Transactional Emails vs. Promotional Email Campaigns—Understanding the FTC's CAN-SPAM Act
The FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act sets the rules and requirements for commercial and promotional email usage—in particular, requiring that recipients have an option to unsubscribe from mailing lists. If you're working with MonkeyPod's email templates, it's helpful to understand which type of message you'll be sending, so you know whether the CAN-SPAM Act applies and an unsubscribe link is required.
Don't worry! MonkeyPod's alerts and default templates will help to keep you on track. This article is intended just to help clarify why you might see an alert about a missing unsubscribe link in your templates, and when it matters.
Transactional emails
Transactional emails are individual messages triggered by a user’s interaction with your organization, such as:
- Donation or sales receipts
- Membership confirmations or renewals
- Invoice payment reminders
In MonkeyPod, in most cases these messages are generated automatically when a supporter completes an action such as making a donation. Sometimes, you have the ability to customize those messages, such as with membership renewal reminders.
Whether they are generated automatically by MonkeyPod or customized by you, these emails are not promotional—they are considered necessary for fulfilling a transaction or relationship and do not require an unsubscribe option under the CAN-SPAM Act.
Email campaigns with commercial or promotional content
Email campaigns are mass communications (like a bulk mailing or a drip campaign) sent to a group of recipients. In MonkeyPod, these campaigns are managed using the Email Outreach features, and are typically used for purposes like:
- Announcing an upcoming event
- Promoting a fundraising campaign
- Sharing a newsletter or update
Because these emails are commercial or promotional in nature, they must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. This means, among other things, the messages must include:
- An unsubscribe option: Fortunately, all of MonkeyPod's default mail templates used for email campaigns automatically include an unsubscribe link to help you stay compliant!
- Your organization’s physical mailing address: Be sure to add that in the footer of your email templates.
Visit the FTC CAN-SPAM Act for full compliance details.