CASS certified software

Our postoffice is going to require us to use a CASS certified software program for our bulk mailings. Unfortunately, the one that was suggested costs $1500 and $900 a year for updates every 2 months. What software are other non-profits using and are you happy with the results? any and all suggestions will be deeply appreciated.

I've used http://www.semaphorecorp.com/ 

you need to be ok working with database files and converting from your data base to the format that the software uses.  It is not drag and drop, but it is designed for an IT person to use, and possibly integrate into a larger system.

The good news is it's about $130 for a three month license

Dave

We have been using BMWinPlus for about 4 years and are very happy with it. It costs about $400 per year for the license($100) plus the post office mandated quarterly update discs($300). This includes the shipping on the update DVDs. The program itself includes free unlimited updates.

Also, you proably need to be using some address update service if you aren't already. We have been using a NCOA that costs us about $30 per batch (up to 10,000).

If the costs seem too high, I would suggest running the numbers again using $0.44 for First Class versus the about $0.16 for bulk mail. If you are doing any significant amount of mailings, the software easily pays for itself in postage savings.