CASL covers messages that promote anything people pay for, even from a non-profit. Registered charities are exempt only for fundraising messages. Record each address's basis, such as member, donor, volunteer or buyer, and its date.

Not a business, so not covered

A society's board looks at its email newsletter and decides the anti-spam law does not apply. It is a non-profit, it makes no profit, and the law was written for businesses.

The newsletter, meanwhile, promotes the spring plant sale, a paid workshop, hall rentals and a local sponsor's discount. It goes to members, past donors, volunteers and everyone who ever signed a sheet at an event.

Canada's anti-spam law, CASL, took effect on July 1. It does not ask whether the sender is a business; it asks what the message is for.

What makes a message commercial

Under CASL, an email is commercial if one of its purposes is to encourage taking part in a commercial activity, such as buying, renting or paying for something, whether or not anyone profits.

A gala ticket, a paid course, a gift shop sale, a room for rent and a sponsor's offer all count. One such item makes the whole message commercial.

A message that only reports news, calls a general meeting or schedules volunteers may not be commercial at all. Most society newsletters mix the two, and the mix is what matters.

The charity exemption is narrow

Registered charities have an exemption, but only for messages whose main purpose is raising funds for the charity. A donation appeal is the clear case.

A charity's message mainly about its gift shop, a rental or a paid program falls outside that exemption. It needs consent and the usual identification, like any other commercial message.

A non-profit that is not a registered charity has no such exemption at all. Its commercial messages rely on consent, in the same way a shop's do.

Consent from donors, volunteers and members

CASL does give non-profits implied consent of their own, and each kind lasts for a set time from the relationship it rests on:

Express consent, given on a sign-up form with clear wording, has no such limit. It lasts until the person withdraws it, which makes it the basis worth asking for.

Two years from the latest date

The two years run from the most recent gift, volunteer shift, membership or purchase, not from when the person first joined the list. A donor who gives every year keeps renewing the consent.

So the dates matter. A list that holds only names and addresses cannot show when implied consent began or when it runs out.

Relationships that existed on July 1 and already included commercial messages have a transition: implied consent continues until three years after July 1, or until the person unsubscribes, whichever comes first.

A worked example

A maritime museum in a harbour town on Vancouver Island is run by a society that is a registered charity. It has a curator, volunteer guides, a gift shop and a hall it rents out.

Its monthly email went to one list: members, donors, volunteers, people who had rented the hall, visitors who wrote in the guest book, and contacts a former director had added.

The board believed charity status covered everything. Most issues, though, led with the gift shop's holiday sale, summer camps for a fee and hall bookings, with the year-end appeal one item among them.

The society now sends its appeal on its own, as a fundraising message, and the newsletter separately. Every address on the list carries its basis and its latest date.

The guest book and the former director's contacts were set aside, since neither showed when or why an address was given. An email asking them for consent would itself have been commercial.

A sign-up card at the admissions desk and a form on the website now ask plainly and record the date, so new readers join with express consent.

The consent records to keep

For each address, keep where it came from, the date, and the basis: express consent, member, donor, volunteer, buyer or enquiry. Keep the latest date for each relationship as it changes.

Keep a copy of every sign-up form's wording as it appeared, noting when each version was used. A paper sign-up sheet needs the same wording at the top and a date on each page.

Keep unsubscribe requests too, with the date each was received and acted on. The law expects them to take effect within 10 business days.

Every message names the sender

Commercial messages must name the sender and give a postal address plus one other way to reach it, such as a phone number or a website, along with a working way to unsubscribe.

Include the same details in exempt fundraising messages as well. It takes one line in the footer, and readers expect it from any organisation that writes to them.

Who holds the list

Societies change officers every year, and lists often live in one volunteer's computer or mailing account. When that person steps down, the records can leave with them.

Keep the list and its records in an account the society owns, with at least two people able to open it.

Treat all of this as an outline of the law, not as legal advice on your society's own list.

The counter-case

A society whose emails only report news, call meetings and arrange volunteer shifts may not be sending commercial messages at all. A charity that writes only to ask for donations is exempt for those messages.

For them, the consent rules matter less. But newsletters drift towards sales, events and sponsors over time, and the first commercial item brings the whole message under the law.

Recording consent now costs little, and it keeps the list usable whatever the newsletter becomes.

Sorting the society's list

  1. Read the last six issues and mark every commercial item.
  2. Separate fundraising appeals from the newsletter.
  3. Record the basis and latest date for every address.
  4. Set aside addresses with no basis you can show.
  5. Add clear sign-up wording to every form and sheet.
  6. Include identification and unsubscribe in every message.
  7. Keep the list in an account the society owns.

Step three is the work that makes the rest possible. A list where every address has a basis and a date can be checked and defended; a list of names alone cannot.

Writing the appeal itself, for the last weeks of the year, is covered in the year-end giving email from a non-profit.

Frequently asked questions

Does CASL apply to non-profit societies?

Yes, for commercial messages. CASL looks at what a message promotes, not who sends it, so tickets, courses, rentals, shop sales and sponsors' offers all count.

Are registered charities exempt from CASL?

Only for messages whose main purpose is raising funds for the charity. Messages mainly about a gift shop, rentals or paid programs need consent like anyone else's.

How long does implied consent from a donor last?

Two years from the donor's latest gift to a registered charity. Volunteers give similar consent, lasting two years from the last time they volunteered.

Do members of a club give implied consent?

Yes. Members of a non-profit club, association or voluntary organisation give implied consent during their membership and for two years after it ends.

Can we email old contacts to ask for consent?

Not without a basis. CASL treats an emailed request for consent as commercial in its own right, so it cannot go to addresses with no consent behind them.

What records should a society keep?

For each address, its source, the basis of consent and the latest relevant date, plus the sign-up wording used and any unsubscribe request with the date it was handled.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Newsletter list built from every sign-up sheet?

Send us the list's columns and a recent issue, and we will help sort each address by basis and date.

Start a Conversation