Arbor Day Foundation

The Opportunity – The Arbor Day foundation is a nonprofit conservation and education organization committed to actively promoting and encouraging environmental stewardship. The incoming mail stream at Arbor Day is highly complex, including payments in the form of checks, credit cards, and cash for about 45 different program types. Coupons can include surveys, premium checkboxes, and address changes, as well as membership numbers and campaign numbers. Daily volumes that fluctuate between a few thousand pieces and up to 100,000 pieces during peak seasons make personnel management a major issue. A manual system was in place for extracting, categorizing, and sorting the incoming mail,for extracting payment and donor information from the documents, and for entering the information into donor databases. The dedicated staff at Arbor Day had achieved as much efficiency as possible with a manual operation, but they were ready to use automation to move to the next level.

The Solution – Mavro carefully evaluated Arbor Day’s needs and designed a system to address the unique challenges. Three Opex AS7200i scanners provide the flexibility to extract and scan all incoming mail, regardless of the daily volume fluctuations. MavBridge™ software categorizes the transactions, extracts member, payment, premium, and survey information, and interfaces seamlessly with the Arbor Day donor databases. Mavro’s unique “Virtual Batching” technology means that payments from high priority donors can be grouped together and directed to the most proficient operators for the quickest possible processing. The Mavro implementation team used its extensive industry experience to suggest practical changes in coupon design, including the addition of a 2D barcode, to ensure high read rates despite coupon complexity.

The Results – Arbor Day can now process even the highest daily volumes within target time frames and with predictable personnel requirements. An electronic Check 21 file is ready for bank deposit at the end of each day, and Arbor Day is now positioned for PCI compliance. With the new system in place, Arbor Day has reduced total processing steps by 60% and manual handling by 90%. Finally, the industry-leading MavBridge™ Productivity Suite with Smart Track™ physical check tracking gives Arbor Day an ability to monitor all processing aspects in real time, allowing more accurate reporting and easier problem solving.

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