How to Write an International Address

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How to Write International Address the Right Way to Ensure Accurate Deliveries

Australia Post delivers 2.7 billion items a year! This figure includes all individual and commercial postcards, letters, and parcels that the Post Office shipped.

Thousands of customers send mail to international locations via Australia Post every year. But worldwide mailing needs them to learn how to write international addresses correctly.

You cannot use the same Australian mailing address format you use to send mail within the country. 

Instead, you should use a format that matches the guidelines of the destination country’s postal organisation.

Understanding how to address international mail also helps you ensure that your mail reaches the right destination. It speeds up the mailing process and allows the postal workers to send your items on time.

Keep reading this guide to learn how to address an international letter correctly. Also, we will discuss the different ways to send international mail through Australia Post.

Let’s get started!

Prime Guidelines to Know While Addressing International Mail

Australia Post has a set of guidelines for international addressing to help you send mail to global destinations effortlessly, including:

• Write all your mailing addresses in capital letters. It is advisable to also write the recipient’s name with the delivery address in all caps.
• Make sure that your addresses do not exceed five lines. 
• If they exceed this limit, try clubbing two or more lines to shorten them.
• While learning how to write an international address on an envelope or package, cross-check the location with the receiver. 
• All delivery addresses must be typewritten or printed using blue or black ink. Avoid using light colours on dark-coloured paper stock. 
• Prevent the use of pencils and pens for addressing international mail. Remember that handwritten addresses are prone to scrubbing, erasing, and other issues, making it hard to complete deliveries.
• Always write the recipient’s full legal name on the first line. A legal name is a name appearing on the person’s government ID. It includes their first and middle name or initial (if any) and last name. Here’s an example- Mona S Collins.
• When you learn to write address international, the first thing to know is that your addresses must appear legibly. Any scratches, spelling mistakes, ink blotting, etc., can lead to delivery failures.
• Use Arabic numerals and Roman letters for addressing international mail. Plus, take care that they are placed lengthwise towards one side of your envelopes or packages.
• After knowing how to write your address for international mail and using the correct format, you must fill out a separate slip enclosed with packages. 
• Mailing addresses with Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, or Cyrillic characters must have an interline English translation. If you don’t know this version, write the foreign language using Roman characters.
• When you understand how to write an address for international mail, you will notice that all international addresses have the country name on the last line. It tells the postal workers where to redirect their mail without checking the postal codes. Ensure to write your destination country’s name in uppercase letters (avoid using abbreviations).
• Place the foreign postal codes above the country name while addressing international mail items. Check whether your destination country’s guidelines need you to place the postal code before the city or town.

The above guidelines help you learn how to write an international address in a letter. You can also access the Universal Postal Union website to check if your destination country has additional formatting requirements. However, this step only works well if your destination country is a United Nations member.

How to Address International Mail

Different standardisation rules, alignments, and address formats exist for every destination country. However, you can use one standard, customisable format for international addressing, as written below:

Line 1: Recipient’s full name

Line 2: House number and street address/ PO box address

Line 3: City name followed by province, state, or county name and postal code

Line 4: Country

But it is not enough to only refer to this format for addressing international mail and packages. Please remember that these aspects could differ considerably from country to country.

Hence, let us learn about the above elements in detail to learn further how to write your address for international mail:

• House number: It could also be a floor or suite number.
• Street address: Your recipient’s address may or may not have a street address. Sometimes, it may have a PO box number that replaces the house number and street address.
• City name: When exploring different ways to write an international address on an envelope, you may come across towns and municipalities. Not surprisingly, some countries use these terms instead of ‘cities.’
• Postal code: Postal codes also go by various names in different countries, like ZIP codes in the US, postcodes in the UK, etc.

Find below some examples of how to write international addresses on packages and letters:

CHANDLER J GILBERT

2089 BAKER ST

LONDON W1U 6RN

ENGLAND

CLAIRE TONKIN

PO BOX 752

NEW YORK CITY NY 10011

USA

ANDREW ADAMS

1212 PARKDALE AVE

OTTAWA ON K1Y 1J2

CANADA

It may be complicated to know how to write a postcard address international, but it can help you save loads of effort and time. Some other tips that might help you are:

• The delivery address must always appear in the middle of your envelope or label.
• Affix one or more postal stamps enough to cover your delivery costs in the top right-hand corner.
• Place the return address towards the top left-hand corner on the same line as your stamps.

While addressing international mail, write the addresses and affix the stamps on the front side of your package or envelope.

How to Write a Return Address on an International Letter

Australia Post recommends writing a return address on all international mail items for security. Also, it can help you get your mail back if it does not reach your recipients for specific reasons.

Some people know how to write an international address but forget to mention their return address. Thus, postal employees have difficulty tracking the sender and returning undelivered mail. As a result, they discard such items, and the sender isn’t even informed.

Hence, you should also know how to write an international address for Australia. 

