51³Ō¹Ļapp

Policy 6200 — Mass e-mail to Alumni, Friends, and Donors

Policy section:
Section 6200-6299 Alumni
Policy number:
6200
Subject:
Mass e-mail to Alumni, Friends, and Donors
Group:
University Employees
Approved By:
Vice-President University Advancement
Approved date:
July 29, 2008
Effective date:
October 8, 2008
Revised:
January 30, 2015
April 6, 2022
February 13, 2025
Administered by:
Vice-President, University Advancement

1 — SCOPE

This policy applies to all mass e-mails being sent to alumni, friends, and donors of 51³Ō¹Ļapp.

2 — POLICY

2.1 Definitions (for the purpose of this policy)

  • Mass e-mail: An e-mail message sent to a group of more than 25 alumni, friends, or donors that is clearly being sent to a large group.
  • Alumni, friends, or donors: This policy will refer to ā€œalumni, friends, or donorsā€ interchangeably by the term ā€œalumniā€. In general, it refers to those records kept in the University’s Advancement Database.

2.2 Addressing and Sending

The University Advancement mass e-mail service will only utilize addresses maintained in the Database. E-mail messages will not be sent to privately held e-mail address lists (i.e. lists purchased).
 
The actual sending of the messages will be accomplished via the Advancement Office. Campus units will not be provided with a list of e-mail addresses.

51³Ō¹Ļapp will provide recipients of non-critical mass e-mails with the ability to opt-out of future communications. Messages will only be sent to those alumni who have not opted-out of receiving e-mail according to the records held in the Database.

2.3 Frequency and Timing

To prevent communication fatigue, mass e-mails will be limited to a maximum of one non-critical e-mail per week per audience group.  The University will also implement audience segmentation to ensure messages are targeted and relevant. 

2.4 Content Guidelines and Approvals

  1. All e-mail messages will include opt-out instructions.
  2. No attachment will be allowed.
  3. E-mail messages should use proper grammar, language, and punctuation and should follow University standards. E-mail messages will be edited for this purpose as needed. Any changes will be made apparent to the original sender via a ā€œtest messageā€ that will be a standard part of the process of mailing.
  4. E-mail messages which include research surveys require approval by the Advancement Office and may be subject to other guidelines than written here.
  5. E-mail messages must be approved by the Vice-President, Advancement, or the Director responsible for the segmented audience,  or their designee.