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What are nonprofit postage rates?
Nonprofit postage rates (USPS officially calls them Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail prices) are discounted rates for authorized nonprofit organizations, and they require two things: your organization must be authorized, and each mailing must qualify on its own. Congress created the reduced rates in 1951 and later added limits on what can be mailed at them, so eligibility now turns on three separate questions — who you are, what is in the envelope, and who else benefits from the mailing.
When you sign a postage statement, you certify that the piece is eligible, and false statements carry civil and criminal penalties. The rules below come from the Domestic Mail Manual and USPS Publication 417. For planning the campaign itself see our guide to running a successful direct mail campaign.
Who qualifies for nonprofit postage rates?
To qualify for nonprofit rates, an organization must be nonprofit and fit one of eight categories the law names. The Postal Service checks two things: that you are both organized and operated for a qualifying primary purpose, and that you are not organized for profit, with no net income going to any individual or private stockholder. Incidental qualifying activity does not count.
| Category | What the primary purpose must be | Examples |
| Religious | Conduct worship, support worshipping bodies, or teach a faith | Churches, synagogues, mosques, religious instruction groups |
| Educational | Instruct individuals or the public | Schools, museums, zoos, orchestras, lecture series |
| Scientific | Research in, or spread technical information about, the sciences | Research institutes |
| Philanthropic (charitable) | Benefit the public | Poverty relief, civil rights, community improvement |
| Agricultural | Better conditions for those in agriculture | Farm bureaus, fair associations |
| Labor | Better conditions for workers | Unions, employee associations |
| Veterans | Serve U.S. armed forces veterans | Veterans’ posts and their auxiliaries |
| Fraternal | Fellowship and mutual benefit under a lodge system with ritual and elected membership | Masons, Elks, college fraternities and sororities |
Two other groups can also apply: qualified political committees (the national and state committees of political parties, plus certain congressional and senatorial campaign committees) and voting registration officials.
IRS status helps but isn’t required. A 501(c)(3), (c)(5), (c)(8) or (c)(19) exemption in the matching category is treated as qualifying unless other evidence disqualifies you.
Ineligible nonprofits. These groups do not qualify even when organized as nonprofits: business leagues, chambers of commerce, trade associations, service clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions), social and hobby clubs, civic improvement associations, automobile clubs, mutual insurance associations, rural electric cooperative associations, and most political organizations. State, county and municipal governments generally do not qualify, though a separate governmental unit that fits a category (a school district or public library, for example) may.
How do you get authorized for nonprofit rates?
USPS authorization for nonprofit rates starts with PS Form 3624, which has no filing fee. With complete paperwork, approval usually takes about two weeks. Once approved, you receive a national authorization number and can mail at nonprofit prices at any Post Office that accepts presorted mail.
- Gather your documents. You need formative papers that state your primary purpose (articles of incorporation, constitution, charter or similar). You also need proof of nonprofit status: an IRS exemption letter, or a complete financial statement from an independent auditor such as a CPA. Statements from your own officers or internal financials are not accepted.
- File PS Form 3624 at the Post Office where you plan to mail. Ask for a date-stamped copy — that date can become your effective date.
- Mail under a postage deposit while you wait. Until approval, you pay regular Marketing Mail or First-Class Mail prices. Arrange a deposit account with the postmaster and use regular Marketing Mail: if approved, you can get back the difference for mailings made on or after the effective date. First-Class Mail postage is never refunded.
- Respond to the Pricing and Classification Service Center (PCSC). The Post Office forwards your file to the PCSC in New York, which may ask for more information. Answer within its deadline.
- Appeal within 15 days if denied. Send a written appeal with any new evidence to the postmaster where you filed. If the PCSC does not reverse itself, the manager of Product Classification at USPS Headquarters makes the final decision.
Keep it active. If you make no nonprofit mailing for two years, the authorization is automatically revoked for nonuse. Put your authorization number on every nonprofit postage statement.
What can you mail at nonprofit rates?
Even after authorization, each nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail piece must pass content tests, which apply separately to products (items enclosed) and advertisements (offers).
Products
Any item enclosed must meet one of three tests. Relevance to your mission is not considered.
- Low-cost item — costs your organization no more than the IRS low-cost-article limit, which is $13.90 for 2026. The IRS adjusts this figure every January for inflation, so confirm the current amount in DMM 703.1.6.11 before each new year’s mailings. What you paid counts, not what you charge for it.
- Gift or donation — you received it at no cost, whatever the donor paid.
- Your own periodical — published at least four times a year and meeting the Periodicals criteria.
Advertisements
These rules cover every offer in the piece, including your own.
| Ad type | Eligible at nonprofit rates? |
| Most products and services | Yes, if substantially related to your purpose or the piece meets periodical content rules |
| Insurance | Only if offered by the nonprofit to its own members, donors or beneficiaries, and not commercially available |
| Travel (transportation, lodging and destination) | Only if offered by the nonprofit to its own members or supporters, and the trip advances its qualifying purpose |
| Credit, debit or charge cards | No, if the card comes from or through an unauthorized organization (includes bank affinity cards) |
A single ineligible ad or product makes the entire mailpiece ineligible, so review the whole package — inserts, reply devices and lift notes included. Pub. 417’s six-step process is the procedure USPS uses to review a piece.