Below is an example of the Australia address format that you can use for your return address:

KATHERINE GRANGER

17 AIRPORT FWY

SYDNEY NSW 2108

There is no need to mention the country name in your return address. Some other Australia Post guidelines to keep in mind for knowing how to write an Australian address for international mail are: 

• Use abbreviations for writing state or county names.
• Leave two spaces between the abbreviation and the postcode.
• Avoid using initials instead of the recipient’s name unless it is an adopted business name.
• Write the city, state, and postcode the same way as you do when addressing international mail. 
• Refrain from using punctuation marks. 

Which Type of Stamps Do You Need to Send International Mail?

After knowing how to write an address for international mail, it is time to affix your stamps. 

You require Australia Post’s international postage stamps to send international letters and parcels.

The number of stamps you need depends on the postage rate of your item. And the cost of one stamp costs starts at $0.05. 

So you need to stick an adequate number of stamps to cover your postal fee. Luckily, these stamps never expire, and you also don’t need to pay any surcharges in case of inflation.

If you are still struggling to understand international mail- how to write addresses, and calculate postage, try PostGrid’s direct mail services. They can help you create your items, print, address, and mail them in an automated way.

Also Read: What Is Transliteration And Why You Need It For Effective Business Communication?

Why Do You Need to Know How to Address an International Letter?

Now that you know how to write an address internationally, you should also understand why it is a crucial step. 

Firstly, Australia Post cannot determine whether your international delivery address is valid and correct.

Thus, it is hard to tell if your item will be delivered to the correct address or returned to you.

Also, it may not help you access the foreign postal codes you need for addressing international mail. So, you may find it impossible to know how to write address for international packages without contacting all your recipients personally.

You can use PostGrid’s address verification API or software in such cases. They can effortlessly help you with international address transliteration, standardisation, and validation.

Some of the other features of our address verification services include:

• On-demand and bulk validation: You can validate any number of mailing addresses in one go with just a few clicks. PostGrid’s API is scalable and can accommodate your growing needs. 
• Address autocomplete: Don’t know how to write an international address? No problem! PostGrid’s address validation API can help you auto-complete addresses within a few keystrokes. This way, you can access high-quality, deliverable mailing addresses in seconds. 
• AMAS-certified: PostGrid uses Australia Post’s Address Matching Approval System (AMAS) addresses for verification. This certification helps PostGrid access authoritative databases and lets you know how to write international addresses. 
• Zero-code integration: With our zero-code integration feature, you can integrate our API into your CRM without technical expertise. The process is simple and speedy, allowing you to start instantly. 

PostGrid’s address verification solutions can help you skip the part where you need to know how to write an address on international mail. 

We understand it can be daunting and complicated to remember the postal address formats of several countries and abide by the guidelines. Thus, all you need to do is integrate our API into your system and start standardising and validating your addresses.

Wrapping Up

Sending international mail requires you to understand how to address an international letter. You must follow the guidelines of the respective postal organisation of the destination country. Most of the time, the format is almost the same, but there are some minor details that you need to take into consideration.

If you want to save time, cost, and effort, try Postgrid!

Request a demo now to see how we can help you with addressing international mail!

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Credit Union Marketing Trends

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Top 10 Credit Union Marketing Trends to Increase Customers and Get More Business

Are you looking for the latest credit union marketing trends to help your business grow? If yes, you have come to the right place! 

It can be hard to convince people to change their financial services because they are often associated with these firms for several years. You require a reliable foundation to build upon and show customers that you can offer better benefits and features. 

This blog discusses the top ten credit union industry trends you may follow to improve your brand reputation and get more leads!

Let us get started!

Top 10 Credit Union Marketing Trends in Australia

Credit unions and similar financial institutions cannot rely on their existing customers alone to keep them in business. They must employ top-notch strategies that help them grab the attention of prospects and retain current customers.  

Below is a comprehensive list of credit union marketing ideas they can use:

#1 Collaborate With Local Realtors and Auto-Sellers

An extensive network of genuine contacts is one of the most evergreen credit union marketing plans. You can associate with local business owners, like auto-sellers and real estate agents, that regularly get customers in need of financial aid. 

They can forward these leads to your credit union in exchange for a commission, benefiting all parties. Try contacting them with a compelling offer and develop personal connections to make this collaboration work efficiently. 

By employing such credit union marketing ideas, you can get automatic leads for your sales pipelines throughout the year without putting in additional effort. 

#2 Highlight Your Values

Some credit unions make a giant mistake by mentioning their fees, rates, and other statistical data too much. They forget customers make purchase decisions based on several aspects, like a company’s values, personal connections, community engagement, etc. 

One of the best credit union marketing campaigns is the one that communicates your brand values with your target audience. Discuss your personalised experiences with customers, use cases, shared ownership, value-added services, etc., to make your marketing correspondence more effective!

Moreover, advertise your advantages more than the features to make your credit union marketing more authentic and result-bearing. People like to hear exactly how they can benefit from using your services, not a list of technicalities they might not understand. 

#3 Encourage Referral and Loyalty Programs

Your referral bonuses must be exciting enough to make your partners take action. Most businesses already have some financial services agencies they refer to; you need to make them change their preference and choose you instead. 

Introducing new referral programs is one of the most thoughtful credit union marketing trends to reward your partners. They also motivate them to recommend your institution to more people, boosting your business. 

