The business challenge was to streamline the mailing preparation process and reduce costs associated undeliverable-asaddressed mail.

LUC Boys Ranch is a nonprofit organization and has to spend money to raise money. Minimizing fundraising costs is critical so that more money can be allocated to the charitable programs and services being provided. LUC Boys Ranch has been recognized as an exceptional charity due, in part, to being very efficient at fundraising.

Direct mail is one of the primary marketing tools used by LUC Boys Ranch and many other organizations because it is targeted, personal, measurable, and cost effective. To keep costs down LUC Boys Ranch takes advantage of postage discounts available from the USPS®. Without the right tools, creating a discounted mailing is a complex task.

Prior to having an integrated solution, addresses were being maintained in multiple data sources which required duplicate entry. Preparing a mailing meant exporting addresses from one application, manually formatting the file, then importing that file into another application. This was done several times until the address list was ready for printing.

LUC Boys Ranch consolidated systems to QuickBooks® Premiere for Nonprofits in January 2006 then added DAQI (DuoShare Address Quality Integrator) in November to simplify the mailing process.

Now, with an integrated solution, LUC Boys Ranch had incorporated mailing industry best practices into QuickBooks and would also be able to easily create discounted mailings. The integration of QuickBooks and DAQI not only eliminated duplicate entry but also allowed addresses to be validated in real-time using the most up-to-date postal data available. Point of entry validation allows invalid addresses to be corrected while the source information is still available.

To keep addresses current after the initial validation, addresses are validated using a schedule that is defined by the user along with DuoShare’s USPS certified move update process. Since more than 44 million people move every year, this process helps keep up with the individuals that donate to LUC Boys Ranch. When ready to mail, LUC Boys Ranch receives a presorted mailing list for printing barcoded mailing labels, along with all the documentation required to submit a discounted mailing. Each mailing saves LUC Boys Ranch approximately $2,800 in postage plus $630 in production and postage waste.

DuoShare, Inc.
http://duoshare.com

Quick Books
www.quickbooks.com