What are the cooperative mail rule and co-mailing rules?
A nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail authorization covers only the authorized organization’s own mail; it cannot be lent to a partner. A cooperative mailing is one where you share the cost, risk or benefit with another organization, and it qualifies only if every participant is authorized to mail at nonprofit prices.
How USPS decides whose mail it is
When a mailing involves another party, USPS asks six questions:
- Who devised, designed and paid for the mailpiece?
- Who paid the postage, directly or indirectly?
- How are revenues and profits from the mailing, or the venture it supports, divided?
- Who bears the risk?
- Who makes decisions about the content?
- What are each participant’s intentions and interests?
A mailing is ineligible when both parties contribute to it and both take a share of the proceeds. USPS’s own example: a nonprofit supplies its member list and permit, a grocery store pays the postage, and the store donates 2% of member purchases back. Because the store pays and benefits, the mailing does not qualify.
Vendors are fine on a fee-for-service basis
A printer, lettershop or other commercial agent can enter mail at nonprofit prices on your behalf, even under its own permit, if the relationship is a genuine principal–agent one in which you control the mailing; USPS’s approved examples use fixed, market-rate fees. Keep your contracts: USPS can request every agreement tied to the mailing, and failing to provide them can cost you nonprofit prices and your authorization.
The fundraising exception
Since 2003, fundraising appeals that meet all three conditions below are exempt from the cooperative mail rule:
- It asks only for monetary donations to the authorized nonprofit.
- It does not promote or facilitate the sale or lease of any goods or services.
- The nonprofit receives each donor’s name, contact details and gift amount, or waives that list in writing.
The exception lifts only the cooperative rule; the content rules above still apply.
Physical co-mailing
Mail service providers often merge pieces from several mailers onto shared pallets or into one presort to reach finer sort levels and deeper discounts. This is mail preparation, not a cooperative mailing, and DMM 705 sets the conditions:
- The provider needs USPS approval. Copalletized and combined mailings generally require written authorization from USPS Business Acceptance Solutions, requested at least 30 days before the first mailing, with postage statements and documentation sent electronically.
- Each mailing keeps its own records. The provider must track every original mailing on a shared pallet in its electronic data. For copalletized letters, the portion entered at origin and the portion sent to the consolidator each get their own postage statement.
- Nonprofit pieces must qualify on their own. In combined mailings, nonprofit postage may appear only on pieces eligible for and claimed at nonprofit prices, so every test above still applies to your pieces.
Before you sign on, ask your provider to confirm its authorization and show how your nonprofit pieces will appear on the postage statements.
How do you keep nonprofit mailings compliant? A checklist
If USPS finds a mailing ineligible after the fact, it can bill your organization — or whoever entered the mail — the difference between nonprofit and regular prices. Check each mailing against this list:
- The mailing is at least 200 addressed pieces or 50 pounds, prepared as Presorted USPS Marketing Mail.
- Every enclosed item is low-cost, donated, or your own qualifying periodical.
- No credit-card offers from unauthorized partners; insurance and travel offers meet the restricted-ad conditions; other ads are substantially related to your purpose, or the piece meets the periodical content rules.
- No unauthorized partner shares cost, risk or revenue, unless the piece fits the fundraising exception.
- Vendor contracts are on file and show that you control the mailing.
- Your organization’s name and return address appear on the piece, your national authorization number is on the postage statement, and the signer knows they are certifying eligibility.
- You have made at least one nonprofit mailing in the past two years.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need 501(c)(3) status to use nonprofit postage?
No. USPS does not require an IRS tax exemption, but a 501(c)(3), (c)(5), (c)(8) or (c)(19) exemption in the matching category is treated as qualifying unless other evidence disqualifies the organization.
How long does nonprofit postage authorization take?
With complete documentation, USPS usually approves PS Form 3624 in about two weeks. There is no filing fee.
Can you mail at nonprofit rates before approval?
No. Pay regular USPS Marketing Mail prices through a postage deposit account; if approved, USPS refunds the difference for mailings made on or after the effective date. First-Class Mail postage is not refunded.
Can a printer or mail house mail under its own permit?
Yes, if it acts as the nonprofit’s agent in a genuine principal–agent relationship where the nonprofit controls the mailing.
Can a nonprofit mailing include a credit card offer?
Not if the card is provided by, or through an arrangement with, an organization not authorized at nonprofit prices. That covers bank-issued affinity cards.
What is the low-cost item limit for 2026?
$13.90. The limit is adjusted for inflation every January.
Can nonprofit mail be co-mailed with commercial mail?
Yes. An authorized mail service provider can combine or copalletize nonprofit and commercial pieces, but each nonprofit piece must qualify on its own and be claimed at nonprofit prices separately.
Where can you get official answers?
Official references for eligibility questions:
- Publication 417 — the Postal Service’s plain-language guide to eligibility, authorization, cooperative mailings and content rules, with case studies and past rulings.
- Domestic Mail Manual, section 703 — the binding standards for nonprofit eligibility, updated more often than Publication 417.
- Pricing and Classification Service Center — the New York office that decides applications and answers eligibility questions.
Planning a nonprofit mailing? Talk to our print and mail team about list preparation, presort and getting your pieces ready for nonprofit rates.