Similarly, you can also bring in customer loyalty programs as part of your credit union marketing activities. Ask your existing clients to refer you to their friends, family, colleagues, neighbours, etc., with a code. Offer something in return that keeps them going and allows you to keep your revenue cycle flowing all year round. 

Here are some ideas for your credit union marketing referrals:

• A pizza or cocktail party for the clients’ families. 
• An impressive cash bonus. 
• Tickets to a local play or sporting event. 
• Free meal at a popular restaurant for a few days, etc. 

#4 Sponsor Local Events and Enter Your Employees In Volunteering Programs

The best way to engage a community is to get in between them. It is why- sponsoring events is among the most effective credit union marketing campaigns for your company’s growth!

Make your target customers feel that you think about their betterment and are willing to return to the community. Choose an event that best represents your company’s mission and highlights your message. You can tie up with a charity or partner with different local communities to sponsor their events. 

Donating directly to these charitable organisations is also among the top credit union industry trends that work. People take note of such CSR efforts and consider these credit unions as public-serving companies offering top-notch quality services. 

Consider employee volunteering if your budget does not allow sponsoring events or donating. It is also an excellent CSR activity to get your audience’s attention and showcase your brand in a positive light! However, combine these credit union marketing campaigns with other channels for added impact. 

For example, you can share pictures from your volunteering activities for credit union marketing on social media and write articles on them. It gives you enough content for all your marketing channels and lets you acquire new leads effortlessly. 

#5 Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail has an open rate of 66%, making it one of the most productive credit union industry trends you may use. It is a versatile advertising tool that helps you achieve several objectives, like:

• Create brand awareness. 
• Expand your reach and connect with fresh prospects. 
• Establish connections. 
• Provide adequate knowledge to potential clients to help them make decisions. 
• Generate demand and convince people to change their financial services agency. 

You can add tidbits of information about your brand in your mailers or redirect them to your website. Remember that your credit union direct mail marketing campaigns must guide customers and not act as a full-blown sales strategy. 

If you need assistance with organising and executing a credit union direct mail marketing campaign, use PostGrid’s direct mail services! Our automated solutions help credit unions and finance companies create eye-catching and appealing direct mailers. PostGrid also takes care of the printing and shipping processes to help them save time and money!

#6 Utilise Big Data to Personalise Customer Interactions

Almost all credit unions have all the data they need to personalise their credit union marketing campaigns in-depth. But they do not use their database because they do not know how or lack the necessary resources. 

However, compiling and utilising customer data must be one of your top credit union marketing trends to improve customer communication and produce more leads. It helps you provide more tailored products and services to the correct people, improving customer experience!

For instance, you can use automation algorithms to identify your audience’s preferences and online search history. It would help you recommend personalised services that customers want to avail of from your credit union. You may also auto-approve businesses and individuals for mortgages and loans, so they can know their eligibility and interest rates before applying. 

Organisations can use credit union marketing personalisation to put their databases to work and filter valuable leads. 

#7 Improve Your Social Media Marketing Programs

Over 20.5 million Australians are active on social media platforms! Hence, social media marketing is among the most commonly used credit union industry trends to connect with audiences at affordable costs. 

Credit unions can use location-based marketing or geocoding to target people according to where they live. For example, their best bet is to reach customers living in their neighbourhood and advertise their services. They can also use social media marketing to contact people matching their buyer persona using advanced geo-demographics. 

Remember to follow the relevant social media platform rules if you want your credit union marketing trends to succeed. For example, if you use Twitter, you can focus more on small pieces of written content. Alternatively, Instagram marketing would demand you to post more images and short videos than texts. 

#8 Develop Ebooks and Blogs

Content marketing is also one of the best credit union industry trends that help you create brand recognition. Create ebooks that can answer your customers’ queries on Google. For instance, you can send a guide to people who search “how to open a savings account.” Or you can ask a customer to call you when they look for an answer to the question- “how to get a second mortgage on my house?” 

Similarly, your credit union marketing trends can include starting a blog section on your website. Think about the topics that depict the value your credit union offers to its clients and can generate high traffic to your website!

Use trending keywords and headlines for your articles to increase click-through rates. Your blog posts must demonstrate your industry expertise and show people you can hear and solve their enquiries effortlessly!

#9 Curate Credit Union Marketing Campaigns for Customer Retention

Though marketing strategies concentrate more on customer acquisition, you must draft separate retention plans to get repeat business. Existing customers make up most of the credit union’s business, so they deserve your appreciation and gratitude. 

PostGrid’s direct mail API can help you send thank-you letters and postcards to your customers to make them feel valued! You can also trigger credit union direct mail marketing campaigns with every action, like

• A customer who completes one year with your business. 
• Leaving a positive review on Google or social media. 
• Paying their premium or interest successfully, etc. 

These small actions help garner a positive reputation and customer referrals without much investment. 

#10 Target New Parents and Young Students

Identifying and contacting the relevant target audience is among those credit union industry trends that let you grab the right opportunities at the right time! If you have adequate demographic data, you can use it to your advantage. 

