Contacting Members - DA Policy

Created by Merrill Oates -HU, Wiki

DA Policy on Contacting Members and Access to Membership Data

Policy Statement and Guidelines on using our membership database as the exclusive tool for communicating with DA members

Emailing:

  • All unsolicited Country, Chapter, and Caucus Group Emails can only be sent from the Nationbuilder platform. This is a firm rule.

    THIS MEANS:  ANY unsolicited email that you send to your chapter, country or caucus members MUST be sent from Nationbuilder.  This includes:  Monthly newsletters, event announcements, sub-group meeting announcements - ANYTHING that is not a response to an individual member question or email.

    • WHY:  This ensures that emails are only sent to current members, and not people who have changed their minds about membership - in DA, or your caucus.

    • ALSO:  Members see the email comes from a DA email address, which is a trusted source.

    • AND: sending from a personal email address outside the DA email domain is ipso facto a breach of your Confidentiality Agreement.  If we find that this has occurred, we will have to suspend your administrative privileges.

    • If you have any questions about this, ASK YOUR IT LIASON or the IT Team.  DO NOT just go ahead and send emails first and ask about it later.  

    • This does NOT mean that you cannot answer an email that you receive in your inbox from an individual member.  Email aliases will remain set up to forward any incoming messages to your personal inbox.  

  • Keep your Members informed about relevant issues, but be careful not to inundate them with messages.

    • WHY:  We know from our own experience that people receive a lot of political messaging. We want to avoid the dreaded Email Fatigue that leads some to unsubscribe from all DA mailings.

Caucus-Specific Emails:

  • Global level - Send your caucus mailings from your Global Caucus Broadcaster. No more than 2 emails per month.

  • Country level - Send your proposed emails to your country chair or communications officer.  They will send the email out from the country broadcaster to your members.  This is a change in policy, necessitated by GDPR compliance.  
    No more than 2 emails per month at the country level either.

  • IF you must send more than one or two emails in one month, at either the global or the country level, check with the Global Caucus Coordinator or the Int'l ExCom regarding the timing of your email.

Membership Lists:

Exported lists can only be used solely for information and reference purposes and NOT for external mailings or Facebook.

  • WHY:  Member lists are private and confidential. We do not have the right, under ANY circumstances, to distribute or use our member names and emails for any purpose other than official DA emails and events, as managed through the NationBuilder database.

  • ALSO:  They are not to be shared in any form with anyone who hasn't signed and filed a Confidentiality Agreement with DA.

  • NOTE:  Importing member data into your own contact list or email address book is strictly prohibited. Your privileges will be revoked.

Getting help:  

Each Caucus and Country Committee has either a designated IT Liaison or a Leader certified in how to use NationBuilder. If you don't, or if you hit a snag where they can't help, ask the global IT Team for help.

  • If you need concrete advice before setting out to do something with DA email or member data, or if you have any questions, email the IT Team at: helpdesk@democratsabroad.org.