Bulk Mailings - FS Guide

• The bulk mailing tool is used to proactively reach out to constituents rather than retroactively responding to their mail. The main difference between bulk mailings and newsletters is that bulk mailings allow for setting a message cap, which is most effective for sending out 499’s. The bulk mailing tool can also process larger mailings (though, if you want to hit a particularly large group of people via email, your best tool may be messages!)

• A 499 is a mass mailer to constituents which you can send during black out so long as it is substantially different from other mass mailers sent out in the legislative year

• A bulk mailing, in essence, takes an audience of individuals and assigns an outbound message (form letter) to those individuals and batches that mail for processing. 

• The bulk mailing tool works to assign mail to individuals who can receive mail, so if they are missing an email or mailing address and that’s how you’re trying to contact them, they will be excluded. It also helps to minimize the mail generated to maximize your outreach. This comes into play most specifically if you are sending a printed mailer. 

• Specifically, the tool will pull out individuals with the same address and put them in their own batch so you have the chance to merge mail items and household individuals at the same time. This prevents duplicate letters being sent to the same address, frees up an additional letter for sending elsewhere (important when you’re limited to 499!), and remembers the household selection for future mailings so you don’t have to merge the same mail items every time.