Targeting new parents or those whose children are off to college soon is an excellent credit union marketing strategy to boost your business. These are two crucial stages when people actively plan their children’s education and want to make the necessary financial arrangements. Offering them a robust solution during these times can help you sign them up as your clients in no time!

You can also target students directly because they contribute equally to their studies and career-related plans. Also, students do not get many credit union marketing items in the mail. So you can be the first company to get them a loan offer, helping you differentiate your business and onboarding customers from a young age.

Tips to Help Your Credit Union Marketing Campaigns Become Successful

Here are some tips and tricks to help your firm make the right choices throughout your marketing programs:

Use Simple Language

Your copywriting style should be natural and easy-flowing, not complicated. Try taking complex ideas and converting them into easy-to-read content for your audience. 

Your credit union marketing trends must work around the idea that your customers are a layman. Try using short words and sentences to deliver your message and not complicate your content!

You can include a glossary on your website or encourage readers to contact you for further explanation. Some credit unions add personalised links to explanatory videos, news articles, step-by-step guides, etc., to help their audience. 

Create Local Content

Always keep your credit union marketing campaigns local and talk to people at a 1:1 level. You cannot discuss your branches in Sydney with people living in Melbourne. Discuss what best appeals to the local people, inform them about the credit union industry trends and news, and build genuine relationships. 

Combine Offline and Online Marketing

Integrated, multi-channel marketing campaigns are always better than one-off, standalone programs that generate temporary results. Try combining your online and offline efforts to expand your outreach and reach more people. 

Work On Your Visuals

Like other industries, financial institutions must work on using better graphics and imagery, irrespective of which credit union marketing trends they use. People are attracted to eye-catching images and marketing ads, making them grasp the content faster. 

Moreover, use bright colours that represent your brand with a catchy tagline. You can also add campaign-specific QR codes and landing pages to record responses and draft reports. 

How Does PostGrid Direct Mail Solutions Help Credit Unions With Their Marketing Plans?

PostGrid’s direct mail API helps organisations automate their credit union direct mail marketing plans and increase efficiency by five times. Here is how we helped one of the leading players in the industry recently:

Our client required 4,000 mailers to promote their new financial products for people over the age of 30 years. They planned to distribute them over three weeks, immediately before their product launch event. 

These mailers were for advertising and inviting prospects to the event. PostGrid’s automated credit union direct mail marketing services helped them design the items quickly. Our solutions also allowed the client to produce and ship these items in the said time frame at much lower rates than they anticipated!

Thus, they could generate enough buzz about their event and get more than 2,000 people to RSVP. Finally, 1,500 people visited, and the launch was a grand success. 

But it didn’t stop there! The client also got over 1,000 enquiries and nearly 650 conversions, which was enough to give their new service range an excellent head start. 

Here are some highlights of how PostGrid helped in this credit union marketing program:

• It helped the credit union to produce bulk volumes of mail items in only two business days through a reputed network of printers. 
• It completed daunting talks, like assembling, labelling, and stuffing the maillers in one go, saving the staff hundreds of hours of manual labour. 
• Its credit union direct mail marketing API helped the company save on postage by following the Australia Post rules and regulations. 
• It verified mailing lists to prevent mail returns and helped the client compile some custom ones for the campaign. 
• It allowed the client to ship the mailers using an affordable and quick mailing class at all-inclusive rates. 
• It helped them access accurate campaign results using trackable features, like QR codes and dedicated email addresses for RSVP. 

Sign up to know more about how PostGrid helps you use the top credit union marketing trends and improve acquisition and retention rates!

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Donor Acknowledgement Letter

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How To Write An Effective Donor Acknowledgement Letter For Your Nonprofit Organisation?

Nonprofits are unlike profit-oriented organisations. They often depend on their donors’ valuable contributions to keep up their work. Every donor and their donations are of great value to nonprofit organisations. 

Generally, nonprofit organisations can’t use an attractive product or offer to rope in new donations. The best approach for nonprofits is to focus on their existing donors and ensure that they have the donor’s continued support. An ideal way to accomplish this is through a donor acknowledgement letter.

Here we explain how a donor acknowledgement letter helps nonprofits and how you can implement them effectively for your organisation.

What Is A Donor Acknowledgement Letter?

As the name suggests, the donor acknowledgement letter is a letter you send to donors acknowledging their charitable donation or gift. It is also called a donation acknowledgement letter. Its primary purpose is to document an individual’s or organisation’s philanthropic donations.

Sometimes the donor acknowledgement letter can also act as a donation receipt but only occasionally. Even though the letter’s primary purpose is to document the donations and acknowledge them, it does much more than that.

Anyone who makes an effort to contribute to society through a donation deserves a whole-hearted thank you. This logic applies regardless of the size or value of the contribution or gift. Sending a donor acknowledgement letter is the easiest and most effective way to thank your valuable donors.

Why Should You Send A Donor Acknowledgement Letter?

The primary reason for sending a donor acknowledgment letter is to let the donor know you received their donation. You can also use the letter as a thank-you note to the donor. People like getting acknowledgement for the good things they do, even if that’s not their purpose of doing good.

