"The Spring 1997 Chapter Networker included Holly Peirson's report that St. Paul AS had been fined for mailing a newsletter containing an article promoting a for-profit organization. Upon reading that, I called my U.S. Postal Service Business Center; they said that no new rules had gone into effect since Oct. 1, 1995, when legislation passed by Congress hit us. There's a free 72-page book entitled 'Nonprofit Standard Mail Eligibility,' which is USPS Publication 417 (last rev. Oct. 1996, available from any post office), that explains the convoluted content-based restrictions to mail a newsletter Bulk-rate.

The basics are: Ads for credit cards are prohibited; ads for insurance policies and travel are too, unless for something specially designed for chapter members and unless the travel is related to the nonprofit group's purpose. Also, all ads for anything not 'substantially related' to that same purpose are prohibited unless appearing in a 'periodical publication' (defined in USPS Pub. 417). Promoting something in an article is equivalent to paid advertising.

In our newsletter, the issue date and number appear on the first page, so the identification statement just reads as follows: 'South Shore Skimmer is published monthly from Sept. through Dec. and Feb. through June by South Shore Audubon Society, P.O. Box 31, Freeport, NY 11520-0031.'

I've been newsletter editor for South Shore AS (Freeport, NY) since 1990. We continue to have two paid ads in almost all issues of our 'periodical publication,' and have not had any problems mailing at nonprofit rates; one ad is from a for-profit bird feeder store."

For More Info, Contact: Your local Postmaster, or Michael Sperling, 97 N Pine St.; N Massapequa, NY 11758-2607; email: mssperling@compuserve.com.