Enclosing postage when contacting a community by mail?

[Lady Grey, Hot]

I am writing a letter of inquiry to a contemplative order. If I am expecting a reply, is it a given that I should enclose stamps? Or, if it is not a given, how would it come off? Would it be a nice gesture? Would it be tacky? I'm not sure of the etiquette here in this day and age. (I ask partly because the last time I wrote to a community, their reply came with insufficient postage and I had to pay the postman the difference anyway, so I am wondering if it would just be less awkward to eliminate the middle man.)

I'm in the States, if that makes any difference.

[Tessa]

It's a really nice gesture and sometimes friends from abroad send me stamps as gifts (like birthday/Christmas) because we do old fashioned snail mail at times. This, however, is from my friends! And I know them and it's sweet. Like, there's no pressure.

I think I wouldn't do it for an inquiry, especially not a first one. I think if the correspondence became regular or often, you could offer in the next letter like "Would it of help to you if I enclosed stamps for return mail?! Just let me know" or something. The order must have ways and means of doing their vocation work.

I don't have personal experience of this, so others might have more precise and good advice, but my dear friend is a cloistered nun and would never expect return postage to be included in letters to her_ even when strangers write her.

[Hannie_f]

Sometimes communities will use mail that is franked as they may be mailing home lots of letters anyway, so they might not even be using stamps often! You'll see when they reply. But I think there would be nothing wrong in mailing stamps if you were writing a lot and they were using stamps in reply. In the UK right now we are getting new stamps and have a few months to use them all up so I mailed a couple of books I had that I wasn't going to be able to use up as much as a community of thirty would be able to in that time! I have friends I snail mail with and if myself or them are going to be a long distance away (ie abroad) its always nice to include the postage them if its really pricey! Is the community in the States same as you? If not then postage might be a nice gesture, if it is you can wait and play it by ear with later letters! 

ps franking is a kind of pre-paid postage printed on the corner, I don't know if you do that over the pond! 

[DisplayNameBlock]

I don't think it's tacky, I think it's nice!  I am not Catholic or discerning but (long story) last year sent a bunch of snail mail to contemplative orders and those who wrote back (which was most) did so without my having included postage.  Although now I'm kind of kicking myself for not having been as courteous as you. 😆