By sending the donor acknowledgement letter you can say thank you and explain how their contribution will help the people or animals in need. Besides thanking your donors, sending acknowledgement letters enables you to.

• Confirm the receipt for a donation.
• Keep a record of the gifts you receive. 
• Build a reputation and relationship with the donors.

As an expert in direct mail marketing, we advise you always to send a donor acknowledgement letter regardless of the value of donations. However, suppose the donation’s face value is over a specific limit. In that case, you may have a legal obligation to send the appropriate documentation to your donors.

Segmenting Your Donors

Apart from the reasons we discussed above, there is another reason for you to send the donor acknowledgement letter to your organisation. Sending acknowledgement letters to your donors often requires you to segment your donors into specific categories.

The first thing you need to do is to check whether automation is possible for sending the donor acknowledgement letter from your organisation. Check whether your nonprofit CRM solution and marketing tools can handle automation well.

You will likely already have tools and the capability to automate your emails. Nonprofits can streamline the whole process by using a donor acknowledgement letter template. The downside is that people often miss online or digital messages like emails.

Try to send your donor acknowledgement letter via mail. There is something about printed mail that grabs the attention of the recipient. And for some reason, a customised letter is more personal than an email or text message.

But the best part is that you can automate your direct-mail donor acknowledgement letter just as easily as your email. All you need is an advanced print and mail solution like PostGrid. 

You can easily send a personalised acknowledgement letter to thank your donors with the click of a button. Once you have all the tools and the system for setting up the automated letters, you can quickly segment your donors. After that, you can use the segmented list to build stronger relations with your donors. 

How To Write a Donor Acknowledgement Letter For Your Organisation?

Believe it or not, sending a donor acknowledgement letter can significantly impact your relationship with the donors. It is one of the most effective ways to show how much you value your donors. However, it is essential to correctly draft a letter to have the desired impact on the audience.

The donor acknowledgement letter could be very different from your regular business letter. Ensuring an empathetic acknowledgement letter in the correct format is essential for conveying your genuine gratitude to the donors.

Below we will discuss how you can write an effective donor acknowledgment letter for your organisation. Additionally, we will also look at the crucial elements to include in your letter to ensure that the recipient gets all the necessary information. 

Best Practices For Writing Your Donor Acknowledgment Letter

Writing a donor acknowledgment letter may seem simple enough at first glance. But, if you don’t include all the necessary details in your letter, it can cause gaps in your communication. Here are the essential elements you should include in your acknowledgement letters.

Donor’s Name 

Make sure to includedonor’s name in your donor acknowledgement letter and not use generic terms like “Dear Donor.” Personalisation is essential in your acknowledgement letters because you want to show appreciation. Addressing someone with anything other than their name could give the impression that you don’t appreciate the donor. 

Full Legal Name Of Your Organisation

The donors can use your doot acknowledgement letter as proof of donation. They can submit the letters when they file their taxes and get returns for their charitable contributions. Since your donors may use acknowledgement letters for official purposes, it is best to include your organisation’s full legal name.

Declaration Of Tax-Exempt Status

It is also advisable to include the declaration of the tax-exempt status for your organisation in the acknowledgements you send out. The reason to have this declaration in your donor acknowledgement letter is the same as the one we discussed in the above case. It enables quicker tax processing for your donors and gives them more convenience.

Australian Business Number Or ABN

Another way to reassure the donors about your tax-exempt status is to include your organisation’s Australian Business Number or ABN. The ABN is an 11-digit number you get from the Australian Business Register. Registering your charity or nonprofit organisation with the Australian Charities And Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC) is essential.

Date Of Receiving The Donation/Gift

The date of receiving a donation or gift is another essential element to include in your donor acknowledgement letter. Adding this information also helps your donors to cross-check it with their expenses and tally it up during their tax filing process.

Description Of The Gift/Amount Received 

Ideally, your donor acknowledgment letter should also include details about the gift or donation your organisation received. We are not saying that you should go on endlessly about the contribution. Instead, you can briefly describe the gift, whether it is a gift or money. 

What Is The Best Format For A Donor Acknowledgement Letter?

There are no formal rules or formats for writing donor acknowledgement letters for your nonprofit organisation. You can send your organisation’s donation acknowledgement via letters, postcards, or email. 

It is okay to use any of these formats for sending your acknowledgements. However, it is always better to use a feasible channel like mail for sending your acknowledgement letters, as they can create an emotional impact. 

You can also try an approach where you use multiple channels to send the same donor acknowledgement letter to the same recipient.

There is also an option where you can pick channels for your campaigns depending on donation types or amounts.

Handwritten Letters

Imagine you are writing the donor acknowledgement letter to a benefactor who donated a considerable amount of money. In this case, the best way to show appreciation to the donor is to send a handwritten acknowledgement letter. 

You should print the donor acknowledgement letter and sign it personally. It shows that you are willing to go the extra mile and show how much you appreciate their contribution. 

Bulk Mailing

Similarly, you can also consider instances where the donor makes regular recurring payments to your nonprofit organisation. Most people donate smaller amounts to charities. It means you need bulk mailing capabilities for sending a donor acknowledgement letter to each recipient in your list.

