Canning SPAM Right Now

Although much of the recent legislation regarding email concerns for-profit businesses, nonprofits would do well to be aware of these regulations, as well as of other considerations.

Senny Boone, executive director of the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation, offers a checklist to follow for email communication:

• If you send a commercial email make sure to communicate that the email is an "offer" to the recipient.
• Provide a valid postal address.
• Provide an honest subject line.
• Provide an Internet-based removal system that is easy to use.
• If you are using a service provider, have a written procedure and a contract.
• If a recipient removes him/herself from a marketing list via an email service provider, that address does not have to be removed from all future campaigns.
• There should be no surreptitious acquisition of email addresses via automated mechanism without the consumer's awareness.
• The FROM line should not be ambiguous and should be a valid email return address.
• "Remove" means remove.
• Lists must not be sold or provided to unrelated third parties unless the owner of the list has provided notice and the ability to be removed.
• A commercial email should contain the sender's privacy policy, either within the email or via a link.