Include an Unsubscribe Link¶

When sending emails to a large group of people, it is good practice to provide recipients with a way to opt out of receiving further emails. In fact, it is required by FCC regulations. Legal requirements aside, if you fail to offer an easy way to opt out of your emails, you simply increase the likelihood that your emails will be marked as spam. When a recipient marks your email as spam, they will receive no further emails sent from your database in TouchPoint. See the section on The Spam Report List in the article Failed Email Notices.

Below we describe three methods to allow recipients to opt out of an email. The first two methods allow subscribers to unsubscribe for a particular mail list (which in TouchPoint will equate to a single organization).

Method 1 - Register Link to Manage Subscriptions

This method depends on the existence of a Manage Subscriptions master registration organization set up to allow users to subscribe/unsubscribe to publications (newsletters, informational emails, devotionals, etc.) The Register Link actually allows the user to do much more than unsubscribe. The same link allows users to manage their other subscriptions, including the ability to subscribe to new mail lists.

To include this in your footer, add descriptive text (e.g., “Please manage your subscriptions or unsubscribe from this email newsletter.”) and create the special link of type Registration to turn part or all the text into a clickable link.

See also

Create Register Links in Emails

See also

Manage Subscription Registration

Method 2 - Drop from an Individual Mailing List

This method provides a link for recipients to remove themselves from a single mailing list (in this case, a single TouchPoint organization). To use this link, include the following, modifying the organization ID and the link text as appropriate:

<dropfromorg id="242">

Click here to be removed from Daily Devotional emails.

</dropfromorg>

In the example above, the Daily Devotional emails are sent each day to all who are enrolled in organization 242. When an email recipient clicks on the link, they are dropped from that organization and, as a result, will no longer receive the emails sent to members of that organization. For additional information about this, see the section titled “Involvement in an Organization” in the article Email/SMS Replacement Codes.

Method 3 - Unsubscribe from an Email Address

This method uses the {unsubscribe} email replacement code. Unlike the first two methods, this link does not allow the user to opt out of particular mailing lists (organizations). Instead, using this link will block the user from receiving any further emails from the email address of the sender. This is the only method available for mass emails that are not associated with a particular organization (e.g., an all-church email).

See also

Unsubscribe Link

Include Your Church Name and Physical Mailing Address¶

It is also an FCC regulations for emails that the business (or, in this case, the church) name and physical mailing address is included in the email. The footer is an excellent place to include this. Below is an example:

The first line explains why the recipients is receiving these emails. If the recipient has not subscribed, provide the reason you are emailing: For example, “You are receiving this email because you are a member of …”

The second line provides the link to unsubscribe. In this example, method 1 is being used.

The final line meets the FCC regulation requiring the inclusion of the church name and physical address.

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