DMA Urges Members to Take Action to Keep Mail Viable

September 15, 2011 — Linda Woolley, DMA’s EVP of Washington operations, today sent a letter to DMA members urging them to take action to keep mail viable.

The text of the letter follows below

******************************************************************************************************************

Dear DMA Members,

It's not news to anyone that the US Postal Service is in trouble. But this dire situation has just gotten desperate.

At the end of this month, the US Postal Service (USPS) will default on a $5.6 billion payment to the US Government to cover its postal retiree health benefits. Even with that default, USPS will run out of money — and be unable to deliver the US Mail — by August 2012...unless Congress steps in to help.

For the $1.1 trillion postal industry and its 8.4 million employees, keeping the Mail moving is critical. Without it, many businesses may be in danger — faced with a struggle to survive at a time when our economy needs more jobs, not less. This is not the time to lose American jobs.

The only way to ensure that the Mail remains a viable marketing channel is for Congress to remove USPS' shackles and let it operate as a real business. The Postmaster General has lots of ideas about how to put USPS on the right track while keeping the Mail affordable for your business. All he needs is the authority to make those changes.

Join DMA in asking Congress to grant that request! Take DMAAction today. Tell your Senators and Representatives to save USPS and the mailing industry that relies on it. Ask them to support legislation that gives the Postmaster General the specific authority he needs.

Write to your Members of Congress. With our easy-to-use DMAAction Grassroots Tool you can send letters to your Representatives and Senators in just a few quick clicks!
Ask your employees, vendors and customers to do the same. All they need to do is visit our DMAAction website and click on "Take DMAAction" to contact their own Members of Congress.

I also want to let you know about our upcoming Postal Perspectives Webinar Series. These informal conversations with the policymakers at the center of the postal debate will give you the opportunity to hear exactly what the experts are thinking about the future of USPS.

September 27:
Pat Donahoe, Postmaster General of the United States
Invited for October:
Darrell Issa, Chairman, House Oversight & Government Reform Committee
October 31:
John Kilvington, Democratic Director, Senate Postal Subcommittee
Invited for December:
Brendan Sheilds, Republican Director, Senate Postal Subcommittee

[Editor’s note: In addition, David Williams, VP, Network Operations Management, USPS, will present the plan at a DMA webinar Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 2:30 pm. To register for this important webinar, please click here http://www.the-dma.org/councilevents/cct0312/. ]

Please don't delay. Register for the webinars and Take DMAAction today!

Linda Woolley

EVP, Washington Operations

Direct Marketing Association

About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the world’s largest global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 48 other nations, including half of the Fortune 100 companies.

In 2010, marketers — commercial and nonprofit — spent $153.3 billion on direct marketing, which accounted for 54.2 percent of all ad expenditures in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures generated approximately $1.8 trillion in incremental sales. In 2010, direct marketing accounted for 8.3 percent of total US gross domestic product. Also, in 2010 there were 1.4 million direct marketing employees in the US. Their collective sales efforts directly supported 8.4 million other jobs, accounting for a total of 9.8 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

# # #