Misleading supporters over email damages progressive causes.

As fundraisers and organizers, we all have steep goals and are constantly looking for innovative ways to make those goals, position the importance of our organizations, and compete for attention and money. However, there is a baseline of responsibility we should all agree to.

By submitting this form, you pledge NOT to use the tactics described below in a program you run, and you agree to advocate against these tactics to your peers and superiors.

Please sign your name and share with other email list managers you know! (Original credit for this pledge is due to a 2018 project from Josh H. and Rebecca C.)

1. Don’t buy names

• Only email people who have opted in to hear from you. And though often necessary and appropriate to send transactional email to non-subscribers directly following-up on actions they've taken, do not continue to send people email unrelated to those actions unless the person has opted in.
• If the type of entity that you are, or who you represent, changes, give your email list clear notice and an uncomplicated unsubscribe process.

2. Don’t pretend someone owes you money or that you are someone you are not

• Don’t send supporters messages with the phrases “Final Notice” or “Account delinquent.” Many donors are misled by these subject lines into believing that they OWE money and have failed to remit. Even if this is explained in the text of your email, it is unacceptable.
• Don’t pretend your organization speaks for candidates, electeds, and entities that you don’t speak for.
• It should be easy for your email recipients to find out the name of your organization, whether that’s in the sender name, reply-to, or subject line.

3. Don’t propagate fake news via email

• Potential outcomes delivered as news (“Mueller fired”) abuse your supporters’ trust by lying to them. Even though you are not a news outlet, members of your list will rightly treat breaking news-style messages as breaking news. Straying into fake news to generate clicks manipulates your list and contributes to a larger erosion of truth in news media.

Why is this important? Every supporter who gives us their email address is trusting us with personal information in support of our cause. In many cases they are also trusting us with their money and their votes. As progressives, we owe it to our supporters not to abuse that trust. Most people do NOT distinguish greatly between different programs and legal entities, and when they find themselves being spammed or misled, it damages their trust in progressive email programs as a whole.