Sending post and packages for an association, school, or team
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
A club or school sends out mail a few times a year, but improvises the process each time. Here’s how you can determine what envelopes, boxes, and tape you need, in what quantities, and what the cost per item is.
On the secretary's kitchen table lie 80 letters for the members' meeting, a stack of envelopes from the supermarket, and a roll of tape that tears halfway through. Two hours later, the stack is out the door, but twelve envelopes have been ruined, and no one knows what it cost. This pattern repeats itself in thousands of associations, schools, choirs, and sports clubs: sending mail is not a core activity, so it's improvised every time.
It doesn't have to be this way. A club that sends out something a few times a year — an invitation, a club magazine, ordered shirts, a thank-you note to sponsors — only needs a small, fixed package of materials. Below, we'll explain how to determine what that package is and what it costs per item.
Start by counting, not by ordering
Before adding anything to a shopping cart, write down three numbers:
How many addresses are in your member database or sponsor list?
How many times a year do you send something to that entire list? Twice, or ten times?
What goes inside — loose sheets of paper, a booklet, or something with thickness like a keychain, a pin, or a T-shirt?
An association with 120 members that sends something out twice a year uses 240 envelopes. In that case, a pack of 500 is a two-year supply and not overkill. A school that sends something monthly will quickly go through 1,000 items. These two situations require different purchasing strategies, and that difference is exactly where things usually go wrong: either too little is bought at a high price per item, or too much for something that happens only once.
Envelope or box? Look at thickness, not weight
Most people choose based on intuition. It's more useful to use a simple rule: as long as the contents are flat and bendable, they can go in an envelope. As soon as there's something inside that doesn't fold, you'll want a box.
For flat printed matter, the standard C-series works. An A4 sheet folded once becomes A5 (210 × 148 mm) and fits into a C5 envelope of 162 × 229 mm. Folded twice, it becomes A6 (105 × 148 mm) and fits into a C6 of 114 × 162 mm. If you don't want to fold — which is neater for a program or certificate — you need an envelope that accommodates the entire A4 sheet.
Note the difference in price per item. Those 500 white envelopes cost €3.00 — that's €0.006 per envelope. The C6 package of 50 pieces costs €4.00, or €0.08 per piece: thirteen times as much. For a one-time mailing of thirty letters, that makes no difference. For a club that sends something out every quarter, it does.
Both are deliberately kept shallow: letterbox mailings have a maximum thickness allowed by carriers, and a letterbox box is designed precisely for that. Always check the current sizes and rates with the carrier you use, as these can change.
Larger shipments: shirts, materials and items to another location
Associations don't just send mail. Kits go to an away game, stage props to another hall, or a box of materials to a board member. For this, a regular sturdy box works: the Action Moving Box 480 × 430 × 330 mm, 50 liters costs €3.50 and is large enough for a complete set of shirts.
Number your shipments. Stick a colored sticker per destination on each box or envelope. A roll of Price Stickers for Price Gun - 6 colors - 500 pieces costs €2.95 and works great as a color code for "team 1", "team 2", "sponsors".
Seal valuable items. If contribution slips, lottery tickets, or passes are included, a Security Seal Sticker VOID (60 pieces, €9.95) shows whether someone has opened the shipment en route.
Don't staple through the fold. A staple in a folded letter will tear the envelope from the inside. If you want to keep sheets together, staple them in the corner — a box of Staples 3000 pieces costs €2.60.
Store inventory in one place. Not at the treasurer's home and partly in the clubhouse. One cabinet, one person who keeps track of what's run out.
What does it actually cost?
Calculate it once, and you'll never have to estimate again. A mailing of 120 letters in large envelopes: 120 × €0.006 = approximately €0.72 for envelopes. The same 120 shipments as letterbox boxes: 120 × €0.18 = €21.60. Then there's postage, which is almost always the largest part of the bill for any club. That's precisely why asking "can this also be flat?" is almost always the cheapest question you can ask.
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