Email

You can always use emails to keep your expenses to a minimum or need help to afford an extensive bulk mail campaign. It offers a quick and efficient way to send your donor acknowledgement letter with minimum investment. But suppose you wish to make an impression on the donors and forge a stronger relationship with them. In that case, you are better off with postal letters. 

Templates

One of the most effective ways to optimise how you send your donor acknowledgement letter and other communications is to use templates. By creating quality templates, you don’t have to make identical mail repeatedly when someone donates. 

You are probably already familiar with templates for your emails. But it may surprise you that you can also use a template for your mailers. By employing an advanced tool like PostGrid, you can use templates for sending mail correspondence, including your donor acknowledgement letter. 

Automation 

As we discussed above, templates are a great way to speed up your acknowledgement communications. But templates are practically useless if you have automation capability. You can use an automation solution like PostGrid to quickly send a donor acknowledgement letter to each person who’s donated to your organisation. 

Implementing an automated solution for sending your donor acknowledgement letter ensures that every donor receives an acknowledgement. Before you start print and mail automation you need to prepare acknowledgement letter templates necessary for the same.

What Are The Details You Should Include In A Donor Acknowledgement Letter?

We already talked about the essential elements to include in a donor acknowledgment letter and their role in the letter. The details you should have in an acknowledgement letter to express your gratitude to donors are discussed below.

Four crucial parts come in a donor acknowledgement letter, and you should include them. The four critical components that make up an effective acknowledgement letter are as follows.

• Subject/Preheader
• Opening
• Body 
• Closing 

Subject/Preheader

Ensure that your donor acknowledgement letter comes with a subject or preheader so that the recipient can quickly tell the subject of the letter. The issue or preheader should be even more prominent if you use email. Different from traditional mail, email messages often go unread.

So, you must ensure that does not happen to your email. A simple way to do this is to include phrases like “Thanks for your valuable donation” in your subject/preheader. It establishes that your email is a donor acknowledgement letter and increases its open rate.

Opening

An donor acknowledgment letter’s opening is always crucial, and you should be extra careful with it. Keep the opening simple and use it to welcome the recipient and thank them for all the support you receive. Use a simple opener like the one below to start your acknowledgement letter. 

“Dear Kendra, thank you for your selfless donation to the neighbourhood tree project!”  

You can continue the donor acknowledgement letter by explaining how the donor is making a difference and how significant their contribution is to your organisation.

Body Of The Letter

Once you finish with the pleasantries, you can start with the body of the donor acknowledgement letter. Use the body of the letter for your content. You can use the body of the letter to include vital information, such as your ABN number and ACNC details. 

Including these details in your donor acknowledgement letter makes it easier for the donor to use your letter for tax filing purposes. You don’t have to include these details if the contribution consists of non-cash donations that are not tax deductible. 

In that case, you can prepare a separate template for such letters. Make sure to include a gift description in the donor acknowledgement letter for non-cash donations. Similarly, you should have a different template for assistance received in goods and services.

Closing

By the time the recipient reaches the closing of your donor acknowledgement letter, they already have all the necessary information. You can use the close of the acknowledgement letter to thank them again one last time. 

Use this section to inform the recipient about your work. Consider giving them a general update on how you are using their donation. Finally, you can use a friendly sign-off but in an empathetic manner. Hence, the recipient knows how much you value everything they do.

Donor Acknowledgement Letter Sample

Regardless of how much we try to explain all the nifty details of an acknowledgment letter, you may still need a sample to fully understand it. Below, you can find a donor acknowledgment letter sample that can help you understand what your acknowledgments should look and feel like to the recipient.

Subject: Thank you, Kendra, for your valuable donation to the Neighbourhood Tree Project!

Dear Kendra,

We at Neighbourhood Tree Project would like to thank you for your generous donation! Thanks to donors like you, we can continue with our work and preserve trees, and protect the natural habitat of various birds and animals.

You donated $369 to the Neighbourhood Tree Project on November 5, 2023. The payment was processed through your credit card and made in support of the Neighbourhood Tree Project.

Our is a tax-exempt organisation registered under the Australian Charities And Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC). Each contribution you make significantly impacts the work we do here at Neighbourhood Tree Project.

We are happy to inform you that your donation is fully tax-deductible. There were no goods or services exchanged for your charitable contribution. Please save this letter as part of your tax records.

We would like to thank you for your dedication to saving our neighbourhood trees and the habitat of the creatures they support. We are pleased to continue working closely with you to save trees for future generations.

Sincerely,
Kieran, The Neighborhood Tree Project

Do You Need To Send A Donor Acknowledgement Letter For Every Donation?

Nonprofit organisations often have regular donors who make multiple contributions throughout the year and sometimes multiple times a month. Does that mean you must send a donor acknowledgement letter for each donation?

Consider sending the donor acknowledgement letter for every single transaction or donation. It is an excellent way to boost your engagements with donors and show that you appreciate every effort the donor makes. 

