This article originally appeared in Canadian FundRaiser.

Clip and tape this checklist someplace you can see it- every time you prepare a mailing project. Will it bullet-proof you against every contingency? Probably not. But – it helps us maintain a 98% on-deadline/on-budget record with our clients.

  1. Always give your service provider at least five days advance notice of a project. Haste makes waste.
  2. Nothing beats written instructions. Put what you want on paper, and make special note of any exceptions in your project. (Doing this will also help you organize your project.)
  3. Give your project a name, so your service provider can prepare a job docket using that name, and so that everyone can be sure they’re talking about the same thing.
  4. For the same reason, give every insert and mailer its own reference name. TIP: use the codes, headlines or titles that are actually printed on the material, and use the codes in your written instructions.
  5. Once you pick your names, insist that print and envelope suppliers use the same names on their packing slips. This helps everyone match up jobs and material.
  6. Make sure your print and envelope suppliers prepare packing slips and itemize each piece on the packing slip. This helps alert your mail service provider to print/envelope shortfalls.
  7. Always, always, note which materials are English, French or Bilingual.
  8. Stop printing your own labels. It no longer saves money. Instead, send data files to your supplier. TIP: save on courier costs by Emailing those files.
  9. Name data files clearly. (Include those file names in your written instructions.)
  10. Provide a detailed outline of all data fields – field sizes and descriptions.

Active in the Direct Marketing and Distribution marketplace for over 25 years, in 1979 Annabelle Wood launched Wood & Associates Direct Marketing Services Ltd, a data, communications and mail fulfillment company. Its services include order and donation intake by mail, fax and eMail, banking and credit card processing, questionnaires, rebate programs, proof of purchase processing, data capture, manipulation and reporting, design and maintenance of donor, membership & customer databases, mail preparation, data & lettershop services, product and literature fulfillment and distribution. For more information call 416-293-2511, Fax: 416-293-2594, or eMail: awood@.wood-and-associates.com.