How to Prepare & Mail Neighborhood Association Postcards

The City budget puts aside money each biennium in a city account to support the printing and mailing of Neighborhood Association (NA) postcards and/or other advertising methods for NA meetings. The City has a contract with Eagle Web Press, who prints the cards and sends them to a third-party mailer through the City of Oregon City's bulk rate permit. Neighborhood Associations prepare the draft postcard with their own graphic design program. Postcards must designed on a 4 x 5.5 inch format. Check out the Related Documents section of this webpage to download a postcard template word document with the correct dimensions for reference/use. 

The bulk rate offers a more affordable option for postcard mailing. However, bulk rate also provides more time for the Post Office to mail out an item, hence the savings.

Each neighborhood has different goals of when they want the postcards to arrive. Some like them earlier, some like them closer to the meeting date. Either approach works if you know the factors that drive when a postcard gets mailed.

• 1st Factor - City review of content to ensure no political speech. City funds cannot be used for political speech. Example: while you can announce that a candidate is coming to your meeting- you can't encourage people to vote for that candidate or particular measure on your postcard. Hannah Schmidt needs 2 to 3 business days (Monday through Friday) to review the postcard and get the updated mailing labels to Eagle Web Press with the work order. If you get an out-of-office email from Hannah, that is more than that period - please email Jarrod Lyman and we will work with Eagle Web Press to get your order in.
• 2nd Factor - The city contract with Eagle Web Press gives them 3 to 4  business days (Monday through Friday) to print out the cards and have them mailed. They usually can get it completed the next day - but if they are busy, they may need all four days to process and print a postcard order.  
• 3rd Factor - Post Office bulk rate has a 5 to 7 day timeline (Monday through Sunday) for mailing. Please note: they control this process, and sometimes postcards are mailed on different days.

Postcard Emails to Community Engagement Specialist, Hannah Schmidt

Eagle Web Press can hold completed postcards for a couple of days and release them to the 3rd party mailer if you give them a date that you want them to be sent to the Post Office. When you are preparing your postcards please keep these dates in mind. If you have a specific date you would like the postcards to be sent to the Post Office; please let Hannah Schmidt know that in your email, and review the four factors above before you give them the date to ensure you have enough lead time. Please also make sure to account for State and Federal holidays in your calculation.

If you are unable to make the intended postcard date, and still want to proceed with the mailing, your Neighborhood Association can choose to pay the difference for 1st class postage. You will work directly with Eagle Web Press on the bill for the difference. Please note that 1st class postage is about 15 cents more per postcard.

The following is an example email to Hannah Schmidt you can use:

Hi Hannah, 

Enclosed you will find the postcard for the November 21, 2019 Rivercrest Neighborhood Association Meeting.

Please have these postcards sent to the Post Office on November 6, 2019, or;

Please have these postcards sent to the Post Office as soon as possible.

Thank you.