You can also send the donor acknowledgement letter periodically. For the best results, you should use an automated print and mail solution like PosGrid. The tools allow you to access two critical features that can streamline your organisation’s communication, and they are 

• Scheduled Mail 
• Triggered Mail

Triggered Mail

This feature is very similar to triggered email, which you are likely already using for your online campaigns. It uses a triggering action to determine whether or not to send a message to the target audience. What if we told you that you could do the same for your printed donor acknowledgement letter?

With an advanced print and mail API like PostGrid, sending your donor acknowledgement letter is as easy as sending a text or email. You can set up your communication system to automatically send an acknowledgement letter when someone donates.

Talk to our experts to learn how to set up a triggered mail feature for your organisation. Using a triggered mail feature, you can ensure that every donation you receive is appreciated. The system automatically sends your donor acknowledgement letter after receiving each gift.

You don’t have to constantly monitor your mailing or donations to check whether you sent a donor acknowledgement letter to the donor. As a result, you get streamlined communication with your donors, making it easier to manage your engagement efforts.

Consider including a QR Code in your donor acknowledgement letter and let the recipients scan it. The QR code can lead to a page from which donors can download their donation details in PDF file format and safe-keep them.

Scheduled Mail

Scheduled mail is a feature or capability that lets you send your donor acknowledgement letter on a predetermined schedule. You can use this feature to send acknowledgements, invoices, thank you notes, Etc., automatically to your customers.

You can use templates and quickly send your bulk mail using scheduled mail. PostGrid even provides a free template gallery and a template editor to design your business letters. 

It also lets you use custom or in-house designs for the donor acknowledgement letter and other correspondence. 

A periodical donor acknowledgement letter is ideal for donors that regularly contribute to your organisation. It allows you to optimise your print and mail operations and minimise expenses or repeat mailing.  

Since nonprofits don’t have the deep pockets of corporates, it is best to use scheduled mail to optimise your expenses. Suppose you send a donor acknowledgement letter for each donation or monthly. Even in this case, sending a summary at the end of the year is still advisable.

It is because your donors could use the letters in their tax filing. Of course, they could also use the individual letters you send. However, a year-end donor acknowledgement letter is much easier. It is also possible that the donor needs help finding the previous notes and reaching out to you requesting the yearly summary.

How To Automate Your Donor Acknowledgement Letter Using Nonprofit CRM?

Above, we briefly discussed how an automated solution could help you get the most out of your donor acknowledgement letter templates. It might surprise you to know that implementing automation for your acknowledgements is easy, even via printed mail.

You can connect an automated print and mail solution like PostGrid with your CRM solution. PostGrid can access your CRM data and use the templates to create a personalised donor acknowledgement letter for each donor.

And the best part is that you can use PostGrid to print everything from a donor acknowledgement letter to marketing direct mail. Some of the other personalised printed materials you can print and mail using PostGrid include the following.

• Direct mail postcards.
• Brochures
• Catalogues 
• Invoices 
• Business letters.
• And more

Do you want to learn how PostGrid can help you create a personalised donor acknowledgement letter and other printed materials with the click of a button? Get a FREE demo to streamline your organisation’s mail communication!

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How To Use C/O In Mailing Address

TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to Use C/O in Mailing Address

What if we said you could send direct mail to someone without knowing their home address? It sounds like a sweet deal, right? Well, that’s what C/O in mailing addresses lets you do.

However, that doesn’t mean that C/O in mailing addresses is some magic trick that lets you reach out to anyone anywhere. The effectiveness of C/O in mailing addresses depends on how well you can execute it and the specific situations in which you use it. Hence, it is best to learn how C/O in mailing addresses work.

The details below will help you understand C/O better and streamline your business communications. Not only will we explain how to use C/O in mailing addresses, but we will also discuss the various instances where you can use them.

What is C/O in Mailing Address?

The C/O or “℅” you see in the mailing address is the abbreviated form for “care of.” It means that postal mail with a ℅ line is for sending mail to someone who is not the legal occupant of the address.

Hence, using C/O in the mailing address lets the recipient know it is not for them.

The recipient of a C/O letter is entrusted with the mailpiece, assuming they give it to the addressee. You can use C/O in an address in different contexts or situations. For example, you can use C/O to send an official letter to an employee or the company’s CEO.

The postal delivery person can then drop off the mailer at the company’s front office. Using C/O is common in business communication, especially when someone’s address is unknown. It is an effective way to ensure that your mailer reaches the recipient instead of getting returned.

Similarly, you can use the C/O in the mailing address to send a letter or package to children. Here, the C/O or “in care of” would be addressed to the parent.

How to Use C/O In Mailing Address Efficiently and Accurately

The best way to understand how a CO mailing address looks is to look at an example, which is why we have provided one for you below.

Jane Smith

c/o Blueberry Inc.

619 Albert St.

Sydney NSW 2055

The example above should give a broad idea of how a C/O address should look. However, the proper use of CO in the address does not confine to how or what you write on the envelope. You can take a few steps to ensure the deliverability of your mailers with a CO mailing address, including the following.

