(Having said that, standard disclaimers apply: I am not a lawyer and my interpretations do not constitute legal advice. Laws may have changed since the time of writing. For your specific situation, consult an attorney.)
Even if the CAN-SPAM ACT did apply to non-profit mailers, the rules aren't particularly restrictive, since you probably don't intend to:
- send sexually-explicit email
- harvest email addresses from websites to build your mailing list
- generate email addresses randomly or sequentially (e.g., smith1@aol.com, smith2@aol.com, smith3@aol.com) to build your mailing list
- disguise the identity of your organization or mail servers
- use fraudulent or deceptive email subject-lines
- ignore requests to unsubscribe
- use email for the purposes of fraud, identity theft, obscenity, child pornography, or exploitation
For most mailers who build their mailing lists via opt-in procedures, American spam law compliance is as simple as:
- offering, and honoring, an unsubscribe mechanism that is implemented quickly for each request
- clearly identifying the sender of the email, including a valid postal address and a valid phone number (which can lead directly to voicemail)
If you rent email lists, outsource email operations, or advertise via Affiliates, you are required to use suppliers who also comply with spam laws.
