NZ Spam Law - Charities Must Comply
May 16th, 2007The Australian Spam Law - “Spam Act 2003″ provides an exemption for Charities and Religious organisations. The New Zealand Spam Law - “Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007″ is not following suit - all charities and religious organisations will need to comply with the legislation as from 5th September 2007. Imagine the following headline - “Salvation Army fined $100,000 for Spamming” in the News. It’s quite unthinkable really - in my humble opinion it is difficult for Charities to get awareness and funding for their cause - they end up spending lots of money and time on driving funds their way.
I suppose on a positive note Charities may be encouraged to utilise email more effectively and be an integral part of the marketing campaign. Like all perceived set backs - there are positives too. We are working with charities and non-profit organisations providing as much value as we can so they can get the benefit of measurable email marketing and compliance without it taking their valuable time away from their cause - helping others.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I note that what the Act deals with is “commercial electronic messages”. It is possible that some messages from charities might not come within that definition. If the message promotes support for a charitable cause, but does not market or promote goods, services, interests in land or business opportunities, it appears to me that it is not caught by the Act. It could solicit donations for the particular cause, and as long as the charity does not offer the donor some kind of product or service, then that kind of communication does not appear to be caught. However care would need to be taken that the message did not contain a link or direction to a website that does offer goods or services (some charities have some trading activities). It may be prudent for the charity still to have an opt-out provision in electronic messages, however.