What exactly is NCOA?
Getting your message home
NCOA stands for "National Change of Address". Every day individuals and businesses move to a new address. When people move, they may not necessarily advise you of their new address. However, 70% of them advise Canada Post Corporation ("CPC") of their new address through the use of a Change of Address Notification Form. The "movers" actually pay a fee to have their mail forwarded to the new address for a period of 6 months. CPC provides monthly updates and maintains these changes for a period of 3 years. There are currently approximately 5 million records in the NCOA database.
What is the benefit?
Bob doesn't live here anymore!
Every year, 16% to 18% of Canadians move. Depending on the type of database you maintain, this could mean that up to 1 ½ % of your list could be affected every month. Through regular use of NCOA, you can ensure that your database is current and up to date helping you preserve the integrity of your database.
As much as 10% of your last mailing ended up in the garbage unopened because the recipients moved. This means that 10% of your last mailing budget might have been wasted. This does not take into consideration the cost of losing a client or donor, or to ensure timely communication with them. NCOA can also help you eliminate duplicates, saving you even more money.
What does it cost?
The charges for NCOA will vary depending on the type of database you maintain as well as what other "servicing" needs to be performed on your database. At Watt Solutions, we can ensure that you get maximum benefit from NCOA, by preprocessing your file through a variety of optional services such as duplicate elimination, standardizing formats, address validation and correction, and much more.
For more information, call one of our Direct Marketing Consultants who will be able to provide you with specific details.
