Learn to Process Hard Copy Mail Efficiently

One of the surprisingly intimidating pieces of running a non-profit is the processing of the good ol' hard copy daily mail. It arrives every weekday and is filled with a combination of payments, bills, correspondence, miscellaneous, and junk.

Let it go too long, and it can feel like a mountain of unopened envelopes. Open everything all at once and it can feel like a hot mess. Add in the specific policies of individual non-profits for mail logs, forwarding items for processing, or segregation of duties, and it can eat up a giant chunk of the workday.

There are 5 basic factors when dealing with the mail: policy, pick-up, storage, hands-on, and next steps.

Policy

The brutal truth is, if your non-profit has a policy on how to handle the mail, that policy needs to be followed. No questions. That doesn’t mean the policy can’t be evaluated and revised if there is a need for efficiency. Until that happens, policy was created and must be followed.

For the sake of the rest of this post, let’s presume you are thinking about creating or revising your mail handling policy. The next 4 items are what you’ll need.

Pick-Up

Hard copy mail very often contains information that is a high risk for theft. From cash to credit card numbers, to personal data, it is important to plan for who handles the pick-up of the mail from the box, who transports it to the office, and the hours in which that happens. In a small non-profit, it is very common for the same person to handle every pick-up. If there is the option for different people to pick-up the mail, thought needs to be given to who should have that kind of access.

Pick-up should happen during regular business hours, so hard copy mail doesn’t sit overnight in an employee’s car, or accidentally get lost or mixed in with personal mail. Pick-ups during working hours will mean the mail gets back to the office within a designated time and can be processed or safely stored.

The ‘mailbox’ can mean many things. It can mean the box on the outside of the building, the mail slot beside the front door, the box at the local post office, the box at a community mail station, or the cubbies behind the receptionist’s desk.

Storage

As mail comes in, decide where it will be stored until the designated time/day it will be opened. Consider a locked file cabinet, or locked office drawer, to reduce the theft risk of cash, credit card numbers, and personal data. As hard copy mail comes in, it is OK to remove obvious junk mail like flyers and store the rest in the locked location, but if that makes you nervous, keep everything, flyers, and all.

It isn’t necessary to process hard copy mail the minute it arrives in the office. If the hard copy mail is safely stored until the designated time/day, it can wait, allowing office staff to fit mail processing into their work schedules, not their work schedules into mail arrival time.

Hands-On

Designate a set time daily or weekly (minimum) to open hard copy mail. When the date/time arrives, all the hard copy mail should be brought out for processing. It makes no difference if you sort by envelope size, or the order the mail arrived, choose what works best for you. This is the point when each piece of mail gets individual, hands-on attention.

Open each item and start to sort. Flatten out folded documents and clip together each package. For example, if someone mails in a payment and includes a note, clip the payment, note, and maybe even the envelope, together for the next step. This is a good time to add a date received stamp to everything, if you choose.

Sort the hard copy mail into groupings of receivables (money coming in), payables (bills to pay), correspondence, miscellaneous, and junk (adding other groupings, e.g., donations, as needed). If your non-profit uses a correspondence log, this is the step where the details would be recorded.

While cash is rarely mailed through the postal service, a non-profit might receive cash through a locked drop box or building mail slot. A word of caution when opening mail that contains cash. Cash is high risk for theft. Talk to your auditor, or a fellow non-profit, for suggestions on how to handle receiving cash using a process that is in line with the size and limitations of your non-profit.

Next Steps

Once all the mail has been opened, move on to handling each group, one at a time, using your standard operating policy or procedure.

I like to process the receivables group first. I work my way through each item, adding cover pages, photocopies of cheques, and receipts (if completed at this step), then get everything tucked away into a locked file cabinet for the next deposit.

Then I move on to process the payable (bills) group. Again, I create cover pages for all bills, and move everything to the designated location for the next payment date.

After receivables and payables are handled, I go through correspondence and miscellaneous, adding any needed cover pages or notes, for whomever will handle the next step – even if that person is me!

Usually, I have weeded out the junk mail well before, but on occasion something sneaks in, and is handled at the end.

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Outlining the steps for hard copy mail processing serves 3 purposes.

1. Mail coming in, be it from the drop box at the front door or the local post office, will be received and processed with accuracy and efficiency. Mistakes and missing details will be fewer.
2. The components of hard copy mail handling can easily be turned into an operations policy. That means the task can be transferred from employee to employee, as needed, knowing that important details won’t be missed. This is especially helpful when assigning the task to a summer student.
3. These components are also the starting point for clarity for the person who will later process accounts receivable, accounts payable, and correspondence. Remember, while a small non-profit might have the same person handling the mail and the payments and the deposits, it will rarely all happen all at the same time. Creating tiny packages (cover page, item, notes, date stamp, envelope, etc.) for each piece of mail will provide the information the next person will need to efficiently do a deposit, issue a receipt, make a payment, or reply to correspondence.

The easiest way to set-up a system for hard copy mail handling is to begin by observing your current processes. The next time the mail arrives, take a moment to think about how you handle each item. Next, try out the steps listed, and see how they might change the way you were previously thinking about the mail.

Finally, write out the steps that are a combination of the best fit for your non-profit, are good risk management, and provide clarity for the next person who receives each package. This will be your mail handling policy.

When a non-profit needs a little more organization for mail handling, a clear set-by-step policy will ensure accuracy and efficiency. Thanks for taking the time to read my ideas. My mission is to take the mystery out of running a small non-profit. If you know someone who needs to read this, why not grab the link, and share it with them. Let’s work together to make small non-profits efficient and organized.

-Christie

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Hi, I'm Christie Saas, former board member, current Executive Director, and non-profit volunteer. I remember well, those early years when I lacked the training, the confidence, and the work-life balance to focus on becoming the best non-profit leader I could be.

Fast-forward past many bumps in the road, lessons learned, and you’ll find me still in the trenches, but a little wiser, a little calmer, and a whole lot happier. I love my work and I want to help you love yours too.

I created ChristieSaas.com to give you tools, tips, and templates to remove the mystery of learning to run a small non-profit. If you’re a brand-new non-profit leader, or a little more seasoned, someone who’s looking to make a meaningful contribution and still have time for a full life away from the job, you’re in the right place.

© Christie Saas 2022 All Rights Reserved

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