Send Promotion Snail Mail to Congratulate Your Colleagues
One of the traditions I started during the pandemic was sending promotion snail mail to colleagues of mine who got promoted that year. Working for a large corporation, there’s always a few people on my team each year who work their way up through the ranks. And as a snail mail fan I figured there’s no better way to celebrate than with some in-real-life celebratory mail. Who doesn’t love getting mail?
Each year, I wait for the promotion list to come out and I cross reference it to my list of team members, my networking list, and search by office and market offering to track down all of the folks I know that have gotten promotions. For the folks who are acquaintances, I send them personalized emails. For the folks who I know a little better and/or are on my direct team, I always shoot them an email saying CONGRATULATIONS, I’d love to send you some snail mail if you’re willing to share your mailing address.
I love having the opportunity to connect with my colleagues like this. I feel like a lot of conversations during the regular work weeks move so quickly that all you have time for is constructive criticism to improve deliverables to get them out the door by a client deadline. Sure, I check in to make sure they realize I appreciate the work they’re doing, but there’s nothing quite like getting a personalized card that focuses just on the positive aspects of you and your career.
2020 Promotion Packages
2020 was the first year I did this. 2020 was also the year that we all had more time around the house than we knew what to do with. I perused my house to see what I already owned, bought a few extra items, and put together the following personalized packages for the promotes:
2021 Promotion Packages
In 2021, with a year under my belt I decided to focus more on the cards themselves this year, but still filled the packages with paper goodies.
2022 Promotion Packages
I felt like I had my process down this year. I learned a lot from the other years and decided to stick with a color theme that was bright & minimal. And yes, I did cut out all of those letters to spell YAY individually. And no, I was not going to cut out the center of the A, that’s just a time suck.
Fun fact, the paper I used this year was actually the paper that I bought to put behind my in-office desk at this same job nearly a decade ago to decorate. It feels like it got the opportunity to come full circle.
Putting together the packages
I’ve learned that I definitely want the focus of the package to be the card. I think that it’s the most impactful and meaningful part as opposed to all the stuff. I also try to come up with items that are all flat so that they can fit easily in an envelope and be sent via the regular USPS mail.
In order to be sent with a regular “forever” stamp, it needs to be between 3.5” and 6.125” tall, between 5” and 11.5” long, and between 0.007” and 0.25” thick. There’s actually a lot of wiggle room in there. That means you can send mail that is 6.125” x 11.5” x .25” with just a regular forever stamp so long as it weighs under an ounce. It also cannot be square or rigid in shape (because this would make it non-machinable and costs extra). For an additional ounce, there is a specific additional ounce stamp. Don’t use two forever stamps, you will be wasting money.
I review my 15 Gifts That Fit In An Envelope post each year and come up with my list of items to send. Every year I debate buying tattoos. I also always wish that everyone lived in the same state so that I could buy lottery tickets. I’m really excited about buying the literal gold stars for the 2022 packages though, who doesn’t love getting a literal gold star?
My tried and true item that I love to include are the Compendium Thoughtful Pop-Open cards. I received my first one in the mail a long time ago from a friend and absolutely loved it. Since then I’ve bought hundreds more to share with people over the years. (No, this post is not sponsored, but they have sponsored blog posts in the past.) It’s only $8 for 30 adorable little pop open cards and they come in all different life themes.
I also batch process the packages. I write all of the envelopes out ahead of time. Then I create all of the cards at the same time, completing all of step one, then all of step two, all the way to the end. Then I individually write each of the cards out. And finally I create all of the packages by spreading items out across the entire floor. This part always feels like putting goodie bags together, which was one of my favorite party prep steps as a kid. It’s so gratifying to do something so repetitive resulting in such pretty packages.
Once the envelopes are together, I always try to decorate the front a little bit with stickers, stamps, or washi tape. Fun fact - when I was a kid I used to send my grandfather mail that was covered in stickers. And his mailman delivers his mail by hand to the front door each day. So his mailman always got a good chuckle when an overly decorated piece would arrive.
Lessons learned in putting together the packages
I’ve had a lot of fun putting these packages together through the years, but there’s definitely a few lessons learned.
Wait to put the stamps on the envelopes until you know how much the envelope is going to weigh. This can save you time, frustration, and money. There are times that I’m sure that things are going to cost an extra ounce, but they don’t.
How do you know how much the package is going to weigh? Buy a scale. This is one of my favorite electronics that I own. While mine is no longer available, this one on Amazon has good reviews and should get the job done. It goes down to 0.1 ounce increments, which not all food scales do. Because you should put the stamps on the envelope while the envelope is not yet stuffed full of items, I recommend just stacking everything you plan to put in the package on the scale individually to see how much it weighs ahead of time. Don’t forget to put the envelope on the scale!
Once you know how much the package weighs, you can use the USPS shipping calculator to calculate how much it will cost to send. If it’s under an ounce and meetings the letter specifications, you know it’s only one forever stamp. If it’s under two ounces, you know that it is a forever stamp plus an additional ounce stamp. Beyond that, I recommend using the calculator. You will also definitely need to use the calculator when you are sending things internationally. Sending a 2-ounce package to Canada from the United States costs significantly different (relatively speaking) than sending a 2-ounce package to India.
Tape things down in the envelope to avoid overlap. The first year that I sent packages out, everything in the envelope could slide around. This was bad because it meant that parts of the package could end up being more than 0.25” thick. Some of the packages even came back to me. The second year I sent two tea bags, I decided to tape them down to a single piece of paper so that they couldn’t overlap each other. This helped a lot!
Speaking of taping things down, use some extra hold to close this package when sending it. I’m not sure about y’all, but in recent years I have found that envelopes just don’t have the same hold they once used to. Maybe mine are old or haven’t been stored properly, but I find that using a glue stick or washi tape on the outside of the envelope makes me feel more better that the package will arrive in one piece as intended.
Remember that everything is post office dependent. As I mentioned, the first year when I sent extra full packages some of the packages came back to me, but not all. One specifically had made it all the way to the final destination post office and they handwrote a note to me and sent it back. The year I decided to send Mix CDs for Christmas I took them all to the post office to send them and they told me they were going to need to send them as packages because they were rigid (which I didn’t believe, CDs are actually kind of flexible). I decided to try sending them from a city mailbox instead of the post office and they were all mailed no problem. I checked in with friends and none of them were broken either. (After all, those AOL discs had to get to us somehow in the 90s, right?) How you decide to classify something that you are sending and the amount of postage you are putting on it is really all just a game of how much risk you’re willing to take on.
In past years folks have reached out to me upon receiving their packages saying how thoughtful they were and how much the notes inside of them made their day. While I don’t receive messages from everybody, even from one or two people always makes it worth it for me. I’d highly recommend considering sending snail mail packages to your colleagues on their promotion years. It’s an excellent way to continue to grow your relationship and a good opportunity to step away from your electronics and put something together with your hands.
Happy sending!
