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To Be Heard Above the Din
Communication, Nonprofits, and Spam
By Samantha Moscheck, May 2005
This article was first published in the May issue of the Nonprofit Online News Journal.
The popularity of the internet has opened a world of possibility to nonprofits and the communities they serve. Email is a key tool for communication, public education, mobilization, and dialogue. Yet these types of messages are often buried in spam.
Spam is unsolicited email of any type. Put simply, the recipient never asked for the email message. Instead, someone signed them up without their knowledge or consent. Or perhaps the recipient did not read the small print buried in the privacy policy of some website.
Most spam is designed to sell something. Eighty percent of the spam in the US has been traced back to 200 companies that pose as legitimate email marketers, selling their services to companies hoping to increase their online sales. Most use deceptive, illegitimate, illegal, or unethical means to circumvent spam filters and trick people into reading them.
This, in turn, gives rise to new technologies that filter and block the junk, and organizations that track spammers and inform spam-blocking programs of their whereabouts, such as Spamhaus and UXN Spam Combat.
Spammers have no legal obligation to subsidize the costs incurred by nonprofit organizations, internet service providers, and innocent internet users. Rather, we subsidize them by providing the bandwidth and resources they require to do their dirty work. We will eventually purchase faster computers, new software, and more bandwidth from our ISPs so we can use the new spam filters, spy-ware protectors, and pop-up blockers. But this is only a small part of the answer. There are some deeper issues at play.
How Does Spam Threaten Nonprofit Organizations?
Getting trapped in the filter: Many organizations are frustrated to learn that 20% to 50% of their bulk email messages are getting caught in spam filters. It is an expensive, time-consuming and overwhelming problem.
Getting to the reader: Email messages that get past the junk filter are still likely to be deleted by their readers. As people grow weary, they are likely to be frustrated by all unsolicited mail (yes, even yours!). And even if they did sign up for your newsletter, they still might feel too overwhelmed by their inbox to scan your email before deleting it.
Violating federal and state anti-spam laws: In addition to the federal CAN-SPAM legislation passed in 2003, many states now have strong anti-spam laws, some of which are more restrictive than the federal law. The Washington state law, for example, allows a spam victim to sue the sender for $500 to $4500 per email message. All organizations that send bulk email should acquaint themselves with the regulations.
Rising above the law: Sure, it's important to obey the laws. Nonprofit organizations don't have the resources to pay fines or file for bankruptcy, while spammers can afford to budget for occasional fines because they bring in millions in advertising revenues. But this sets the bar pretty low. What about ethics?
This is a familiar story. Under-resourced, mission-driven organizations bear the weight of problems caused by companies that engage in unethical practices and legislators that choose to encourage them. For more information, read a critique of the CAN-SPAM legislation published by Spamhaus, a leading authority on spam.
How Does Spam Threaten Nonprofit Vitality?
First I must explain what I mean by 'nonprofit vitality' because it transcends individual organizations and even the sector at large. For me, 'nonprofit' is not a tax classification. I was shocked to realize, after twelve years working in nonprofit organizations, that this is regarded by many as a radical statement.
I define 'nonprofit' as something less tangible: A value. An approach. A way to live. It represents for me the triumph of humanity. The notion that community health, happiness and safety are the primary concerns for any society. 'Nonprofit' represents for me the pursuit of balance, accountability, and service to the greater good.
The internet was born through noncommercial endeavors. It decentralized the discovery of new ideas; they no longer had to be filtered through the news media or an enterprising researcher before becoming available to everyone. People could become informed about an issue at the click of a button and discuss it instantly.
Today, internet advertisements and email spam are transforming the internet into a cesspool of unencumbered commercialism. One blogger's article, The Increasingly Predatory Nature of the Internet, illustrates how internet newcomers have trouble functioning online because of the proliferation of pop-ups, deceitful ads, and other roadblocks that the most savvy users take for granted.
