are back in the States now and doing letters ourselves. I purchased a Dell C1760 color laser printer, and it is so affordable now to do double-sided color letters that look worlds better than what we used to do. I spent less than $50 on toner, which has lasted me through nearly 1,000 double-sided color copies (plus a bit of other printing). Of course, I do need to tackle the work of printing, folding, stuffing, etc. but I’ve found this is a great way for my kids to get involved (though sometimes I’ll pay Office Depot to do the folding for me (less than $10 for 300 copies). It also allows me to include the occasional personal note. The same could be done by having a supporter take this on, though I admit it takes the right person who really enjoys serving in this way and is reliable.