Is Your Charity Using E-mail Lists Correctly?

By Michael Robinson

Personal privacy on the Internet is an area of growing concern. With hackers breaking into websites, new viruses being created at the rate of over 1,000 a day, and spammers sending out millions of unsolicited e-mails, responsible use of the Internet by both individuals and organizations is gaining increased attention. As charities begin augmenting their fundraising efforts by moving into cyberspace, they should be aware of the benefits and current ethical practices regarding the use of their lists.

Some of the benefits...

E-mail can serve as an efficient means for a charity to communicate with members, donors, and volunteers about upcoming events, legislative alerts, news stories, crises, and other relevant topics. Charitable organizations can keep donors and other interested parties informed of current issues almost instantaneously. Thank You notes for donations may be sent by e-mail. Recipients can be directed back to the charity's website when it is updated and new information can be viewed. The list of benefits is almost endless.

Charities should begin collecting e-mail addresses from both their direct mail campaigns and from their websites, if they haven't already started. They should start communicating with interested parties, even if the e-mail list isn't long. There is no reason to delay keeping people up to date. But as charities begin collecting and using e-mail lists, they should be mindful that responsible use of their lists is not only smart, but also beneficial. By not offending recipients, charities can avoid driving away potential donors and volunteers (and avoid potential legal trouble down the road).

Some of the responsibilities...

What is "responsible" in the use of e-mail has not been clearly defined. There is currently a minimal amount of legislation in place on the topic, but much is proposed. In an attempt to self-regulate commercial e-mail and quiet the privacy advocates, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the Association for Interactive Media (AIM) are beginning to take proactive measures. For example, AIM's Council for Responsible E-Mail met in February and approved six resolutions regarding the use of commercial e-mail. The resolutions passed by AIM are a first step in addressing e-mail privacy issues. But the resolutions have been subject to both praise and criticism. Some feel the measures are great advances in the area, while others feel the resolutions are not strict enough.

Here is a summary of the resolutions passed by AIM's Council:

• Return addresses on e-mails or IP addresses may not be falsified.
• Subject headings on e-mails may not be purposely falsified or misleading.
• Bulk e-mails must include either an option for the recipients to be removed from the mailing list or valid and responsive contact information about the sender/list owner.
• At the time of online collection of e-mail addresses, an organization must disclose how the e-mail address will be used.
• E-mail addresses may not be harvested with the intention of selling them without the knowledge or consent of the addressees.
• Prior business or personal relationships needs to exist before sending bulk, unsolicited e-mails; this may include third-party permission use or proven offline contact.

The debate on how to ethically use e-mail addresses and respect privacy is far from over, but charities shouldn't be afraid to immediately begin using this effective medium to foster good relations with their donors and other interested parties.

Michael Robinson is the IT/Research Administrator at Creative Direct Response.  Responses to this article can be sent to him directly at mrobinson@cdr-cdmi.com.

May 2002

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