When a new internet user's machine stops working because they have been fooled by ads that download viruses, spy-ware, and other malicious software onto their computer, has their experience with the internet given them any real incentive to try to get it working again?
Why are companies so desperate to find and overwhelm us? When did citizens, constituents, families, and communities become defined primarily as consumers? When did advertising take over our homes, our clothing, our mailboxes, and our roadsides?
What happened to the nonprofit vitality of the internet itself? How can we help it regain the balance and energy of its youth? This will help to solidify its place as an instrument, a tool, for social innovation and prevent the internet itself from getting buried in spam.
What Everyone Can Do
It is up to us to define the internet, not to sit back and allow it to be defined for us. If corporations do become the ultimate architects of the internet, we will lose one of the greatest tools for our work that has ever been created.
Here are some simple ways we can take back the internet and reclaim its utility as a means for noncommercial dialogue and debate:
Learn how to use the internet. Use it daily. Use the Miriam-Webster dictionary
online. The next time you wonder how the percolator in your kitchen works, look
it up. Read newspapers from other countries to gain new perspective. Many have
online English versions. Learn how to avoid the trappings of spam and malicious software.
See Top 20 Ways to Prevent Spam at Techsoup. Once you feel pretty savvy, never stop learning and make sure to teach others.
The more people use email and the web for things other than shopping, the better. Separate your consumer identity from your real identity. Use at least three email
addresses: one for work use, one for personal use, and one for buying things.
Protect your work and personal email addresses carefully. Become acquainted with the privacy policies for the websites you visit? Many
will claim that you opted into spam from anywhere by providing them with your
email address.
What Nonprofits Can Do
Thrifty organizations often turn to the simplest and most affordable solutions available. Innovative organizations constantly strive to find new ideas and technologies. But many organizations can more aptly be described as treading water, staying ever so slightly ahead of the curve and leaving the riskier pursuits to those with more adventurous tastes (or more stable funding sources). Regardless of where you pitch your tent, take these suggestions to heart.
Develop a comprehensive communications plan and invest appropriately in the technology and know-how needed to see it through to success. It is possible to use the internet as a powerful tool. It is just a matter of being well-informed, knowing your audience and your mission, and crafting appropriate strategies. Here are two resources developed by Nonprofit Online News to help you get started: Preventing the Nonprofit Spam Epidemic and Chaperoning: The Alternative to List Rental and Spam.
Leaders often have deep relationship-building skills. That is a fantastic thing, but use care. An airplane ride next to a friendly passenger can turn into a new prospective donor. Do not add the business card to your email list. Instead, send a personal email inviting her to join. Encourage her, but do not make choices for her. If she doesn't respond, consider this an opportunity to refine your message.
Whether you have pennies or pounds, invest wisely. Most spam is low quality and easily identifiable from a distance. Avoid sending email messages that visually look like spam, and be sure that people can easily unsubscribe.
What Funders Can Do
There are three strategies that foundations and major donors can consider:
Encourage evaluation plans to include evaluation of the tools and technologies
that have been employed, and their effectiveness. Website activity and email
click-through rates can and should be monitored and evaluated. Powerful email
software from 'white-listed' vendors will provide for this type of reporting. Encourage program-specific proposals to include a well-articulated
communication component, and expect to see line items for communications
technologies and training in the budget. Many organizations may think these
expenses are appropriate only for operating budgets, even when the expenditure
is actually quite program-specific. Consider special funding for projects and organizations that tackle the problems
associated with spam and other threats to the nonprofit vitality of the internet.
There is a wide range of activity in this arena. Some organizations work for
legislative controls, others encourage independent media and electronic
innovation, some of them combat spam and related hazards head-on.
The internet transformed everything about the way in which we live and work. We must continue to shape the tool so that it remains relevant to our nonprofit endeavors. In this way, we can be responsible caretakers and innovators. The internet is much larger than any of us and we all carry some responsibility for its health and well being.
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