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Big thanks to @ec_schneider for this piece that raises the consequences of political campaigns buying and selling email addresses with no opt-in mechanism for individuals.
Quick
expanding on what’s covered in this piece. 1/10 https://twitter.com/politico/status/1359464726590345217
Quick
expanding on what’s covered in this piece. 1/10 https://twitter.com/politico/status/1359464726590345217
First, we should be clear about what the second paragraph in the story means: @CalforNC sold his campaign email list to @authentic_hq, which is now going to turn around and sell it to as many of their clients as possible with no opt-in mechanism whatsoever. 2/10
So if you donated to @CalforNC last cycle and end up receiving a barrage of fundraising emails from other candidates you didn’t sign up to hear from, this is why.
Here’s the FEC report showing the payment from @authentic_hq to @CalforNC for the "list purchase" 3/10
Here’s the FEC report showing the payment from @authentic_hq to @CalforNC for the "list purchase" 3/10
The article notes that "campaigns renting lists are more likely to see their emails get caught in spam filters, lowering their worth."
This is an important point, but it’s an understatement. 4/10
This is an important point, but it’s an understatement. 4/10
The truth is, campaigns & organizations that send unsolicited emails run the risk of all of their emails being relegated to the spam folder, threatening their ability to raise money through email at all. 5/10
Email providers like @gmail are doing more & more to crack down on unsolicited spam. As a result, buying and selling lists as described in the article will cause bigger & bigger deliverability problems for campaigns in each cycle moving forward. 6/10
Sending unsolicited emails is also a violation of the terms of service of most of the technology platforms campaigns and organizations use to send bulk emails, including @EveryActionHQ and @theactionnet. 7/10
This point in the article is key: "Since the practice relies on using preexisting donor lists others have already built, the same pool of small-dollar donors ends up getting a growing number of emails from different campaigns, raising the risk of donor fatigue." 8/10
But the problem is larger than donor fatigue. Political spam is now leading to campaign email fatigue – with huge numbers of potential and previous Democratic donors ignoring campaign emails entirely due to the volume of unsolicited emails they have received. 9/10
Bottom line, if left unchecked, the unethical practice of buying and selling email addresses with no opt-in mechanism for individuals runs the risk of killing email as a viable channel for both fundraising and advocacy in the relatively near future. 10/10
Tagging a few folks who weighed in on this in the article or elsewhere in case they have things to add here: @juliarosen @jlemonsk @BetsyHoover
