2 New USPS Changes Reshaping Nonprofit Mailings

What your nonprofit needs to know about the 2025 USPS postage increase

By Carmen Campbell, Senior Director of Production and Purchasing

This month I celebrate 10 years at BDI. It has gone so quickly. What amazes me even more is that I’ve worked Print Production in some sort of way for 30 years!

So much has changed during that time in this industry, from the ways we produce direct mail to the frequent postage increases. And the USPS postage increase for 2025 will bring even more changes to nonprofits that fundraise through direct mail.

Over the last few years, I’ve provided yearly updates on the various USPS changes impacting nonprofits. Some of these changes have been positive for nonprofits, such as in 2024 when the USPS rolled out an incentive to get NPOs to send more mail. Other changes have been more challenging, like in 2023, when the USPS started implementing twice-a-year increases – in January and June. 

These changes were implemented so that, among other things, the USPS can become more financially stable and make the necessary changes within the system. But they haven’t come without challenges for nonprofits who leverage direct mail as a key strategy in their fundraising.

In July 2025, we will start to see some new changes they are making begin to affect nonprofits again.

USPS postage increase by up to 10%

The increase is quite large. Luckily, it’s not the 11% some were talking about, but still it ranges between 9-10%. In the past, the increases haven’t affected nonprofit rates like they have other categories because of which sortation rates have been increased. (The USPS groups and sorts mail into various categories like ZIP code, destination, etc., and then certain categories can qualify for discounted postage rates.)  

Now don’t get me wrong, in the past when overall postage rates have increased, nonprofit rates have not increased as much as they have for other sectors. But in 2025, nonprofit increases are keeping pace with increases we’re seeing across the board. 

Elimination of NDC

The USPS is eliminating NDCs, or Network Distribution Centers. These regional USPS facilities help move mail across the country. Previously, nonprofits could sort mail to these centers for discounts – but this option is going away. 

While the majority of mailings for BDI’s client partners are sorted to an even finer level, we do have a percent that would go to NDCs. Those records will now be mailed locally and at a higher postage amount. Again, that tends to be a small amount of the mail – but it still affects the overall postage. If your mailings have qualified for the NDC discount in the past, make sure you are aware of how this change is affecting your postage rates!

This change is big and is causing a lot of questions in the industry. But rest assured that BDI’s Print Production team is working with our vendors to stay on top of it, making sure we are getting the best rates and preventing in-home delivery delays.

Through all these changes, BDI is here for you! We’ll continue to keep you updated on the latest news and deliver expert advice on how you can manage these changes in your campaigns moving forward.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your strategist (if you’re a BDI client partner), or send me an email any time.