Step 1: Ensure You Have the Right Information

Speaking of business correspondence, we often use the CO mailing address when the recipient’s primary address is unavailable. Hence, you must ensure the secondary address is accurate unless you want Australia Post to return your mail.

Everything from the business’s name to its postcode must be accurate to deliver your mail without delays. To make it easier, you can use an address verification tool like PostGrid to verify the address.

Step 2: Ensure You Are Using the Correct Format

After you get the address for the mailer, you need to ensure that it is in the standardised Australia Post-prescribed format. You must write C/O or “care of” before the name of whoever is responsible for delivering the mail to the addressee.

For example, you want to ship direct mail to someone at their workplace using a CO mailing address. Here, the company is responsible for delivering the mailer to its recipient. Therefore, you should follow the C/O with the company’s name.

Similarly, when sending the mailer to a home address, the C/O should follow the resident’s name. The person that receives your mailer with the C/O address can then pass it on to the actual recipient of the mail.

Step 3: Ensure You Provide The Return Address

The chance of your mail getting returned is relatively low when using a CO mailing address. However, you still need to provide a return address on the envelope. Use the left-hand corner of the envelope to write your return address.

Australia Post will return your mailer if they cannot deliver to the address you provide. You can use the return mail to identify postal addresses you can’t mail to and avoid unnecessary expenses.

Step 4: Attach the Necessary Postage

Everyone knows you must attach the necessary postage to send any postal mail. However, most people have no idea what postage they need to stick to their mailpiece. Australia Post will return the mail if the postage is not enough, and if it is more, you will waste money.

It is hard to keep track of your postage attachments, especially regarding business communication. However, you can save yourself the trouble by employing a direct mail automation tool like PostGrid. Advanced tools like PostGrid automate your entire direct mail management process, including postage.

We combine geocoding, bulk validation, and international address verification to let you access updated databases at your fingertips. 

Step 5: Review and Send Your Mail

The final step in the proper use of CO in the address is taking one last look at the mailer. Review all the information on the mail envelope and ensure everything is in order. Check if you have the right name for the recipient and their address.

In addition to this, you should also check the return address you have provided on the mailer. Once you ensure everything is alright, you can send the mailer. However, an easier way to send the mailer is to use an automated direct mail system like PostGrid.

When to Use C/O in Your Postal Mail?

Generally, C/O or “care of” is used in postal mail when the sender does not know the recipient’s primary address. It also means you can use such mail for addresses that don’t usually receive correspondence.

In other words, you can use C/O to send postal mail to someone’s business address if you don’t know their home address. Also, using C/O in a mailing address often grabs the recipient’s attention.

There are certain instances or situations where using C/O in the mailing address is ideal, including the following.

Send Mailer to Workplace

As mentioned, C/O is ideal for sending mail to business addresses. If you don’t know someone’s personal or home address, this strategy can come in handy for you. However, you need to know where the recipient works to send the mailer using a C/O address.

Send Mailer to The Hotel

Suppose you know your intended recipient stays at a specific hotel in town but don’t know their room number. In that case, you can use C/O before the hotel’s name when addressing your mail. The hotel will receive your letter or package on behalf of the recipient and pass it on to them in good time. However, this strategy has a lot of variables. For example, the recipient may extend or cut short their stay in the hotel.

Send Mailer to A Friend

You can send a mailer to someone even if you don’t know their home or business address. However, you would need to know the address of someone they are friends with or even an acquaintance. Such mailers are better suited for personal communication, especially to invite someone to an event. However, using the same strategy for business communication is not entirely out of scope.

Send Mailer to Areas With Security Risks

Postal mail can be subject to unwanted eyes or attention. It is not rare to hear about cases where people did not receive crucial letters and packages. The risk of someone stealing your mailer in some neighbourhoods may be higher than in others.

In that case, you can use “care of” in your direct mail to send it to another person. It enables you to ensure that no one steals or destroys the letter or package you send. However, you would first need to get the alternate address from the recipient before sending the mailer using C/O.

Send Crucial Documents

Sending crucial documents, especially time-sensitive ones using postal mail is often considered risky. There are chances that postal delivery can get delayed unless you use Australia Post’s services like Priority Mail.

Also, the mailer could get lost if you don’t have the correct address or use the wrong postcode. C/O is the best way to avoid such mistakes and ensure the postal mail reaches the addressee on time. It is unlikely to get a business address wrong, as you can easily verify it online.

Conclusion

Using C/O in mailing addresses is not complicated as long as you know the basics. The tricky part of implementing the proper use of CO is that you need to ensure its deliverability. If you don’t have the correct address, adding C/O in your mail is useless.

In addition to this, it can become confusing to manage your direct mail process manually. There are a lot of variables in direct mail you need to consider, such as the fluctuating postage charges. Effectively managing your postal direct mail process, including the proper use of CO in address, requires a tool like PostGrid.

PostGrid lets you personalise your mail through direct mail API and print CO mailing addresses according to Australia Post’s standards with advanced automation abilities. It even offers an address verification API that enables you to verify addresses and ensure their deliverability. Sign up now!

Ready to Get Started?

Start transforming and automating your offline communications with PostGrid

SIGN UPREQUEST A DEMO

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