Guidelines for Trinity Mailings

The U.S. Postal Service has many guidelines and regulations for addressing and sending mail. Trinity has additional guidelines as well. This is a summary of the most basic and important guidelines that apply to official Trinity mailings.  For additional information, and if you have any questions, please contact Ann Pauley. 

Return Address

All official mail from Trinity must have a return address that includes the name of the office that is mailing the piece, the name of the institution [Trinity, or Trinity Washington University, or the official Trinity logo] and a complete mailing address.

Usage of Trinity’s Mailing Permits, Nonprofit Postage: Read This Carefully

The U.S. Postal Service has extensive rules and regulations regarding the use of a U.S. Mailing first class and nonprofit permits and the use of the nonprofit rate.  If these rules and regulations are not followed, Trinity’s mailing permit can be revoked.

Before you start any mailing with a pre-printed indicia, or before you start a mailing that you want to send at a nonprofit rate, contact Ann Pauley.

A pre-printed image of Trinity’s mailing permit for either non-profit or first class mailings is called an “indicia” – see samples below. DO NOT ADD A PRE-PRINTED INDICIA OF TRINITY’S MAILING PERMIT TO YOUR MAILING. Trinity does not have the staff capacity to process and send mailings from Trinity using a pre-printed “indicia.” These mailings must be processed through a mailhouse.

Instead, leave the area for postage blank and Trinity’s Mailing Services staff will meter your mail.

A very limited number of offices do use a pre-printed indicia of Trinity’s mailing permit on their publications, including Admissions, Development, Alumnae Affairs and Continuing Education. These offices have postage budget lines to cover these mailings. These are generally large mailings, carefully designed to comply with U.S. Postal Service regulations, and are prepared and processed through a third-party mailhouse that handles the sorting, pre-payment of postage and USPS paperwork. Offices that use the mailing permits or want to mail a publication at a nonprofit rate must work closely with Ann Pauley to ensure that the mailing meets U.S. Postal regulations. The postage for mailings handled by a mailhouse, whether or not an indicia is used, must be pre-paid with a check cut by Trinity, charged to the budget of the office that is mailing the print materials.

If you office does large mailings (2000+) and you are interested in learning about the options and costs of using Trinity’s mailing permit, contact Ann Pauley.

If you want to mail a postcard or envelope that has already been printed and has either a first class or nonprofit printed inidicia, DO NOT add an address and drop the publication in the mail – whether you are mailing 1, 5 or 100, you cannot do this. There are ways to modify a publication that already has a pre-printed indicia. Contact Ann Pauley for additional information.

These are examples of what NOT to put on your mailings:

Business Reply Mail

Trinity has a business reply mail (BRM) permit which also has many U.S. Postal Service rules and regulations. DO NOT reproduce a BRM address, bar code and permit and place it on your mailing. You must contact Ann Pauley if you want to use the business reply mail service.

No Graphics or Text Below the Address Block

The U.S. Postal Service does not allow you to add any text below or in line with the recipient’s address block because it interferes with the optical scanners used to sort mail.  While your mailing may go through, it will take longer or be delivered to the wrong address.

If you want to add a sticker, a graphic or line of text on the address side of your envelope or postcard to call attention to important information (i.e., Commencement Information Enclosed!  or Classes Begin Soon!), place it on the far left side of the mailing side, below the return address.

Questions? Contact Ann Pauley, or see the USPS Guideline for placement of addresses and other features.