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Mass Email Guidelines

At , senders of mass email need to be aware of the policies governing the use of email and federal regulations regarding spam. This document is intended to provide clear guidelines and best practices for the use of mass email. Requests for access to our mass email system will not be granted until you have read and agree to comply with these guidelines. is available to assist you in the proper use of mass email and email marketing best practices.

Policies Regarding Email

policies regarding email are in place to protect our network and email system and the email addresses of our constituents. are required to adhere to the standards set out in our policies. The following sections of our policies are particularly relevant to the use of mass email.

Responsible Use Policy

The following excerpts from this policy provide clarification regarding the use of email.

The following activities specific to mass email use are prohibited:

• Spoofing sender addressing, that is, forging the identity of a user or machine in an electronic communication.

• Failing to comply with a request to stop e-mailing someone or to take them off a distribution list.

• Creating or forwarding chain letters.

• Initiating or facilitating in any way mass electronic mailing (e.g., "spamming," "flooding" or "bombing") except for purposes of conducting Society business, and then only with the advice and consent of regarding when and how to send the mail

• Using systems or content for personal gain, for commercial purposes or for partisan political purposes; for example, selling access to member email addresses or to systems or networks; performing work for profit with resources in a manner not authorized by ; or using electronic mail to circulate advertising for products.

• Saturating network or computer resources to the exclusion of another's use, for example, overloading the network with either legitimate (file backup, archiving, bulletin boards, synchronous chat sessions) or malicious (denial of service attack) activities.

Web Privacy Policy

Excerpts from this policy provide clarification regarding sharing address lists with outside sponsors and vendors. Information Collection and Use: The will not sell or license the information to others. may occasionally share information with affiliates and/or colleagues, but only in support of the purpose for which it has been collected (i.e., conference registration information recorded from an online form may be shared with other sponsoring museums for the purposes of coordinating conference events, etc.).

may occasionally partner with another party to provide specific services (e.g., an application service provider, or ASP). At the point of signing on for these services, will share names, or other contact information that is necessary for the third party to provide these services. informs these parties that they are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.

Compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act

The CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) lays the foundation for a clear differentiation of “spammers” from permission-based email distributors. Since we all share in our email address, it is important that each mass email follows the regulations of this federal law. A failure to do so can jeopardize your email efforts and also affect other campaigns.

Email recipients help control spam by reporting back to their email providers, so it is essential you understand your recipients’ rights and adhere to the rules of proper email etiquette. When email recipients report email that appears to be spam to their provider, or a provider’s email system detects email that meets spam filter measures, the provider can “blacklist” a sender (filter out the sender’s email and not deliver it). can be blacklisted due to poor practices. To retain good standing, our email administrator will have to petition the provider and until we are cleared, email from is blocked. We hope to avoid blacklisting through better training and support for all mass email users.

The CAN-SPAM Act Requirements

The CAN-SPAM Act requires that all companies that send or otherwise "initiate" commercial email must:

1. Refrain from sending any message with a misleading subject heading.

2. Include in each message a valid return email address or Internet-based reply mechanism that will function for at least thirty (30) days following the transmission of the message.

3. Include a physical postal address in the body of each message.

4. Include a conspicuous notice identifying each message as an advertisement or solicitation. Emails sent to recipients with affirmative consent do not need to include the notice of advertisement.

5. Include in the body of each message a notice explaining how recipients can prevent the transmission of future messages by using the sender's return email address or Internet-based reply mechanism.

6. Honor all "opt-out" requests within ten (10) business days of their receipt.

7. Refrain from selling, exchanging or otherwise transferring the e-mail address of any recipient who has made an "opt-out" request, except as necessary to comply with the Act or other provisions of law.

Compliance Measures

The requirements of the act have been interpreted for specific instances. can help you determine if these compliance measures apply to your email campaign.

• Transactional or Relationship Message Requirements - These messages must include accurate path information in the email header, but are not subject to the postal address, notification and opt-out requirements outlined above.

• Promotional Content Within Transactional or Relationship Messages - A "transactional or relationship message" may contain some content promoting a product or service unrelated to a previous transaction. This promotional material must truly be ancillary to the primary purpose of the communication.

• Pre-Checked Boxes - This passive opt-in does not qualify as affirmative consent. Use unchecked boxes to allow unsubscribe options.

• Advertising Statement - If you're sending mass email without affirmative consent, you must include the aforementioned notice identifying each message as an advertisement or solicitation. Any mass email without affirmative consent must be approved through .

• Multiple Email Newsletters/Messages - If your department distributes more than one type of newsletter or promotional message, you'll need to provide members/recipients with a means to unsubscribe from specific individual recurring message types as well as a global unsubscribe and suppression feature. Global suppression ensures that recipients who request it will never receive any future email from your organization.

Email Marketing Best Practices

Managing expectations of your clients regarding your use of email in marketing is important in establishing trust and reinforcing the value you receive from your client list. Marketers should avoid buying email lists and should focus on gaining the permission of the customer to contact them with specific offerings and honor that request.

Content Best Practices

There are commonly accepted best practices for content to include in each email campaign. Our templates are created to make it easier for you to include this information in a branded, professional email format.

1. The initial email should contain:

• Opt-in subscription messaging

• Information on how the email address was obtained

2. Initial and ongoing messages should contain:

• From name and contact information

• Quality - reinforcement of your brand

• Reminder of subscription information, opt-out option

3. Content should be timely and contain:

• Content Scope: Remind recipients that you will only send messages that relate to preferences and interests indicated during the opt-in process.

• Purpose/Value: Reiterate the objective of your messages and the value for recipients (receiving promotions that relate to their interests, etc.)

• Frequency: Remind them of the preferences they indicated about frequency of delivery, and reassure them that you'll only send messages within that framework.

The trust-based approach to email marketing pays off for you, the marketers, and your customers and prospects. You'll receive higher conversion rates, reduce unsubscribes and spam complaints, and benefit from enhanced brand reputation and customer relationships.

Remember that mass email activities can affect our entire institution.

Please act responsibly according to the guidelines set forth in this document.

For clarification of information contained this document, please contact .

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