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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 rTVƵ.

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 “alumni, friends, or donors” interchangeably by the term “alumni”. 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.

rTVƵ 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 “test message” 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.