When thinking of selling to the government, most people jump to the conclusion that federal government agencies are the big opportunity. An MCH analysis, however, demonstrated that for direct marketers the conventional wisdom is wrong. It turns out that city and county governments generate more spending for catalogers and other direct marketers.

The recent economic downturn has created extremely unusual marketing conditions. On one hand, news accounts are filled with stories of budget concerns at every level of government. On the other hand, the Obama administration’s ARRA economic stimulus package of 2009 is pushing nearly $300 billion dollars through institutional channels, with more of it being spent in 2010 than was spent in 2009.

The money was pushed through existing funding channels for local agencies to spend within certain guidelines. As a result, a city may be laying off sanitation workers and traffic cops, but be preparing to launch multi-million dollar projects for energy efficiency, educational programs, or health initiatives. Companies that offer products or services that align with the funding priorities in the ARRA programs need to be selling aggressively to the appropriate local officials.

In states where the economic crisis has been less severe, economic stimulus money has actually been a windfall, allowing for programs and projects to be expanded. Many local government agencies in these areas are stockpiling a substantial portion of the stimulus funding available to them. But, those funds must be spent before “use it or lose it” deadlines that will occur later in 2010 and 2011.

There is still plenty of money to spend across a wide band of plains and mountain states that runs from Texas to Alaska. We have published a special BudgetAware™ Bulletin report that outlines the current outlook for regional institutional funding trends. The report is available for free download. MCH can help you target the local government funding that is targeted to your offers. Contact your MCH representative today at 1-800-776-6373.

Next steps:

• Request a consultation and quote from MCH.
• Download or read our White Paper: The Local Government Marketplace for Direct Marketers.